Essay on American Drug Abuse - 1236 Words

American Drug Abuse nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Our society has found itself directly in the middle of a transcontinental drug surge. An estimated 23 million of the world’s population regularly take illicit drugs, and the Drug Enforcement Administration estimated that 13.6 million of those who habitually used illegal drugs in 1998 were Americans. Even in our current everyday motions of life and productivity, we have set the path for self-destruction. â€Å"We awake to the kick of caffeine, soothe our nerves with tobacco, ease our tension headaches with aspirin, wind down the day with alcohol, and swallow an antihistamine to help us sleep – all perfectly legal, respectable, and even expected (â€Å"Drug Abuse† 195).†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦show more content†¦This time period of organized crime and prohibition lead to thousands of deaths due to bad alcohol, and created general contempt among the citizens for the laws of the United States. As a result of our current prohibition, can you tell w here our great nation is headed now? History repeats itself in numerous ways quite often. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The next solution that one might think of, which has very good intentions but is just not even close to being a complete solution, is to educate the public and the offenders about drug abuse. For the most part, it seems unlikely that a reasonably sane individual will become a drug addict, if he knows in advance what the addiction is going to be like. If education is going to be an effective deterrent of drug abuse, it must begin during grade school, because one out of every six 13-year-olds has tried marijuana at least once. Our children must be taught the many dangers of drug abuse and strategies to avoid the abuse of these illicit substances, prior to middle and high school, where availability and peer pressure can make the use of drugs all too acceptable and extremely easy to fall for. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Although education is a far cry from being a complete solution, as I said before, it can be very effective when used in combination with other plausible solutions. For example, the best solution we have developed and tested is to use education along with punishment, which is the systemShow MoreRelatedThe Effects Of Drug Abuse On American Substance Abuse Treatment Agencies856 Words   |  4 Pagesthe topic regarding drugs referred to as, Acceptability and Availability of Harm-Reduction Interventions for Drug Abuse in American Substance Abuse Treatment Agencies, by Harold Rosenberg and Kristina T. Phillips. The study took place at Bowling Green State University and its method was conducted as a survey. Harold Rosenberg and Kristina T. Philips developed this study to determine the acceptability and availability for several types of interventions at multiple substance abuse treatment agenciesRead MoreThe Effects Of Drug Abuse On American Soil Essay1539 Words   |  7 Pagesepidemic of drug abuse claims the lives of thousands of Americans without any discrimination or bias. The decades old â€Å"war on drugs† has done little to hinder the devastating carnage of widespread drug abuse decimating today’s youth. This affliction hits home for almost all of us to at least some extent. The enemy is known, we as a country however have yet to devise an accurate plan to defeat it. This paper delves into the current polysubstance dependence epidemic waging war on American soil. 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Maia Szalavitz, Author Of1484 Words   |  6 Pagesabout our finger-pointing mentality on drug abuse, â€Å"Addiction is one of the most serious health problems we face today, and as of 2010, more than 23 million people have an addiction to drugs, and according to the National Institutes of Health, these addictions contribute to more than 100,000 deaths per year.† Drug abuse is a major problem in the United States and throughout the world as more and more people become addicted every day. When you hear the words drug addict you think of desensitizing termsRead MoreDrug Abuse1279 Words   |  6 PagesThe use of and abuse of illegal and prescription drugs are a health, social, and law enforcement problem that is affecting Americans across the country. Drug abuse is destroying the lives of many teens and adults and is also destroying families in the United States. The use of drugs is a major problem in the United States among all Americans, but drug addiction is the main cause for America s troubled teens today. Exactly what is a drug? A drug is any chemical that produces a therapeutic or non-therapeuticRead MoreDetrimental Social Problems: Substance Abuse Essays1197 Words   |  5 PagesSubstance abuse is one of the most detrimental social problems found in all societies. It has been the leading cause for generational breakdowns of families and communities, and is probably the most controversial social problem when developing corrective solutions. Substance abuse can be defined as the chemical dependence, or pattern of usage of both legal and illegal substances, that has adverse physical, psychological, and psychomotor effects on the human body. The use of substances does not always