According to Fattore and Diana (2016), drug use and alcohol abuse go hand in hand, in that, those people who use drugs are more likely to consume alcohol while those who depend on alcohol are more likely to abuse drugs as compared to the general population. The use of legal and non-legal drugs for non-medical reasons has greatly reduced in recent years. However, alcoholism and abuse of other drugs remains a way of life for most people in America especially among the adolescents and young adults ( Clinard & Meier, 2011 ). Therefore, this continues to present a challenge concerning public health. Furthermore, the use of drug is a practice found in both hardworking and delinquent families. Moreover, people get access to drugs at most of the holidays and events including birthday parties and other celebration parties ( Clinard & Meier,2011 ). In fact, some people go to these events innocently but leave as drug users. Generally, the term drug loosely refers to various substances including medicine used in the treatment of diseases and other substances like alcohol and cocaine that help in enhancing the mental and physical well-being of a person ( Clinard & Meier, 2011 ).
In the United States, alcohol is the most commonly abused drug ( Clinard & Meier, 2011 ). Drug abuse acutely affects both the individual and the society. Notably, drug abuse affects the cognitive process of the individual in addition to altering one’s moods and increasing the risk of injuries and even death. On to the side of the society, drug abuse leads to high cost of treatments and rehabilitation, increased crime and more costs on providing mental health care services. Additionally, there are the long-term effects of drug abuse, which include lung cancer and heart problems. According to Fattore and Diana (2016), alcoholism and general abuse of drugs is a major cause for violent activities, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), and neglect of families, child abuse and high levels of unemployment. Consequently, society is dealing with many problems including broken families, lost lives, loss of employment after frequent absenteeism and inefficiency, and a weakened bond that holds the society. This paper discusses the details on this deviant practice and presents recommendations on how to deal with the challenge.
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Alcoholism as a deviant activity
It is important to note that there is no strict distinction between the deviant and the non-deviant use of drugs. However, the norms of the society do define when the drug’s use is defiant, at the point when it crosses over the line of these norms. Abuse of alcohol is quite common in the society and has both behavioral and physical effects. Generally, the rate of absorption and the physical characteristics of the alcohol abuser determine the immediate effects. Drunkenness is a symptom that results from the disturbance of brain activities because of drinking large quantities of alcohol. On the other hand, chronic absorption of alcohol may lead to liver diseases, birth defects and cardiovascular diseases among others. Additionally, there are other effects of abusing this drug including deaths from intoxication and fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) which results to abnormalities of the central nervous system, retarded growth, and visible facial features including thinning of the upper lip and small openings of the eyes (Fattore & Diana, 2016). However, alcohol may not be that bad if used with moderation since it can help in easing tension and reducing anxiety.
Notably, estimates from sales and tax receipts in the United States shows that people take beer more than wine while distilled spirits rank third with men registering the highest figure among the drinkers (Chartier, Thomas & Kendler, 2016). However, drinking forms an integral part of the American society with it being available in almost every celebration. In fact, nearly two-thirds of the American population engages in drinking as a social activity (Chartier, Thomas & Kendler, 2016). However, with the different categories of drinkers including problem drinkers, social drinkers, heavy drinkers and the chronic drinkers, there are problems, both to the society and to the individuals. One of the costs of alcoholisms is the loss of money by the industry because of absenteeism and inefficiency of employees who engage in excessive drinking. Other notable costs include costs of managing one’s health, losing relationships and loss of lives. Moreover, violent actions are associated with alcohol drinking. Research shows that most of the licensed American drivers are drinkers, which increases the number of accidents that result from drunken driving (Chartier, Thomas & Kendler, 2016).
Before people can decide on how to deal with alcoholism, it is important to understand the risk factors that expose people to this problem. It is possible to categorize these risk factors into two groups. First, there are the cultural or societal factors usually referred to as contextual factors (Hanson, Venturelli, & Fleckenstein, 2015). The other category of the risk factors relate to the individual and the environment in which one lives.
Contextual factors
These are factors originating from the values of the society that one lives in. One of these factors is the laws or those norms that exist in the society. Generally, these laws touch on taxation and pricing of alcohol, appropriate age of alcohol consumers and the appropriate hours of selling it. Additionally, the laws can affect on the demand and supply of the drink. Another factor that affects consumption is the availability of the drink. According to Fattore and Diana (2016), availability of the drink affect consumption levels in that, when the drink is readily available, the consumption levels are high while these levels get lower when the drink is not available. Similarly, researchers cite extreme economic deprivation as another social factor that can lead to high levels of alcoholism. The argument is that disadvantages such as poor housing, poverty and overcrowding cause people to engage more in drinking. Moreover, living in disorganized neighborhoods where population density is high with less surveillance of the public areas is associated with increased crimes among them being drug trafficking (Hanson, Venturelli, & Fleckenstein, 2015). Therefore, these areas may record a high number of cases of alcoholism.
Individual and environmental factors
A number of individual and environmental factors increase alcohol intake. One of these factors is the family history. It is a common belief that this habit is hereditary from parent to the offspring through the genes. Additionally, a family that has a history of drinking may pass this behavior to the children while poor parenting is also associated with increased cases of drinking teenagers. To add onto to this is the prevalence of family conflicts. Generally, conflicting parents may cause stress to the children who then engage in drinking activities. Moreover, these conflicts lead to family break-ups at times compounding on the problem for the children. Peer pressure is another factor contributing to this challenge in the society. People are social beings and they form relationships that they strive hard to retain. Consequently, people who relate with peers engaging in alcohol abuse may end up doing so in an effort to belong and be part of the group. Similarly, failure in schools and rejection by peers are other factors that contribute to high levels of alcohol intake. Generally, people who score low grades at school feel less motivated, get withdrawn and develop low self-esteem and they seek refuge in alcohol, which becomes their companion. Notably, many other factors contribute to this social problem meaning that these are just a few examples of them.
Social and economic impact of drug abuse and alcoholism
Drug abuse affects individuals and society both directly and indirectly. Records show that many of the America’s social problems result from drug abuse. Some of the social effects of abusing alcohol include accidents from drunken driving, violent crimes including theft, assaults and homicide, child abuse and stress (Chartier, Thomas & Kendler, 2016). On the economic aspect, this practice is quite costly to the individual and to the society. Addiction results from continuous use of the substance and this can increase costs for an individual, which could be one reason why people end up engaging in crime to get the resources to buy the substance (Obembe, 2012). The society will feel the effect when they have to provide health services and rehabilitation for the affected individuals. In fact, most of the public health problems in America result from alcohol and other drug abuse (Hanson, Venturelli, & Fleckenstein, 2015). Similarly, the society will need to provide for the people who end up losing employment because of their drinking behavior since they get unproductive at work and may frequently avoid work leading to their dismissal.
Measures to prevent drug and alcohol abuse
In an effort to improve quality of life for individuals, the society finds it necessary to take up preventive measures aimed at minimizing this problem. In addition to improving quality of life for the people, prevention of drug abuse and alcoholism does provide other benefits including improved academic performance, reduced crime rates in the society, reduced accidents and deaths from motor vehicles, lower costs of health and increased productivity of individuals at the workplace thereby reducing unemployment rates. The prevention role is not a one-person business but rather everyone including the government and individuals must take part in this process. It is important to note that there is no one program or approach best for preventing drug use.
The role of the state in the prevention process
The government is responsible for coming up with various laws that can protect the citizens. Therefore, the government should emphasize on the laws that determine the minimum age for drinking, discourage use of alcohol through taxation, which increases the cost, enact laws that prohibit sale of alcohol to intoxicated persons and limit the number of outlets to reduce the supply of alcohol. Similarly, it should encourage people to install ignition interlocks that prevent people from driving while under the influence of alcohol (Chartier, Thomas & Kendler, 2016). Additionally, the government should come up with strategies that can help in the prevention of diseases that result from drug abuse including HIV. Moreover, it should implement programs aimed at monitoring drugs.
The role of employers
Employers can help in minimizing this problem by providing training programs for the employees on the dangers associated with abuse of drug. Moreover, they can provide counseling services to those employees who are culprits of this problem. Another role of the employers is to provide benefits in the health cover that relate to disorders, which result from substance use and encourage workers to make use of these services.
Role of the community and not-for-profit organizations
The main responsibility of the community and these organizations is to help in the implementation of those policies meant to minimize alcohol use. Additionally, they should educate the people about the risks associated with abuse of drugs and excessive alcohol intake. Moreover, they should actively work with the media to ensure there is a reduction in the marketing efforts of alcohol amongst the youths to help reduce the intake.
The role of families and individuals
Persons should take individual responsibility and be willing to control this problem. Therefore, people should avoid using alcohol irresponsibly. Similarly, families should ensure that children do not have access to alcohol; though this is a problem in many homes where people take alcohol as part of their diet exposing children to the practice too early in life. Moreover, people should avoid driving when they are drunk to minimize accidents resulting from drunken driving. To add onto this, one should be able to handle peer pressure and stand firm in his or her own principles. There is no need to want to fit in a group while destroying one’s life. Teenagers should therefore know that they are accountable for their own actions and at no one point will a group receive the blame for the wrong actions of an individual. Another important thing is to know how to deal with pressures of life. People engage in alcohol abuse as a way of reducing stress and eventually become addicts. It is important to find alternative ways of handling these pressures other than drinking and using drugs.
Recommendations and Conclusion
Alcohol and substance abuse is not a problem only for the United States but for the world all over. There is no best way of preventing people from abusing drugs and alcohol. However, individuals, families, government and the community at large can help solve this challenge through a number of ways. While the government lays down the rules regarding drug and substance abuse, these laws may only remain in paper if people are not ready to implement them. Therefore, it is important that people take part in enforcing these laws and report those people who go against the rules without fear or favor. Additionally, it is important to emphasize marketing of programs aimed at preventing drug abuse to counter the efforts of people who promote the intake of these drugs. Moreover, the health care providers need be informed people with knowledge on how to prevent drug abuse and pass this knowledge to the society while at the same time educating on the dangers of drug abuse. Notably, the youth forms the population that is highly affected by this problem and therefore it is necessary to direct more efforts towards creating awareness amongst them and empowering them economically to ensure that their situations do not force them into this ordeal. While there is much effort to curb this problem, it remains a great problem due to the various challenges impairing these efforts including lack of information, ignorance of the people and increased costs of funding education programs. However, this should not halt the prevention efforts since prevention is always better than cure.
References;
Chartier, K. G., Thomas, N. S., & Kendler, K. S. (2016). Interrelationship between family history of alcoholism and generational status in the prediction of alcohol dependence in US Hispanics. Psychological Medicine , 1-11.
Clinard, M. B., & Meier, R. F. (2011). Sociology of deviant behavior . Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning
Fattore, L., & Diana, M. (2016). Drug addiction: An affective-cognitive disorder in need of a cure. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews , 65 , 341-361.
Hanson, G., Venturelli, P. J., & Fleckenstein, A. E. (2015). Drugs and society .
Obembe, S. B. (2012). Practical skills and clinical management of alcoholism and drug addiction .
