Introduction
Substance Abuse is a major contemporary issue we face as a society; affecting not only adults, but our youth as well. Statistics have shown that more and more adolescents are being introduced to substances at a much earlier age than before. In fact, most users began using in their teenage years, with half of those starting off with Marijuana. A survey taken in 2011 by the Subtance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, showed that an estimated 22.5 million Americans 12 and older had used an illicit drug or abused a psychotherapeutic medication within the month the survey was taken; with Marijuana being among the most used substances(Drugfacts: Nationwide Trends 2012). This shows an alarming truth of today’s society; drug use is becoming much more prevalent, and is only creating a cycle of a new generation of substance abusers.
Defining Substance Abuse
A substance as defined by Abnormal Psychology:Clinical Perspectives on Psychological Disorders (Whitbourne, Halgin 2013) is; “a chemical that alters a person’s mood or behavior when the person smokes, injects, drinks, inhales, snorts, or swallows.” The term “drug” itself is quite vague in definition. In fact, almost anything can be considered a drug; because a drug as defined is “a medicine or other subtance which has a physiological effect when ingested or otherwise introduced into the body” (Merriam Webster Dictionary). By this definition alone, even food can be categorized as a “drug”. For this paper I will review the main subtances of which are illegal, or under regulation by the government. Abuse as defined by Merriam Webster Dictionary is; “use (something) to bad effect or for a bad purpose; misuse.” Therefore, substance abuse is basically usin...
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About one out of five 10th graders and about 1 out of four high school seniors used marijuana in the past month (Facts for Teens, 1). It is the second most popular drug among teens in the US (Encarta, 1). Teens, ages 12-17, that use marijuana weekly are nine times more likely than non-users to experience with illegal drugs and alcohol (Fed. Study, 1). More 13 & 14 year olds are using drugs, fifteen pe...
Credibility material: Its intake results in adverse medical conditions that are further exalted by its addiction properties that ensure a continued intake of the substance. The drug can be abused through multiple means and is medically recorded to produce short-term joy, energy , and other effects such as increased heart rate and blood pressure. This ultimately results in numerous psychiatric and social problems; factors that played a major role in its illegalization after multiple and widespread cases of its effects were reported in the country during the 1900s. In addition to this, the drug results in immediate euphoric effect, a property which the National Institute of Drug Abuse (2010) attributes to be the root cause for its increased po...
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The usage and addiction rate of most illegal drugs has not increased recently, and in many cases has declined. The exception to this is Marijuana, being the only Illegal drug who has seen an increase in usage over the years. The usage of Marijuana has, as a matter of fact, skewed the results of usage surveys to make it seem as if the overall usage ...
3rd Ed. New York; Plenum Medical, 143-57 Watson, S. J., Benson, J. A. & Joy, J. E. (2000). Marijuana and medicine: Assessing the science base. Archives of General Psychiatry, 57, 547-552. Tashkin, D. P. (1990).
Mekdlawit Demissie IGED 130-06 Informative Speech Outline Topic: Marijuana Speech Goal: To inform the audience about the long and short term effects of marijuana usage. Central Idea: Marijuana is the most commonly used drug amongst young people in the United States. Introduction: I. Attention getter:
When people hear the words drug addict, these words have negative connotations and stigmas attached to them. People visualize a person who does not care about anything, including family, work, or commitments, except for obtaining money to buy drugs to get high. However, there are many people who are drug addicts that maintain a normal, functioning life. Before we can examine why these people are addicted to drugs, one must first define the word addict.
“The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) conducts the annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), a major source of information on substance use, abuse, and dependence among Americans twelve years and older” (DrugFacts 1). Illicit drug use in the United States has been increasing. In 2013, an estimated 24.6 million Americans (9.4 percent of the population) had used an illicit drug in the past month. This number is up from the 8.3 percent in 2002. This is increase reflects the recent rise in the use of marijuana since 2007. In 2013, there were 19.8 million users, making it the most commonly used illicit
Drug in the American Society is a book written by Eric Goode. This book, as the title indicates, is about drugs in the American Society. It is especially about the misuse of most drugs, licit or illicit, such us alcohol, marijuana and more. The author wrote this book to give an explanation of the use of different drugs. He wrote a first edition and decided to write this second edition due to critic and also as he mentioned in the preface “there are several reason for these changes. First, the reality of the drug scene has changed substantially in the past dozen or so years. Second much more information has been accumulated about drug use. And third, I’m not the same person I was in 1972.”(vii). The main idea of this book is to inform readers about drugs and their reality. In the book, Goode argued that the effect of a drug is dependent on the societal context in which it is taken. Thus, in one society a particular drug may be a depressant, and in another it may be a stimulant.
Alcohol is something that people use to help with multiply different things and some studies have shown that alcohol may help protect our bodies from cardiovascular disease. Alcohol does have side effects to our health the surroundings around us and can cause violence, vehicle crashes and even suicide. Alcohol does have an effect on people that many social drinkers may not realize. Many people usually have tried alcohol around 13 years of age and high school students consume more wine coolers that are sold in the U.S. and they drink more than 1 billion beers a year. To understand the effects of alcohol, it begins with the brain. It is a curiosity as to why people feel the need to drink and drive. The way the brain works while influenced with alcohol has always fascinated me. Drinking and driving is one of the biggest decisions that alcohol leads to. The National Public Services Research Institute (NHTSA) did a study on 600 people who admitted driving while under the influence of alcohol. They described in detail the decisions they made leading up to the occurrence of driving while impaired like whether to take part in a drinking event, how to get to the event, how much to drink, and how to get home. The people being interviewed revealed more than 2,000 individual decisions that led to alcohol impaired driving. The decisions were then broken down into several categories as shown on the graph attached. Little is known as to what leads people to continue to drinking and driving. But as research shows, people do think, prior to drinking, how they will get home. It’s after they have already had been drinking that they decide to get behind the wheel.
Drugs cause an overall disturbance in a subjects’ physiological, psychological and emotional health. “At the individual level, drug abuse creates health hazards for the user, affecting the educational and general development of youths in particular” (“Fresh Challenge”). In youth specifically, drug abuse can be triggered by factors such as: a parent’s abusive behavior, poor social skills, family history of alcoholism or substance abuse, the divorce of parents or guardians, poverty, the death of a loved one, or even because they are being bullied at school (“Drugs, brains, and behavior”) .
The use of drugs and mind-alternating substances has been a part of society for decades. The ‘high’ that people attain from the use of such substances is very attractive and exciting however, the effects of this use are minimized. Particularly for youth, a group of individuals who are seeking independence and experimentation, drug use represents the balance between taking risks and taking responsibility for one’s actions. However, the developmental processes of adolescents are known to not encompass the maturity required to fully think through such decisions. As such, the use of a ‘smaller-scale’ drug like marijuana is even more minimized. The purpose of this paper is to discuss what the risks of using marijuana are for youths, why they are the most affected, how this problem has progressed over the last three decades, and what preventative measures and treatment options are in place. It will also discuss what schools, parents, and government agencies could be doing to help improve the issue, and the impact that this issue is having on society.
Stanley, Janet E., Stanley J. Watson, and John A. Benson. Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base. Washington D.C.: National Academy P, 1999.
187. The. (2013) n. page. print. “Marijuana Abuse.” National Institute on Drug Abuse: The Science of Drug Abuse and Addiction.
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.