The Use of Illicit Drug: a Significant Cause of Global Health Issue

The drug abuse is the most serious issue not only in United States but other parts of the world too. The statistic has shown that 24.4million of American including teens from age of 12, had used an illegal drugs. The primary purpose of drug is a medicine which is to cure diseases, but people in United States nowadays, have misused the usage of drugs by consuming them without recommendation or supervision from the expert.

“Drug policy regarding the control of the traditional illicit substances (opiates, cocaine, cannabis) is currently moving through upbeat times in almost all Western countries. Prohibition on the basis of repressive law enforcement not only seems to fail on a large scale, but also to create vast additional costs, problems, and harm for drug consumers, who often find themselves in extreme social, economic, and health conditions” (Fischer 1995: 389).

Many drug addicts do not have jobs or any legal means of generating income; they resolve to criminal activities such as theft, robbery, or aggressive panhandling. Due to the addictive nature of drugs, the user will be compelled to want more and more in order to continue feeling “normal”. It is what fuels their addiction and as a result, a lack of motivation to do anything other than obtaining more drugs. The drug addict’s family suffers from the effects of the drug addiction as well through emotional stress and psychological decay. Drug addicts also encourage illegal drug trafficking by helping fund criminal organizations. In fact, drug addicts are the reason why the billion dollar drug industry is as lucrative as it is. Without drug addicts, drug traffickers would have no customers or buyers to help generate income. Huge amounts of tax revenue is going towards the war on drugs which includes money going into police departments, border agencies, harm reduction programs, and anti-drug campaigns. The tax money being used to fight drugs could be used to better our education or health systems; instead it is being used to fund harm reduction programs such as Insite.

Crime and drugs are related in several ways. One being, drug production, manufacture, trafficking or possession of illegal drugs may comprise crime. Secondly, drug use could possibly increase the possibility of other crimes like murder or kidnapping. Finally, use of drugs can be connected to bigger problems, such as, the use of illegal weapons and other shapes of violence and terrorism. You may wonder, what causes certain people to participate in criminal activities while abusing illegal drugs?

S203). In addition to the severe consequences drug abuse has on health, the social consequences are just as severe and includes increased crime and imprisonment, physical and mental disabilities, and loss of productivity.

Drug abuse does not only impact a person’s well-being, but it also negatively impacts society. The economy is impacted by health costs incurred from prevention, treatment, and hospital visits. Public Safety is impacted by drug-affected driving. Operating a vehicle under the influence is illegal and dangerous for the driver, passenger(s), and other people on the road. There are three classifications for drug abuse related crime: nexus, economic-compulsive, and systemic. Drug abuse also hinders productivity because addiction causes an individual to constantly seek the drug while deeming all other things less important. Companies experience loss of potential income from employees that are under the influence, incarcerated, hospitalized, or seeking treatment. Finally, economic consequences effect specific populations which include children, women, and people with low-income. Drug prevention strategies have been identified as a way to decrease economic consequences on society (“Economic Consequences of Drug Abuse,” 2013).

Substance abuse involving drugs, alcohol, or both is linked with a variety of negative social conditions, including family disturbances, monetary problems, lost output, and failure in school, domestic violence, child abuse, and crime. Furthermore, both social attitudes and legal answers to the use of alcohol and illicit drugs make substance abuse one of the most multifaceted public health issues. "Estimates of the total overall costs of substance abuse in the United States, including lost productivity and health- and crime-related costs, exceed $600 billion annually" (Substance Abuse, 2012).

Illicit drug consumption is closely associated with criminal behaviour. Crimes linked with illicit drug consumption include shoplifting, property crime, drug dealing, violence and aggression and driving will be intoxicated. The associated burdens on communities take account of medical, public health, and criminal-justice costs, as well as public disorder and property crime.

The social obligation and influence to increase the use of drugs or alcohol are overwhelming factors in most individuals. Overall, drug and alcohol addiction causes an impact on social systems and structure. Social impacts

In 1992, for drug abuse, governments bore about $45.1 billion (46.2 percent) of the total of $97.7 billion; private insurance, $3.1 billion; victims, about $6.5 billion; and abusers and members of their households, $42.9 billion. Costs are imposed on society in a variety of ways including on drug- related crimes and trauma (e.g., motor vehicle crashes); government services, such as criminal justice and highway safety; and various social insurance mechanisms, such as private and public health insurance, life insurance, tax payments, pensions, and social welfare

Satel first addresses the social and economic consequences in the United States resulting from drug abuse. Annually, it accumulates over $200 billion dollars in expenses, $129 billion in lost workplace productivity costs, and $16 billion in healthcare costs. Altogether, it adds up to 3% of the total Gross Domestic Product. The U.S. government puts forth an effort to cut drug abuse through two different methods: supply and demand reduction. Supply reduction deals with limiting the availability of the drugs themselves, while demand reduction tries to prevent drug use from starting and also treat drug abusers who have already become accustomed to drug use.

This leads to an increase in criminal activity such as neglect of familial duties, robberies to fund their dependency, and violence to defend their habits. The ‘drugee’ becomes a nuisance to society. Some become homeless and exhibit poor health habits such as malnutrition and tooth decay. Other negative effects include the transference of diseases because of needle sharing. Though drug use is a personal choice, the effects on the rest of society are undeniable. The best intentions are formulated on a personal level, but this is overcastted by its negative effects. This argument, however, is a bit one-sided because the reason for using and dependency varies between users.

In their quest to feed their addiction, young adult tend to forget that simple possession of a controlled substance is always a crime and often times considered to be a felony. For the unfortunate ones who lack the resources to purchase their drug of choice, they often resort to criminal theft and robbery to support

The debate of the legalization of illicit drugs has been around for some time. It is a fairly wide spectrum, with two varying opinions. While one side argues that illicit drugs should be legal, the other side stick to the more conservative side of the spectrum and argues that illicit drugs should remain illegal and have no place in our modern society. This paper will attempt to side with the legalization of illicit drugs for various reasons. It will make the community safer, it will allow for more advanced and better education on drugs and drug safety, and lastly it will help improve the economy.

Drug abuse is a major public health issue that impacts society both directly and indirectly; every person, every community is somehow affected by drug abuse and addiction and this economic burden is not exclusive to those who use substance, it inevitably impacts those who don 't. Drugs impact our society in various ways including but not limited to lost earnings, health care expenditures, costs associated with crime, accidents, and deaths. The use of licit or illicit drugs long term, causes millions of deaths and costs billions for medical care and substance abuse rehabilitation and the effects of drug abuse extend beyond users, spilling over into the society at large, imposing increasing