Drugs And Society Research Papers Example

Introduction

Drugs have been a major factor that has been affecting communities in different parts of the world. The impact of drug use has primarily affected the communities in situations where their use is illegal. Over the years, the availability of different forms of drugs, whether illegal or legal has increased tremendously. And the drugs, both legal and illegal are used recreational purposes, medicinal purposes and achieving effects necessarily not related to health. In most cases of illegal drug use, the drugs are used for recreational purposes. Extensive laws are in place to ensure that abuse of drugs is controlled. However, despite the increasing amount of information, readily accessible over the internet and the laws stipulating the likely consequences, there is stilling an increasing rate of abuse of drugs.
Social and personal problems tend to be a major reason contributing to people's way of dealing with problems. People who do not want to seek other forms of helps for their problems will often turn to drug abuse and intoxication of other substances such as alcohol to deal with stress. In cases such as in the sports world, certain drugs are used to boost the performance of an individual. Such a situation only leads to problems that are more social as an individual’s judgment and decisions become impaired and in the process affect the lives of those individual supporting or around them. Consequently, broader societal issues come into play such as cases of domestic violence, increase in crime rates, parents abandoning their children and increasing school dropouts and drug-related deaths due to complications or gang violence. A typical scenario that follows the use abuse of drugs is drug addiction and misuses of legal and illegal drugs.

Effects of Drugs on the Society

Usage of drugs in the society has both positive and negative consequences. Positive effects relate to the correct use of drugs to treat diseases and manage health conditions. However, adverse effects attract more attention as they contribute to a larger chain of events that affects every person in the community. Schools will be affected, the crime level may increase, families will be affected, and the economy will be affected. Furthermore, the use and abuse of prescription drugs or painkillers has increased rapidly and has resulted to posting that has been a contributor to deaths in the United States. According to Winstanley et al., (2012), in the United States the number of people dying every day because of a prescription overdose is 41.

Impact of drugs on local communities

According to Ghodse (2008), the impact of illegal drugs on local communities is normally very damaging as it raises the rate of violence and crime. Thus, crimes affect other members of the community that may not be directly involved in the use and sale of drugs. At the community level, drug users may engage themselves in criminal activities to obtain fiancés to allow them to purchase drugs. They may also be involved in crime or violent actions in the process of getting the drugs. Furthermore, the use of drugs may somehow affect or modify the behavior of ordinary individuals who in turn become violent and abusive in nature.
In the United States, marijuana abuse is a central public health issue with about 11% of the adult population engaging in its use (Tzilos, Hess, Kao and Zlotnick, 2013). At a family level, the use of marijuana can have varying effects on the different family members. For teenagers who use marijuana highly can significantly reduce their chances of completing high school. Marijuana tends to reduce the attention of individuals involved in its use. Short attention spans can significantly affect a student’s ability to focus in class. Since marijuana is one of the most common drugs available to high school students, it places them in a position to access other illegal drugs such as cocaine and heroin. Thus, such individuals become more risk prone to indulge in the cumbersome use of other drugs.
Most of the individuals living in low economic areas are mostly affected by the use of marijuana either through the sale or by use of the drug. Because of the impending poverty and need to survive, various drug cartels may be formed and in the process school going children are recruited to peddle the drug in schools.
Parents that are heavy marijuana users may neglect their parental duties. Young pregnant women that have a history of abusing marijuana tend to continue having such behaviors even during their pregnancy. Consequently, intoxication of marijuana by pregnant women tends to have adverse effects on the infants development and may cause slowing of fetal growth (Tzilos, Hess, Kao and Zlotnick, 2013).

Drug use and addiction

Any form of addiction begins as a small habit. Alcohol and marijuana and other drugs consumption have been major issues in United States in recent times. Marijuana consumption has increasingly become common as drinking alcohol or smoking. In the local community, a sale of marijuana has become a source of business for many houses despite the fact that many young men and women have started to engage heavily in this activity of smoking marijuana. Most unemployed youths engage in smoking marijuana and abusing other drugs as their passing time activity. Addiction to substance abuse has been associated with a rising divorce rate, declining sexual morality, poor school attendance, unemployment and economic decline.
Drug abuse has been a central problem in the local communities. Cases of deaths associated with drug use are more evident. The nation youths are currently engaging in alcohol at levels that are extremely alarming. Most of the husbands are neglecting their marital and family duties to engage in drug abuse. In the case of marijuana or as it is commonly known as cannabis, more and more young men are fighting for its use. Smoking marijuana has been associated with a number of psychological conditions that professionals say can result in mental health problems. However, these issues need more studies to be conducted.

Impact on Economy

Marijuana has been associated with the negative impact on the economy owing to the cost incurred in the treatment of individual that have been addicted to the drug. Additionally, just like any other illicit drug that is abused marijuana impacts the productivity of the labor market. According to Williams and Skeels (2006), any drug use is presumed to reduce the labor market productivity based on its adverse effects on an individual’s health. Income and wage distribution has been subject to the variations that occur in the consumption of marijuana. Individuals earning more are more likely to try cannabis than individuals who receive lesser than that (Williams and Skeels, 2006). Effect on the working force based on health is significant for frequent daily users who may suffer respiratory diseases such as bronchitis. They have a raised of getting cancers in the respiratory and digestive systems (Williams and Skeels, 2006). Furthermore, the extensive use of marijuana has been associated with being the cause of psychological problems and psychiatric disorders in individuals consuming marijuana. Psychiatric and psychological problems affect the well-being of an individual, and this affects the productivity of individual in the labor market. Some of the mental disorders require individual to be institutionalized. Furthermore, individuals who develop chronic diseases such as cancer and bronchitis associated with marijuana use may require advanced treatment, and this implies that the cost of treatment goes up. Hence, the government has to spend more on health treatment.
However, recent changes in laws in individual states to legalize marijuana may likely to have a positive impact on the economy. The notion is being viewed from a tax point of view. Prior to legalization, millions of dollars were getting lost as individuals who sold the drug evaded taxes. According to Bradford (2012), legalization of marijuana can have sufficient economic benefits to the government. Already some states have gone ahead and legalized the sale of marijuana. Bradford (2012) notes that legalization of marijuana can help eliminate costs such as enforcement costs and in the process increase the amount of tax revenues collected. Evidence already present from medical marijuana sale indicates an increase in tax revenue in both local and state budgets. Furthermore, legalization of marijuana can help ease the amount of tax dollars spent in sending and accommodating marijuana incarcerated inmates. As such, a reduction in inmates incarcerated because of marijuana means the state and local governments can be able to save funds.

Marijuana use and Crime rates

Just like any other illicit drug, marijuana has been linked to certain increases in crime rates. According to Morris, TenEyck, Barnes and Kovandzic (2014), one aspect of analyzing marijuana use and crime rates utilizes the analysis on medical marijuana legalization. It is clear to note that medical marijuana affects crime rates by increasing the number of marijuana users. Consequently, this action may promote the acceptance of drug using behaviors and drug use. In the long-term illicit drugs, users may engagement of crimes to obtain fiancés to support their drug using habits. The same case may occur in the legalization of marijuana., marijuana users will increase tremendously hence, addiction increases. Individuals with low income will engage themselves in criminal activities such as muggings to acquire funds to support their marijuana smoking habits. According to Morris, TenEyck, Barnes and Kovandzic (2014), a study conducted on youths in detention centers indicated that those whose urine tested positive for marijuana use had higher number of crimes than those who tested negative. Further, in another study examining the relationship between violence and marijuana use, individuals with increased marijuana use were more violent than individuals who had problems such as alcohol addiction.

Treatment and Interventions for Drug Abuse

Prior to assigning a particular form of treatment to a drug abuser, it is important to a counselor to assess the client’s readiness to receive help or treatment. Such as assessment is important in determining the client’s resistance, which may hinder or impede further access to information by the counselor. As a counselor, having or showing a genuine interest and positive regard when gathering relevant information from the client helps in ensuring that the client does not have defensive responses.
Engaging in drug abuse may lead to the client neglecting personal health. The client may develop tendencies that lead to ignoring physical complaints. Thus, when the client engages in drug abuse, there is a tendency of experiencing a relief effect, which results in the client postponing to deal with the health problems. As a counselor, it becomes important to understand the patient at this stage and it is often recommended not to advise the client to visit a doctor as this may lead to the client omitting some information such as engaging in illicit smoking of marijuana. Therefore, as a counselor it is often beneficial to raise the topic as many times as possible during the sessions, which must be follow-ups on previous discussions on the same issue (Glidden-Tracey, 2005). Once the trust is developed; the counselor needs to inform the client that the client seeking medical consultations will enhance the effectiveness of future sessions. Gradually the drug abuser to seek medical consultation is more active in the later sessions than when being conducted in the initial session. However, it's more critical to ensure that the alliance developed with the patient does not end even if the refuses to seek medical consultation.

Conclusion

Different drugs will lead to different effects on the health of an individual. Additionally, the effects of the usage of illicit drugs on the local community vary and will be based on the nature of the drugs. Drugs such as heroin and cocaine have far worse effects on the local communities and families psychologically and physically. Crime levels continue to depend on drug usage. Legalization of marijuana may solve short-term problems of reducing overcrowding in prisons for individual associated with marijuana-related incarcerations. However, in the long-term, legalization of marijuana may lead to an increase in the crime levels as the number of marijuana users increases.

Bibliography

Bradford, H. 2012. 4/20: 16 Ways Marijuana Affects The Economy. Available [online) at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/19/420-marijuana-economy_n_1439172.html
GHODSE, H. 2008. International drug control in the 21st century. Aldershot, Hants, England, Ashgate.
Glidden-Tracey, C. E. 2005. Counseling and Therapy With Clients Who Abuse Alcohol Or Other Drugs: An Integrative Approach. New Jersey: Routledge.
Hanson, G., Venturelli, P. J., & Fleckenstein, A. E. (2015). Drugs and society.
Morris, R, TenEyck, M, Barnes, J, & Kovandzic, T 2014, 'The Effect of Medical Marijuana Laws on Crime: Evidence from State Panel Data, 1990-2006', Plos ONE, 9, 3, pp. 1-7, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 15 April 2015.
Tzilos, G, Hess, L, Kao, J, & Zlotnick, C. 2013, 'Characteristics of perinatal women seeking treatment for marijuana abuse in a community-based clinic', Archives Of Women's Mental Health, 16, 4, pp. 333-337, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 15 April 2015.
Williams, J, & Skeels, C 2006, 'The Impact of Cannabis Use on Health', De Economist (0013-063X), 154, 4, pp. 517-546, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 15 April 2015.
Winstanley, E, Gay, J, Roberts, L, Moseley, J, Hall, O, Christine Beeghly, B, Winhusen, T, & Somoza, E 2012, 'Prescription Drug Abuse as a Public Health Problem in Ohio: A Case Report', Public Health Nursing, 29, 6, pp. 553-562, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 15 April 2015.