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

Illegal drugs will always be the number one cause of criminal behavior. Within today’s society, drugs have taken a negative impact on individuals who buys and sell drugs. The negative consequences of drug abuse affect not only individuals who abuse drugs but also their families and friends, various businesses, and government resources. Although many of these effects cannot be quantified, ONDCP recently reported that in 2002, the economic cost of drug abuse to the United States was $180.9 billion. (National Drug Threat Assessment) Drugs are one of the major criminal issues that society faced for

“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.

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 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 social and economic costs.

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.

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.

When it comes to drug use, efforts to lower the use and flow of illegal drugs in the United States have yet to be succeeded. On the contrary, the use and production of illegal drugs have only seemed to grow. Sadly, punitive laws have not reduced the use or the availability of illegal drugs but have actually had collateral damage. Example of said collateral damage is drug-related violence, health epidemics, mass incarceration, and the waste of law enforcement. Sadly, many have been murdered due to the act of violence between criminal activity fighting over territory and or power made due to drug trade. Since 2000, the amount of people living with HIV has tripled due to injecting drugs. In the last 30 years, prison population, in the United States, has quadrupled and nearly a quarter of federal inmates are convicted of drugs. Lastly, the amount of money being spent

The dawn of the twenty first century has ushered in a new age of optimism and wonder. Despite the proclamations of television, all is not in well in our part of the world. Our societies have succumbed to the modern holy war on drugs. Being fought against our own citizens and citizens abroad, an international effort to eradicate drug production and use has undoubtedly failed leaving in its wake social unrest and political chaos. Assault, property crime, racial and economic marginalization, murder, corruption and many other undesirable things are burning through society fueled by the drug war's cold and inhuman policies. In addition to these problems there are the initial problems that drug users incur on

According to the national institute on Drug Abuse, Abuse of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs is costly to our Nation, exacting more than $740 billion annually in costs related to crime, lost work productivity and health care (NIDA. 2017, April 24). The rising of illicit drug smuggling and abuse raised questions about legalizing all drug. Although some people think that drugs legalization is a way to control illicit drug use, it seems that it will do more damage to our society than it will help. This essay will help us understand all the implications regarding all drugs legalization in this country.

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.

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