Essay about drugs

History has shown us an ineffective way to address addiction. Addiction has always been around a long time. However. people just didn’t always talk about addiction. They just ignored the issue and pretended that everything was alright. When the government first tried to deal with this issue they banned alcohol and made other drugs illegal. This action forced people to secretly use the substances. This only made the problem worse. I think that the government kept in the history of this problem in mind when create the current policy. Let’s dive into the history.

1b. List and describe briefly the major structures of the brain, as presented in your textbook, including the function of those elements that are most related to psychoactive drug reaction.

Drugs and alcohol is a major social issue (J. David Hawkins, Richard F. Catalano, and Janet Y. Miller, 1992). It is not something that can be solved by the law (Lee P. Brown, 2008). Throughout history, many attempts have been made to try and legalize and control alcohol and drug addiction but has failed.

There is a debate in the American government system on how to handle the use of drug and alcohol. In the 1960s drugs were uprising along with youth rebellion and in 1971 Nixon declared a “War on Drugs” (Citation a brief). This name is not to be confused with the band War on Drugs, but the term is still popularly used to describe the policies that Government officials are making regarding drugs and alcohol. This debate got reheated when Colorado legalized weed for medical and recreational use, followed by several other states. There has slowly been a shift in mindset from, “alcoholics are drug addicts are all criminals and we (the law) should throw them in jail” to “addiction is a disease.” Even the way that addicts/alcoholics are treated has changed to treatment centers with specialist versus throwing them in the hospital to detox and hoping for a change. Policies that are shifting the penalty from incarceration to treatment reflect these changes and help the individual suffering from the disease to get back on their feet. The war on drugs rings on, but changes are being made.

Drugs create a problem for people everywhere. “It’s important not to downplay teenage drinking or drug abuse.” Let your teen know how you feel about drugs and alcohol. The world needs more effective drug programs, Now how do we create a good drug prevention program that works for all types of people? Many people struggle with drug use and it is sad to watch them go through it. Programs around the country and the world are trying to figure out what technique is the most effective for drug users. Many people who have a drug problem have been abusing drugs since they were younger. That can make it harder for them to stop using drugs because they have used it for so long and their bodies have become tolerant to the drug.

According to Mathea Falco, “Many schools rely on programs which have not been evaluated, or worse yet, have been found to have no impact. In 1988, a review of 350 different school programs found that only 33 had any valid evaluation data, while just three programs reported reductions in tobacco, alcohol or drug use” (qtd. in Rosenbaum). One of the most prolific abstinence based education programs is DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education). The program, founded in 1983, places police officers in classrooms to provide training to help youth recognize the dangers of drug use, resist peer pressure to try drugs, and focuses on the importance of avoiding drug use of any kind. In 2002, a study funded by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America found that 48% of the teen population has tried illegal drugs (United States). Abstinence based education programs ultimately imply and teach false information: that a single use of any number of drugs can kill a child or leave them addicted. Once these children enter their teen years, the numbers presented by the Partnership imply that it is likely they are going to be exposed to drugs. Once they try drugs or see others try them, if they do not see the outcomes taught to them as immediately evident, they become mistrustful of all the other information that was taught to them. This renders the entire

In 2010 there were 23.5 million people in the United States addicted to drugs or alcohol, but only 11 percent of them received treatment for their addiction, leaving the remaining 89 percent of addicts not getting help with their addiction (“New Data Show Millions” 2010). This is clearly a problem that the government has to address and fight. There are really two ways of going about fighting drug addiction, the traditional approach of fighting the supply of drugs and being hard on crime or try to rehabilitate people using rehabilitation. Each of these tactics is usually more focused on by one of the major parties/administrations of republicans and democrats, and by either president Trump or Obama. Either of these strategies may work on its

Ritter and McDonald (2008) examines the drug policy interventions that cover treatment, law enforcement, prevention, and harm reduction by looking at 108 interventions from various locations. Ritter and McDonald (2008) provides options for drug policy that policy makers, researchers to review current drug policies and practices. Ritter and McDonald (2008) conducts this study by using various models such as the public health model, supply and harm reduction paradigm, the UNODC classification, and the policy instruments model.

Policy should not be focused on trying to combat the drug cartels but rather at fixing drug dependency. Since the 1971 War on Drugs declaration, the U.S. government has thrown money in attempt to combat the supply side of the drug issue. President Reagan increased funding for drug interdiction from $437 million to $1.4 billion but decreased drug awareness and treatment programs from $386million to $362 million. President Clinton allocated $7.8 billion to combat supply and only $5.4 billion for the demand side. Money needs to be allocated in the right place which means investing in the demand side through “education, prevention, and rehabilitation.” Funds need to be allocated to restructure educational programs, such as DARE, in order to deeply impact the minds of America’s youth. Like alcoholism, drug dependency needs to be viewed as a disease which requires a rehabilitation process. The focus needs to be shifted from imprisoning drug users that are in desperate need of help to keeping society healthy. This can be achieved by decriminalizing (not legalizing) drug use. A great example is Holland’s decriminalization of drugs which has led to a significant decline in hard drugs. Additionally, by building up rehabilitation programs, past drug users will be able to enter the workforce and become productive members of society as well as capable and attentive parents. The National Institute on Drug Abuse

The United States of American is a society built upon principles and laws. These laws and principles were decided to keep Americans safe and help one another co-exist. In the beginning as laws came into being law makers would play it by ear as they decided what could remain legal for the public to take part in and what would be illegal and frowned upon by society. One of the many issues American government has come face to face with issues about making legal or illegal is drugs. Drugs since their first discovery has made a major impact in American history. Some might say that drugs have been destructive to our country, but even so legal or otherwise, one can say that they have contributed to the growth of our nation’s economy. The government

If we advise people to say no to drugs from an adolescent age, it can reduce the number of students using drugs. So many students have dropped out school in my

In order to effectively reduce drug use, a combination of intense enforcement, rehabilitation, and drug education should be used; all three strategies go hand in hand with each other. Drug education programs aim to stop drug use before it even starts by preventing it from ever occurring. It is key to a long term solution of the reduction of future drug users. It works to intervene and redirect early drug users to more positive and healthy activities. Essentially, education programs allow the prevention of first use from becoming regular use.

Addiction and drug abuse are problems that nearly every modern society faces. Different nations have different sets of ideals surrounding the methodology used in order to combat these widespread issues. Drug prohibition is the “lawful restriction of the production, distribution, sale, and use of certain mind- and mood-altering altering drugs” (Ostrowski 3). The purpose of drug prohibition and drug laws is to reduce the amount of harm that drug users commit to themselves and society (Ostrowski 3). The United States currently uses law enforcement and prison sentences as the primary technique in order to discourage the use of substances that it deems harmful and illegal.

The line between public safety and the continuation of a high standard of privacy for all is a razor thin line; the United States government itself straddles it every day. Such is one very serious complication that the administrators and security forces of Coppell High School face: it is in the best interest of the administrators to prevent drug usage in the school as to stop the spread of any conflict (namely any characteristically delinquent behaviors such as interpersonal violence and school dropout) that they could potentially cause. However, it is also imperative to maintain some level of privacy so that students do not lash out against the administrators and school-wide morale remains fairly high. Numerous students and other relevant

Drugs are heavily used throughout the entire world. However, it is important to understand and not undermine the variability in which drugs are used. It is clear some are for distinct medical treatment and others are for recreational use. In the United States, marijuana has been and continues to be a very controversial drug. Some states have allowed marijuana consumption for medicinal purposes, while others have completely outlawed the drug. Those who are against the legalization and regulation of marijuana suggest the economical and health risk associated with consumption of the drug are too high. Although there is risk involved with the legalization of the marijuana, our country has already been risking too much banning the drug.