Introduction
Drug abuse is a process which rips the individual’s souls and puts the individual on the path of darkness. There are many different reasons for the use of drug abuse. This paper will reflect over the effects of drug abuse through media stories, individual stories and through history. It will focus on why this concern of drug abuse is important. Lastly it will reflect over a couple rudimentary critically thinking questions to help demonstrate how drug abuse affects people.
Reasons for Increased Cases of Drug Abuse
Drug abuse is a practice that has persisted since the beginning of time. As our society progress and our technology advances, the pitfalls of these advantages come into play more. One of these pitfalls is the use of drugs. Drugs are a higher crime and a higher death rate than twenty years ago. There are ways to illegal transport drugs that were not possible twenty years ago as well. There has always has been a high advocacy to help and bring an end to drug abuse. Sadly, the evil toxins that drugs can give individuals manage to outweigh at the end of the day. When people become addicted to drugs, they become dependent on the drugs. The more addicted they are, they more they are willing to illegal acts and unmoral acts to get their drugs.
This is where people will start selling their bodies for drugs or performing sex deeds for drugs. Sadly there are cases where people will even prostitute their own children to get their drugs. There are people who steal and kill for these drugs. They will even steal from their own family if their addiction gets that high. The drugs give them this temporary feeling of happiness and escape from their life and problems.
Problems are what caused majority people turned to drugs. Problems can be soldiers returning home from war. Others can be people losing their jobs, wives, husbands, a loved one or a child. Problems can vary from countless reasons on why people choose drugs. The main reason chosen for this research is escape.
The escape is not to deal with life. Even with those individuals that only use drugs during a high school party as peer pressure. Evenly in majority of those cases, those individuals being pressured to do drugs feel happy to be accepted by the so call cool kids of schools. There is also the fact that secrets play a role in the matter as well.
Secrets in the form of how a person is truly feeling. Secrets to what a person how life situation is. Not everyone feels like talking nor do they want to admit there problems. There are some people and some cultures that feel admit defeated is a sign of weakness. In our society, since the beginning of time, there has always been the stigma that men need to be strong and not show any sign of weakness. For a lot of men, this can be a lot of pressure and stress. People start feeling stress, anger, sad, hurt, or even happy; they can turn to the dark path of pain.
Pain can be harder for some individuals to cope. Sometime people starting using drugs to the point, where they are in denial. They are in denial they are addicted. They are in denial that their addiction is affecting their family ones. These people are lost. Their ability for the judgment of right and wrong is gone. They need help to get back on the path of right, to be able see and understand the errors in their judgments. This is not an easy task. Especially for those individuals that lack the support system of having family or friends to be there as they are to get rid of this demon. Sadly, for those without the support system or the lack of support system, are more likely to suffer tragedies after misfortunes with drug abuse. Those people who have family that are pushing them and the family is not realizing the weight of that pushing, can lead a person to this path. This is not saying that all people take this path. This is saying this is a signification problem that needs to be properly addressed. Sometimes to better understand the importance of effects of drug abuse, is to hear the stories of people who live been through this.
Effects of Drug Abuse
A young man with two boys who is in late twenties, that has always been a mother boy. His mother has always push very hard for him to be the best and only the best. That is good for parents to expect that of their children and to have goals. It is also important for parents to realize the warning signs when the pushing is starting to affect their child. This young man was so tired of being pressured and being felt that everything he did could have been better, he started smoking weed. The weed gave him a wonderful feeling of temporary relief from the burdens of family life. When the pressures started to increase for him, he decided to start trying other drugs. Drugs that was more powerful. Drugs that evunateely led him to crack.
Sadly his addiction has become so strong, he has chosen drugs over his children. He has missed the early wonderful years of both of son’s lives. He was there but he was in and out. When he was there, half the time he was high from the drugs. So his oldest son who is now seven picked up his dad’s behavior with having a temper. The oldest son does not understand what his father is addicted to. He just understands that his daddy can be sick at time. Sadly there are times when he blames himself. Regardless of the unhappiness he caused his children, the power of the drugs keep him from everything else. There dad has been a drug addicted now for over ten years. Sadly, the path this young man is taking, is taking a path of further destruction or possible death. Even sadder, it will be his children that will have to suffer due to his decisions. He is aware of his decisions. He has manipulated the court in order to get out of jail sooner. He knows what he is doing. He chooses to do drugs and drink rather than be a father. That is again is the power of the drugs. That is how drugs takes roots on individuals and consumes their souls. This young man’s case is just one of the many cases of adverse effects of drug abuse.
McIntosh, McDonald, and Mckeganey (150) carried out a qualitative study aimed at finding out why people got involved in drugs despite the awareness on the risks posed by the drugs. In order to do this, they sampled teens in US and carried out a cross-sectional survey. Their findings have it that peer pressure was among the factors. However, the main factors that led to drug use are curiosity and personal choice. This turn of events makes the situation worse. If the teenagers make choices to take drugs, there is a possibility that they are not aware that the habit predisposes them to a lot of risks. It is, therefore, important to know the risks and effects that accompany drug abuse.
According to Dryden-Edwards and Shiel (Para 1), there are a lot of risks and threats posed by drug use. Al these have negative effects on an individual. For starters, the drugs have a negative effect on the people’s social lives. The users become less attentive and cooperative. They tend to lose their respect for authority and are ready to do anything so as to acquire the drugs. It is no wonder that they get involved in social crimes, some of which turn out to be tragic. The people become irresponsible members of the society readily involving in social crimes such as unprotected sexual acts and rape victimization or commission. Such scenarios put them at risk of venereal diseases and unwanted pregnancies (Dryden-Edwards and Shiel, Para 4).
Ammerman, Ott, and Tarter (43) indicate that one of the immediate effects of drug abuse is social disorder. The drug users often tend to be rebellious and have no regard for any authority. They are disrespectful and have no fear of going to the extremes that can cause harm to the society as a whole. The individuals tend to engage in crimes such as robbery so as to get the drugs. These vices are so deeply rooted in the society that there is need to make sure that they are controlled.
Ammerman et al (34) look at the adverse effects of drug abuse on the social functioning of an individual. Most of the people hooked to drugs have no regard for their families or friends. On the contrary, drugs tend to drive them towards other drug users. In other words, it drives them deeper into their addictions. This implies that the social ties maintained by such individuals are quite destructive. This is the reason as to why the drug addicts tend to fall deeper and deeper into the trap of drug abuse. They cannot get themselves above the challenge of the drugs. It is all because their social lives have been ruined by the drugs. They even end up with broken families due to the divorces arising from the irresponsible behavior caused by drug abuse. This is a clear indication that drug abuse is a vice that needs to be wiped out of the community lest it ruins the community as a whole.
The users also tend to have emotional problems. Hyde and Setaro (3) indicate that drug users tend to have depression, hallucinations, and anxiety. More often than not, they often have suicidal thoughts. It is unfortunate that at times the people become addicted to the substances. They become dependent on the drugs and cannot function without them. This causes withdrawal syndrome once they try to quit the drugs. Such factors worsen the depression cases and often lead to the suicidal thoughts. Edelfield and Moosa (101) indicate that most of the people using drugs tend to have a dependency syndrome. They cannot function normally unless they are under the influence of drugs. As such, the people often tend to feel guilty and shameful for their acts. However, they cannot get themselves out of the habit as they are already addicted. In the long run, the individuals tend to undergo mental stress which often leads to PTSD. This is all because they could not control their urge to get the drugs. Edelfield and Moose (120) further indicate that teenagers are the most affected by the problem. This is because more often than not, they do not have the money to sustain their drug supply whereas they need the drugs to function. Such problems prove too much on the teenagers and they end up suffering from emotional problems.
Drug abuse also predisposes the people to health related problems. According to Hyde and Setaro (5), the use of anabolic steroids could expose the boys to impotence and clitoral enlargement in women. Other health effects that can be seen include stunted growth, strokes, liver and heart disease, cancer, acne, venereal diseases, among others. Drug use in itself can have direct effects in the body by causing some of the problems such as cancer, heart, and liver diseases. Such diseases often cause death, especially the cancers which are hard to cure. It also affects their health indirectly by modifying their behaviors and habits such that they are exposed to risks. For instance, drugs which make people lose self control and reason can make them engage in potentially dangerous activities such as unprotected sex and rape. These have negative impacts on the people’s health. This calls for quick action to solve the problem.
Controlling Drug Abuse
Various strategies can be put in place to control drug use. According to Park (25), counseling is one of the most effective ways of solving the problem. McIntosh et al (147) indicate that the main factors leading to drug use are curiosity and choice. This implies that the people are ready to experiment even with things that can harm them. In order to curb this, there is need to take victims through counseling and training sessions with regard to drugs. They should be aware of the social, mental, and health risks posed by drugs. Incorporating such messages in their classes can be a good way of preventing the problem from arising.
Parents and guardians also need to be vigilant in preventing their children from engaging in such acts. Dryden-Edwards and Shiel (Para 3) indicate that even people in 8th and 10th grade are into drugs. Since the law of the land does not allow sale of drugs to minors, it goes without saying that there is a loophole somewhere which allows the people to access the drugs. It is, therefore a responsibility of the entire society in taking the necessary measures to curb the menace.
Conclusion
Works Cited
Ammerman, Robert T., Ott, Peggy J., & Tarter, Ralph E. Prevention and Societal Impact of Drug and Alcohol Abuse. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis, 2009.
Edelfield, Bruce, & Moosa, Traceyy J. Drug Abuse. New York, NY: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2012.
Dryden-Edwards, R., & Shiel, W.C. Teen Drug Abuse. 2013. Web. 15th Oct. 2013, http://www.medicinenet.com/teen_drug_abuse/page2.htm
Hyde, M.O., & Setaro, J.F. Drugs 101: An Overview for Teens. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publishing Group, 2003: 3-8.
Marshall, S.N. Top 8 Reasons Why Teens Try Alcohol and Drugs. Haddonfield Municipal Alliance, 2013: 24-27
McIntosh, J., McDonald, F., & McKeganey, N. “The Initial Use of Drugs in a Sample of Pre-teenage Schoolchildren: the role of choice, pressure and influence.” Drugs: Education, Prevention, and Policy, 10.2 (2003):147-158.
Park, A. “Teens and Drugs: Rite of Passage or Recipe for Addiction?” Time, Health and Family, 29.2 (2011): 23-27.
