The Importance Of Drug Abuse In The United States

There is no doubt that there is a prevalence of substance abuse throughout several age groups. To a certain extent, a society is faced with the reality of controlling substance abuse. Or allow it run rampant throughout the community. Often times, we hear and read about the level of substance abuse among teen, young adults and mid-aged

These numbers reveal that teenagers face an apparent exposure to drugs, and have little trouble getting a hold of some if desired. This article concludes that drug use and its consequences are not stressed enough in the current high school curriculum. The statistics prove that more needs to be done to identify and educate students at risk for drug use.

You might find it difficult to read the data related to teenage drug abuse and addiction. Based on recent stats, the picture is not pretty and the information indicates that Americans are not doing enough to combat the problem of teenage drug

Substance abuse is a very current problem in the United States. Opiate addiction is a particularly difficult problem in the State of Vermont where the abuse of prescription opioids has created addictions for many individuals. The problem of substance abuse has severe repercussions that may encompass severe dependence and overdose.1 Substance abuse is an epidemic that cannot be ignored. However, the combined forces of over-prescription, addiction and subsequent unemployment may mean that coverage for treatment for opioid addiction is not guaranteed even with increased Medicaid access through the Affordable care Act (ACA).

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) estimates substance abuse, whether it is smoking, alcohol abuse or illicit drugs, costs the nation over 700 billion dollars annually, (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2015). The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that, ” In the United States, 6.6% of persons aged 12 or older (an estimated 17.3 million individuals) in 2013 were dependent on or abused alcohol within the year prior to being surveyed”. Out of that 6.6% men had a higher rate of dependence or abuse with 8.7% being male and 4.6% being female. In the same survey it

This treatment should help the person by stopping the use drugs, staying drug-free, and being productive in the family, at work, and in society. The addiction is treated with detoxification, behavioral counseling, medication, an evaluation and treatment for co-occurring mental health issues such as depression and anxiety, and a long-term follow-up to prevent relapse. Some drugs can vary in treatment, but all go through a similar process. This article is important for our project because it shows the numerous ways someone can get treatment. According to SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 22.5 million people (8.5 percent of the U.S. population) aged 12 or older needed treatment for drug or alcohol

In the United States of America, we, the people value several things, some of which

America has been at war for a lot years dealing with drugs in the United States. Law enforcement has been fighting to decrease this drug abuse for almost centuries. Presidents have personally have been trying to find different methods on how to stop this drug war. Unfortunately law enforcement has not been able to win this battle. You could see how they are losing because there been so many cases that involve drug abusers that had to go to get treatment or some even go to prison. This is causing so many problems especially with the drug trade business which sometimes involves violent crimes in different neighborhoods which is only benefiting the organized crime members and the drug dealers. The United States has put so much effort on stopping this Drug epidemic by spending billions of dollars to stop this war. In order to see how has law enforcement and the United States been trying to stop this war we have to go back to the history when drugs were introduced to the United States. According to Elaine Casey

In and around most large cities in America, the rising substance abuse epidemic has brought about a renewed interested in determining the root cause of substance abuse, the effects of substance abuse on individuals and societies, and the substance abuse treatment modalities that achieve the best outcomes. In reviewing the current research on substance abuse there seems to be no one clear cause of substance abuse disorders, although there is strong evidence that a number of life circumstances may predispose an individual to a substance abuse disorder, as well as a number of protective factors that may reduce an individual’s risk of developing a substance abuse disorder. One important risk factor that is commonly associated with substance

Prior to all of the scientific knowledge that was discovered about drug usage in the United States in the late 20th century, many Americans had an extremely negative connotation about drug users; this stigmatization continues to occur today. Today, many scientists who study addiction and its effects on the human body have come to the realization that a myriad of people cannot control themselves when it comes to stop being addicted. During the TED Talk, prominent neurologist and Director of the National Institute of on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Nora Volkow discusses the parallels of addiction in drug users and addiction in obese individuals.

Among adolescents aged 12 to 17 years, 9.8 % are estimated to be current users of illicit drugs, with 4.9 % using drugs other than marijuana. Nearly three quarters of students have started to drink alcohol and nearly half (47%) have tried using an illicit drug (not including alcohol or tobacco) by the senior year of high school.” (Hassan, Harris, Sherritt, Van Hook, & Brooks, 2009)

People deaths from heroin overdoses have grow by five times between 2001 and 2013. Nearly 50 percent of the prison inmates in the US were addicted to drugs or alcohol. Many of the illegal drugs come from Mexico, where the drug cartels make over $50 billion each year from their business. The National Association Of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) concerned with the growing use of pejorative terms to describe the estimated 11 million undocumented people living in the United States. In America a total of 68% of drug users are in North America.

Drugs are now apart of everyday lives, and we must not let it taint the people that will be leading the future. In a survey conducted in 2010, “24.2% of eighth graders, 46.1% of tenth graders, and 63.4% of twelfth grade students…” used drugs. These include, “...marijuana, inhalants, hallucinogens, and steroids”.

It has been discovered that most people who struggle with drug addiction began experimenting with drugs in their teens. Teenage drug abuse is one of the largest problems in society today and the problem grows and larger every year. Drugs are a pervasive force in our culture today. To expect kids not to be influenced by the culture of their time is as unrealistic as believing in the tooth fairy (Bauman 140). Teens may feel pressured by their friends to try drugs, they may have easy access to drugs, they may use drugs to rebel against their family or society, or they may take an illegal drug because they are curious about it or the pleasure that it gives them.

Since 2000, the drug use rate in America has risen to the highest it’s ever been. In a survey done in 2009, 8.7 percent of people age 12 and up said that they used illegal substances within a month of taking the survey, a 9 percent increase since 2008 (Abuse, National Institute on Drug, 2010). This statistic alone is very concerning due to