Drug Use and Addiction

Introduction

A drug is any substance that when taken, alters the way a person performs his normal, day to day bodily functions. Some of the most abused drugs include heroin, tobacco, alcohol, opioid, and bhang. Most people who use these drugs end up becoming addicted in that, they cannot do without using them. Drug addiction therefore, is a serious condition which is usually characterized by the excessive use of drugs, which is not easily controlled despite the adverse effects caused by those drugs ( Porter, Greene & Taylor, 2016). Once a person gets addicted to drugs, their rehabilitation is a very hard thing, not easily achieved unless there is companied effort coming from the addicted individuals themselves and from those around them, who shall have wished to help them stop using those drugs. In this discussion therefore, we shall focus on the effects of substance abuse and the efforts by the law enforcement agencies to see to it that the number of substance abuse addicted individuals decline in the world. 

According to the Diagnosfic and Stafisfical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), substance abuse disorders happen when the concerned individuals regularly use alcohol or any other drugs, making them face the risk of clinical and functional disabilities like failing to accomplish tasks in school, at work, or at home. According to the Diagnosfic and Stafisfical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), the diagnosis of substance abuse is based on the facts or the seen evidence of social impairment, pharmacological criteria, risky use, and impaired control.

People usually become users of substances due to many different reasons. For instance a student in school may become a drug user and eventually, become an addict due to peer pressure. This is because as more of his or her friends use the substance in his or her presence, he or she also gets the temptation of wanting to feel how their friends feel when they use these substances and therefore, starts to use drugs, on a smaller scale, but with a gradual degeneration. Some students have become addicts just because they were cheated that when they use drugs they can perform well in their exams and as a result, end up becoming addicts and eventually, never even complete their schooling.

According to the Diagnosfic and Stafisfical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), the following are the most commonly abused substances in the United States:

Most Commonly Abused Drugs

Alcohol

The use of alcohol has many adverse effects on the life of a person for instance, it can make someone to develop serious health conditions, which may cause death if not treated early enough, a change in behavior, which might not be fully acceptable in the society, and the development of alcohol-related withdrawal symptoms. In recent reports by the center for disease control, the total number of deaths due to the usage of alcohol stands at approximately 89,000 per year. 

Many individuals who are addicted to alcoholism, when asked to explain their addiction, say that it is the best way for them to get rid of stress. This ill-conceived belief has led many people to become alcoholics, even without their knowledge, as addiction is procedural and as well gradual, and more often than not, may even remain unnoticed in the course of its development. According to the Diagnosfic and Stafisfical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), there are different levels of drinking, moderate, binge and heavy. Moderate drinking is when a person uses an average of one drink for women and two drinks for men per day. Heavy drinking is when one drinks more than five drinks in a single occasion for thirty days continuously. Binge drinking, on the other hand, is when one uses four to five drinks within any two hours.

In order for one to be diagnosed for alcohol addiction or for alcohol use disorder, they need or have to satisfy a certain criterion for diagnosis. These diagnostic criterion take stock of the issues or problems in terms of regulating the usage of alcohol, and include the excessive use of alcohol despite the problems that may arise due to its use, behavioral awkwardness resulting from the use of alcohol, and/ or the occurrence of risky situations or events, but owing to the use of alcohol. The severity of the usage of alcohol is classified as either mild, severe, or moderate, depending on the total number of criterions that have been fulfilled or met by the addict.

Tobacco

Many individuals, in excess of 470,000, die every year due to the use of tobacco or due to cigarette smoking, and this is according to the center for disease control. Tobacco is one of the most dangerous substance, for it damages nearly every human body organ, causing serious health conditions like lung cancer, heart disease, respiratory complications, and stroke. In America today, youths, aged between 18 years and 25 years, are the most active users of tobacco, and this mainly results from peer influence. The prevalence rate for the use of tobacco still indicates that Americans are the highest users of tobacco in the world, with approximately 39% prevalence, whilst Asians have the lowest prevalence rate, of approximately 10%.

Cannabis

This is the third most abused drug or substance in America today, after tobacco and alcohol. A survey done in the year 2014 indicated that most people, an approximated 22 million people above the ages of twelve years old, use cannabis. The use of this substances occasions loss of memory, the development of difficulties in thinking and problem resolution, and the development of respiratory infections, especially after a long period of usage, together with increased risks of the development of cancerous cells ( Compton & Baler, 2016) . The main indicators that a person is addicted to cannabis include, the inability of the body to perform some basic normal functions, an increment in the desire to take cannabis more often, and withdrawal symptoms, for instance, not being able to sleep, anger control issues, and depression alongside nervousness.

Stimulants

Stimulants enable their users to experience an increase in their energy, and to become more attentive and alert. Stimulants also increase the heart and respiration rates, and the blood pressure. Such drugs include those that are applied in the treatment of conditions like obesity, depression, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. When some stimulants, with the examples of cocaine, methamphetamines, and amphetamines are used for the wrong purposes, they become toxic and harmful to the human body. Some stimulants like cocaine, which are derived from plants, are a major contributor to the increases in drug abuse rates, due to the ease of their accessibility. These stimulants are normally taken either orally, intravenously, or are snorted. According to the Diagnosfic and Stafisfical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), the symptoms for addiction and increased usage of such like stimulants include, craving for more stimulants, the inability to avoid or control usage, misuse of time in search for stimulants, and withdrawal symptoms, resulting from the stoppage of the use of stimulants such as fatigue, increased appetite, inability to sleep, and difficulties in control of body movements ( Grant, Saha, Ruan, Goldstein,Chou, Jung & Hasin, 2016) . 

Hallucinogens

This substance can naturally occur or can be chemically prepared. The effects of the excessive use of this substance include, visual and auditory hallucination, feelings of being neglected by family and friends, and distortions in perception and time. Symptoms for the excessive use or addiction to this substance include, continued use of the substance despite the negative effects that it causes, continued usage of the drug even in risky or dangerous situations, as when driving, and spending disproportionately long periods of time thinking of how to find, obtain, and use the hallucinogens. 

Opioids

This substance lowers the sensitivity of the body towards pain. It also makes one to become mentally confused, producing nausea, drowsiness, and constipation. Substances under this category, such as heroine, all of which are illegal, continue to be used by many people in the United States. The overuse of these substances can cause serious health problems, resulting to death. Some of the symptoms of addiction to these drugs, according to the Diagnosfic and Stafisfical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), include increased desire for opioids, the inability of one to prevent or reduce usage, their increased usage despite one’s knowledge of the serious effects of the use of opioids, people spending a great deal of their time searching for, and using opioids, and withdrawal symptoms like mood swings, vomiting, fever, diarrhea and insomnia.

The use of the above substances have had a serious negative impact on the country’s economy and the government is dedicated to do anything that could help in bring to a stop the usage and abuse of these substances. Some of the measures that have been taken by the government include;

Increasing the imprisonment period for those persons found selling illegal drugs to the citizens.

Enforcing laws and ensuring that any person found in possession despite their racial status are taken into prison for a period not les that five years is a greatest move by the American government in fighting the use and sell of drugs ( McBride, Terry-McElrath, & VanderWaal, 2016). This has received support from majority who feel that the use of these substances has made it almost impossible for many youths and people to realize or fulfill their dreams as their lose focus and succumb to excessive use of drugs making them addicts. 

Making available the drugs or the treatments for addictions

Making available the treatments for addiction, through lowering the prices of rehabilitation programs, may be a great step in the fight against substance abuse and addiction. Treatment services include abstinence- based treatments and methadone ( Ettner, 2016).) . Addicted patients, but who are ready and willing to stop abusing substances, should be able to access these treatments in any one of the government facilities that offers these services. Of importance, is that these methods of treatments must be friendly, so that the patient doesn’t run away or stop to attend the abstinence lessons before they are fully healed. 

Providing the relevant and accurate information to the youths through Collaboration of the criminal justice agencies and the prevention agencies

The government should fund after school programs so as to make the youths busy all the time. With such programs the youths find little time and since they are occupied are less likely to abuse drugs. While offering advices or seminars to the youths, both the police, teachers and the parents should be involved in such programs so that the children get to understand the importance of not using the drugs ( Anderson‐Carpenter, Watson‐Thompson, Chaney & Jones, 2016) . Also when there is a combined effort, by the prevention and the criminal justice agencies, many youths are saved from using the drugs. Like for example, the Police and communities together (PAC) is a community based education program that educates the young people on the disadvantages of using drugs. Through this program many youths from approximately thirty states have been helped.

Safe and Sound

This is a partnership of the prosecutors, law enforcement, leaders both elected and civic, business men and women, and clergy aimed at specifically reducing substance abuse. It empowers the youth telling them the importance of avoiding criminal groups and abusing drugs. This has seen a great decline in the rate of drug abuse by the youths.

Making it illegal to drive while drunk.

Making it illegal for any person to be found driving while drunk is one of the major steps that could help in reducing drug abuse. A combined effort from both the domestic law enforcement agencies and the administration has led to a decline in the number of cases of drunk driving ( Kula & Sahin, 2016). Any fellows who are caught violating the law are fined, whilst some are jailed, something that scares others from drunk driving and in the process, the rate of drinking has declined. 

Successful opposition of the move to legalize marijuana

In the year 2010, there were successful political campaigns, making marijuana legal. The Administration made it clear that it opposed this move, very strongly, and in conjunction with public health officials. It is important to note that illegalization makes the prices of marijuana higher, which increases the attractiveness in trade of black market marijuana. 

Conclusion

As has been discussed, it is clear that the wide usage of drugs is bad and can make people to develop some diseases, sometimes causing death. It is therefore, important that the public in as well as the government, join hands in the fight against the abuse of substances.

References

Anderson‐Carpenter, K. D., Watson‐Thompson, J., Chaney, L., & Jones, M. (2016). Reducing binge drinking in adolescents through implementation of the strategic prevention framework.  American journal of community psychology ,  57 (1[p-2), 36-46.

Compton, W. M., & Baler, R. (2016). The Epidemiology of DSM-5 Cannabis Use Disorders among US Adults: Science to Inform Clinicians Working in a Shifting Social Landscape.  American Journal of Psychiatry ,  173 (6), 551-553.

Ettner, S. (2016, June). The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) Evaluation Study: Impact on Financial Requirements and Quantitative Treatment Limits for Substance Abuse Treatment among “Carve-In” Plans. In  6th Biennial Conference of the American Society of Health Economists . Ashecon.

Grant, B. F., Saha, T. D., Ruan, W. J., Goldstein, R. B., Chou, S. P., Jung, J., ... & Hasin, D. S. (2016). Epidemiology of DSM-5 Drug Use Disorder: Results From the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions–III.  JAMA psychiatry ,  73 (1), 39-47.

Kula, S., & Sahin, I. (2016). Organizational social capital and performance of drug law enforcement departments.  European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research ,  22 (1), 153-170.

McBride, D. C., Terry-McElrath, Y. M., & VanderWaal, C. J. (2016). Public Policy and Illicit Drugs.  Prevention, Policy, and Public Health , 263.

Porter, M., Greene, T., & Taylor, A. (2016). Hull JSNA Toolkit Release 6: Drug and Substance Abuse.