Substance abuse affects hundreds of millions of people around the world. It can be a debilitating and destructive force in people’s lives and cause them to negatively affect not only themselves but those around them. There are many different reasons for the prevalence of substance abuse and the effects these substances have on people. Different drugs affects individuals in many different ways but substance abuse can often be connected both directly and indirectly to criminal activity. These reasons include but are not limited to pharmacological, psychological, and social variables involved in substance abuse and are what lead to the association between drugs and crime.
It is estimated that in the year 2010 anywhere between 153 million and 300 million people aged 15-64 used an illicit substance at least once (“World Drug Report 2012," 2012). The substances that are considered illicit drugs are ones that are illegal such as marijuana, amphetamines, cocaine, and opiates. Although, the estimate’s minimum and maximum are quite spread out one must remember that some of these estimates come from remote countries and regions where there are either very unreliable or no statistical data available. None the less this number is very alarming because it means that anywhere between 3.4 percent and 6.6 percent of the world’s population between the ages of 15 and 64 have used illicit drugs. Roughly 12 percent of those users are dependent on drugs or have some kind of drug disorder (“World Drug Report 2012,” 2012). A separate study done in in the United States by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration estimated that roughly 22.6 million Americans over the age of 12 years are illicit drug users (Bartol & Bartol, 478). The ...
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Bartol & Bartol,, C. R., & Bartol & Bartol,, A. M. (2014). Criminal behavior: A psychosocial approach. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Education.
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Synthetic Drugs (a.k.a. K2, Spice, Bath Salts, etc.) Office of National Drug Control Policy (n.d.). The White House. Retrieved from Whitehouse website: http://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/ondcp-fact-sheets/synthetic-drugs-k2-spice-bath-salts
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Approximately given 80 to 90 million Americans have tried an illicit drug at least which once in their lives; marijuana alone is tried for the first time by about 6,400 Americans everyday. Furthermore, illicit drugs seem to be relatively easy to attain- in for 1999, 90 percent said which this about marijuana, also 44 percent about cocaine and finally 32 percent about heroin. Yearly, for which 35 million dollars is given just to control illicit drug trafficking. Moreover, over 400,000 of drug offenders caught are in jail, of which, some 130,000 are which for possession. Not for only are these statistics a international obvious embarrassment but because for these quantities which have been growing throughout history, we can only assume that they will get worse. We can already begin to for imagine the costs of these numbers which is it not already clear that we need for to find an alternative approach to this
Implications of implementing this approach may be “to reduce the dangers of drug use for the community and the individual, and to shift the focus of illegal drugs as primarily a criminal justice of medical issue to a social and/or public health iss...
Bartol, Curt R., and Anne M. Bartol. Current Perspectives in Forensic Psychology and Criminal Behavior. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications, 2008. Print.
Almost everyone can say that they have had an experience with drugs, either it be with just witnessing it or using it. Throughout my life, I have had many bad experiences with drugs and it has taught me to stay away from them. Our society now somewhat looks up to the use of drug, with it being in the music industry or being in movies, it is in our culture and this could hurt us as a country down the road. Now, I’m not saying it is not okay to party once and awhile, but if a person is to party on a regular basis this could turn into an addiction to alcohol, illegal drugs, tobacco, and even caffeine. In all, there needs to be more facts and ads telling kids about these problems because they are our future and we have to set them up for success.
“Bureau of Justice Statistics Drugs and Crime Facts: Contents” bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/dcf/contents.cfm 2007. Web 15 Mar. 2012.
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The current situation of drug control in the United States is imperfect and inadequate. Millions of men and women, both young and old, are affected by illicit drug use. It costs the United States about $6,123 every second because of drug use and its consequences (Office). Moreover, 90 percent of all adults with a substance use disorder started using under the age of 18 and half under the age of 15. Children who first smoke marijuana under the age of 14 are five times more likely to abuse drugs as adults than those who first use marijuana at age 18. Finally, the children of alcoholics are four times more likely to develop problems with alcohol (Prevent). Current legislation that has to do with the United States’ drug control policy is the Controlled Substances Act, which regulates the manufacture, importation, possession, use, and distribution of certain substances (Shannon). In 1966, Congress passed the Narcotic Addict Rehabilitation Act also known as the NARA. This legislati...
Most people do not understand how a person become addicted to drugs. We tend to assume that is more an individual problem rather than a social problem. However, teen substance abuse is indeed a social problem considered a priority for the USA department of public health due to 9 out of 10 Americans with addictions started using drugs before the age 18 (CASA Columbia University). Similarly, 1 in 4 Americans with addictions started using the substance during their teenage years, which show a significant different with 1 in 25 Americans with addiction who started using at 21 or older (CASA, 2011).
Sampson, R. J., & Laub, J. H. (2005). A life-course view of the development of crime. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science,602(1), 12-45.
Drug abuse has been a hot topic for our society due to how stimulants interfere with health, prosperity, and the lives of others in all nations. All drugs have the potential to be misapplied, whether obtained by prescription, over the counter, or illegally. Drug abuse is a despicable disease that affects many helpless people. Majority of those who are beset with this disease go untreated due to health insurance companies who neglect and discriminate this issue. As an outcome of missed opportunities of treatments, abusers become homeless, very ill, or even worst, death.
Perhaps most substance abuse starts in the teen years when young people are susceptible to pressure from their peers. One of the main concerns when dealing with substance abuse is the long term problems with substance such as addiction, dependency and tolerance. The physical state of an individual, who is addicted to a substance, will deteriorate over a long period of time. This is due to the chemicals that are being put into an individual body. One of the most important aspects of the effect of substance abuse on society includes ill health, disease, sickness, and in many cases death. The impact of substance abuse not only affects individuals who abuse substances but it affects our economy. Our government resources are negatively impacted by individual who abuse substances. According to (Lagliaro 2004) the implication of drug users extend far beyond the user, often damaging their relationships with their family, community, and health workers, volunteer and wider
The question that is being explored in our presentation asks what drugs are doing to our society. This means exploring the various groups that use recreational drugs their reasons for this the effects that drug use has and the methods to help prevent and stop use of drugs. By recreational drugs we mean such substances as marijuana and heavier more addictive drugs as heroin and cocaine. For which the use of these has increased throughout society over time.
Drug abuse and addiction not only has negative effects in the lives of the people involved, but also in the lives of their close relatives, friends and immediate society. It leads to disintegration, failure in school, loss of employment and violence. Although intake of drugs is a voluntary and conscious decision initially, continuous intake of drugs changes the brain and challenges the self-control of the “addicted person” and inhibits the ability to resist extreme desire for drug intake.