The United States experiences difficulties in eliminating the use of drugs among members of society due to some psychological and social factors associated with it. Firstly, using drugs makes individuals feel good about themselves. Secondly, the positive feeling triggered by using drugs makes people develop a persistent urge to engage in drug abuse. Drug abuse is a societal problem because the consequences affect the abuser and society at large. Consumption of alcohol weakens the immune system, leads to violence, low productivity due to stress, and premature deaths. The functionalism theory explains that a society is a structure created through related social and biological needs among individuals. The United States engage in war on drugs because it used aggressive measures to minimize use of illegal substances among residents leading to severe and unintended consequences on the offenders. The functionalism theory justifies practices undertaken by the United States government in war on drugs because citizens consider substance abuse as a way of fulfilling their social and biological needs making it difficult to abandon the practice.
The United States federal government initiated war on drugs as a global campaign aimed at reducing illegal drug use in the United States. The campaign aimed to prohibit drug abuse among members of society from engaging in drug abuse due to associated negative impact. The federal government implemented policies that aimed to disrupt supply chain activities such as production, distribution, sale, and consumption of illegal substances. Furthermore, the United States further deployed military aimed at ensuring that the country was in control in ensuring that illegal drugs trade did not take place in the country. Using military aid in war on drugs campaign aimed at ensuring that the country was in control of its operations to ensure implementation and observation of prohibition measures (Thompson, 2014) . Additionally, the federal government implemented an aggressive policy that used military intervention whereby the country would use its armed forces to forcefully make other countries engage prohibit production and distribution of drugs. The government referred the campaign as a war on drugs as it involved conflicts among members of society who had pleasure in using the illegal substances. Additionally, the federal government would have to overcome the extensive cartels involved in the production and sale of illegal substances, which compromised of individuals with some influence in the society (Polomarkakis, 2017) . Moreover, the unintended consequences arising from campaign demonstrates the intensity and complexity of the process towards attaining freedom for the involved parties. For instance, individuals accused of engaging in drug abuse encounter punitive sentencing including death sentences or recruitment in drug centers for rehabilitation. Fighting drug abuse among American citizens does not involve a consensus through creation of awareness because people are unwilling to stop their engagement with the substances demanding the use of forceful measures in addressing the issue.
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The functionalism theory justifies the measures taken by the American federal government in the war on drugs in the country and globally. According to Boden et al. (2016) , the functionalism theory describes society as a structure created through integration using factors aimed at meeting both social and biological needs among people. The functionalist theory argues that the society provides its people with guidelines that justify the use of drugs among the people. University Of Minnesota. Libraries. Publishing (2015) noted that the American society created a culture where people engaged in consumption of alcoholic products regularly. The media features advertisement on wines, beer, and hard liquor and promotion of venues and events that facilitates engagement in alcoholic products among consumers to demonstrate existence of a drinking culture in the country. Therefore, the country does not seem to create awareness on the serious consequences associated with alcoholism. A similar trend is witnessed in the case of other illegal substances such as heroin, cocaine, and tobacco. Furthermore, several states in the country have approved the use of marijuana due to its rich medicinal value without considering the negative impact on it will have on people that will use it with no prescription (Guerrero, 2005) . Drug abuse is critical among Americans since people integrated it as part of their social practices making it difficult to require them engage in the substance. Hence, it becomes critical for the government to apply forceful techniques that aim at prohibiting the use of illegal substances. Military aid and intervention are some approaches used by the American government to exert force in minimizing substance abuse. The unwanted consequences such as death sentences on offenders demonstrates the seriousness of the fight against drug abuse among members of society.
The United States used aggressive techniques in the war on drugs campaign that aimed to prohibit drug abuse in the country and globally. The campaign involved the use of military aid to ensure prohibition of activities such as production, distribution, and sale of drugs among Americans. Further, military intervention enables the government to be in control on what other countries do to eliminate substance abuse. The functionalism theory justifies the use of aggressive measures in the campaign arguing that drug abuse met both social and biological needs of people making it difficult to indulge in such practices. The war on drugs raises pertinent issues that demand societal consciousness in formation of habits that cause harm to the society since people will perceive them to be normal.
References
Boden, M. T., Berenbaum, H., & Gross, J. J. (2016). Why Do People Believe What They Do? A Functionalist Perspective. Review of General Psychology : Journal of Division 1, of the American Psychological Association , 20 (4), 399–411. https://doi.org/10.1037/gpr0000085
Guerrero, L. (2005). Drug Abuse . https://www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/4622_Leon_Guerrero_Chapter_8.pdf
Polomarkakis, K. A. (2017). Drug Law Enforcement Revisited: The “War” Against the War on Drugs. Journal of Drug Issues , 47 (3), 396–404. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022042617697017
Thompson, G. O. (2014). Slowly Learning the Hard Way: U.S. America’s War on Drugs And Implications for Mexico. Norteamérica , 9 (2), 59–85. https://doi.org/10.20999/nam.2014.b003
University Of Minnesota. Libraries. Publishing. (2015). Social problems : continuity and change. University Of Minnesota Libraries Publishing, Minneapolis. https://open.lib.umn.edu/socialproblems/
