INTRODUCTION
Substance misuse is the continued use of drugs or alcohol despite negative consequences to the individual using, their friends, family and the community. Many individuals who are addicts start using some form of recreation or prescribed drug at first and become dependent over time due to inappropriate use. The Misuse of Drug Act, (1971) declare that export, produce and possession with intent to supply are illegal. This is why drug misuse is usually considered as a crime while most individuals overlook it as a mental health issue. As a result of this, most people do not come forward to seek help because of the stigmatization and the fear of the law. The united kingdom ranks as the third in drug misuse with drug related crimes estimated at about £13.3 billion per year. This school health education programme can only be successful if partners from the health, education and social services sector are actively involved. It is also necessary to understand the wider determinants of this health problem as it will help in reducing the health inequalities that may arise. According to the public health England, the level of deprivation, poverty, drug misuse and life expectancy in Manchester is significantly worse than the England average. The imperative step, however, is to develop an efficacious prevention programme that will serve as a new approach for health professionals, community leaders and policy makers. On account of the fact that recent health promotion programmes are established on psychological theories, this paper will describe prevention strategies using some evidence based theories. This paper will adopt a getting to outcomes planning framework to design a health education programme for secondary school students....
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AIMS
This health promotion programme aims for a reduction in the misuse of drugs.
To reduce addiction, physical and mental issues that may arise.
To increase knowledge of the harmful effects of drug misuse.
To increase confidence and change attitudes towards experimenting with drugs.
OBJECTIVES
Educating staff and student on the risks of drug misuse.
Developing social activities that will improve the social interactions of students.
Emphasizing the need to view drug misuse as a health issue and not just a moral or criminal issue.
Addressing the issue of improving the curriculum to include classes on drugs and mental health.
Discussing with the stake holders such as school counsellors, Manchester city council officials, education board officials who are in charge of the curriculum, mental health professionals, parents, guardians and local health services.
Clayton, RR, AM Cattarello, and BM Johnstone. "The Effectiveness of Drug Abuse Resistance Education (project Dare): 5-Year Follow-Up Results." Preventive Medicine. 25.3 (1996). Print.
We claim that we need to "set a good example," but the government's every effort to impress fear upon our youth, to stigmatize drugs and drug users, has failed to have any effect.... ... middle of paper ... ... Ideally, I would not have to persuade my readers with facts.
With such statistical information it is unsurprising that governments have not fully embraced the harm reduction concept, with some countries reverting back to older methods. For instance, Canada is on the verge of closing the dangerous In-site injection facility in Vancouver and reallocating funds to traditional inpatient treatment--real treatment that promotes eventual abstinence. One can conclude that the effectiveness of harm reduction is a very questionable topic as not only does it aid in offender substance abuse, but at what cost. The topic of harm reduction provokes a deeper thought, what happened to prevention methods and what about them is not working?
The war on drugs in our culture is a continuous action that is swiftly lessening our society. This has been going on for roughly 10-15 years and has yet to slow down in any way. Drugs continue to be a problem for the obvious reason that certain people abuse them in a way that can lead to ultimate harm on such a person. These drugs do not just consist of street drugs (marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy), but prescription medications as well. Although there are some instances where drugs are being used by subjects excessively, there has been medical research to prove that some of these drugs have made a successful impact on certain disorders and diseases.
The public health model differs from traditional health practices, as its focus is on the health of the public instead of one patient. It uses a “3 prong approach to prevention and intervention” “known as the agent, host, and the environment.” This is because threats to public health require a susceptible host, an infectious agent, and a supportive environment that allows the spread of infection. By doing this, professionals are able to develop preventions against issues of public health. This would include teaching children to say no to drugs at a young age in order to prevent addiction in the future, as they are susceptible hosts to becoming addicts. Also making drugs illegal to keep the agent from being accessible to people who could become addicts. The approach is useful in all areas of public health, and has been proven to intervene in the likeliness that something will become
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”) .
Typically, almost everyone in the world has taken drugs at some point in their life. Whether it be over the counter medication or prescription drugs. People get sick, they have illness, allegories, sexually transmitted diseases or other aches and pains. As you may already know, there is medication for each aforementioned problem. This is called drug use, which is using drugs for its intended purpose. However, the real dilemma happens when people began to misuse and abuse drugs.
The drug control policy of the United States has always been a subject of debate. From Prohibition in the early 1930’s to the current debate over the legalization of marijuana, drugs have always been near the top of the government’s agenda. Drug use affects every part of our society. It strains our economy, our healthcare, our criminal justice systems, and it endangers the futures of young people. In order to support a public health approach to drug control, the Obama administration has committed over $10 billion to drug education programs and support for expanding access to drug treatment for addicts (Office). The United States should commit more government resources to protect against illegal use of drugs by youths and provide help for recovering addicts.
Drug and alcohol abuse has become a worldwide epidemic within today’s society. The battle against drugs and alcohol is not going to diminish. Therefore, we as a society need to work together to address these problems while incorporating successful treatment plans and services for these individuals. The addiction to these substances does not only effect oneself, but can also have profound consequences for the children and families.
The world has many different issues, and without them the world would be a perfect place. An issue that causes a lot of controversy is drug abuse. Though the world can never be a perfect place, humans still need to do our best to make in inhabitable as possible, and drugs cause a lot of harm towards humans. Therefore, it is my belief that the first thing that needs to be fixed should be drugs and their abuse. Many possible solutions to this problem exist.
To start, I would like to address the current war on drugs. The way it is now, more and more people are experimenting with drugs, usually starting with cannabis. This “war on drugs” is, simply put, not working (“War on Drugs”). It is a large strain on tax money and, if it is not working, is not worth the cost. There is a better way to fight drug abuse. People should be educated on the detrimental effects and health risks associated with drugs, but, as with alcohol and tobacco, still be given their civil liberty to choose what they consume.
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.
In today’s society, there is a larger variety of drugs that are used, drugs have become easily accessible, and drugs are more likely to be misused. Drugs are commonly misused because of the lack of education people have surrounding how the drug should be taken, or what the consequences of taking the drug may be. Drug education is planned information and skills that are relevant to living in a world where drugs have become more commonly misused (Wikipedia, 2013). For teachers, implementing drug education can help individuals to gain knowledge about drugs that they may be introduced to or come into contact with, and help to prevent the use and misuse of drugs among the students in the classroom. By students gaining this information, the prevention can be expanded into the community.
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
Drug addiction is a very big problem in today’s society. Many people have had their lives ruined due to drug addiction. The people that use the drugs don’t even realize that they have an addiction. They continue to use the drug not even realizing that their whole world is crashing down around them. Drug addicts normally lose their family and friends due to drug addiction.