Bad Effects of Drug Use on the Society
Introduction
Drug abuse has always had negative effects on society; and it is something that affects all kinds of communities across the globe. The bad effects are deeply ingrained to families, children, workplaces, and even nationwide economies. In essence, drug abuse doesn’t have any positive outcomes, but has become such a difficult issue to mitigate.
For instance, Wiechelt et al. (2012) note that substance abuse has cost the United States of America an average of $760 billion annually for the past decade alone. It is imperative to find ways of preventing economic impacts despite having tried such measures in the past.
Therefore, the thesis, and thereby the objective, of this paper is to examine and discuss how drug abuse affects a society/community, and then explain possible preventive measures.
Drug Abuse as Root Cause of Crimes
Without a doubt, substance misuse is a huge influence in people committing crimes. That is, more than 50 percent of inmates in American prisons are incarcerated due to drug-related incidents.
It is either they were dealing or using the drugs. At the same time, studies by Boys et al. (2019) reiterated on the fact that 80 percent of inmates in U.S. prisons are currently abusing drugs, even while inside the prisons. The same researchers also noted that drug abuse has always been associated with high rates of violent crimes.
For instance, alcohol abuse accounts for about 42 percent of nearly half a million violent crimes (Carpenter et al., 2017). Similarly, more than 12 percent of homicide-related crimes are due to drug abuse. All these statistics are indicative of the need to curtail substance abuse.
Unfortunately, the rates of increased drug abuse has been on the rise in the past half a decade. Still, it is through applicable preventive measures the governments will finally become successful in preventing substance abuse.
Harmful to Children, Thus Generational Issue
Studies have shown that children brought up by parents who abuse drugs tend to follow a similar destructive route in life (Fox et al., 2013). If they are lucky enough to have a different life, then they are most likely to experience emotional depravity in adulthood.
It is a dangerous thing if a child grows up in an environment where parents are excessively drug abusers. Such kids are more likely to become violent or even end up in prison at a very young age.
It usually becomes a cycle, and rarely do such children break away from it — it become a generational issue (Boys et al., 2019). However, with the right measures, such as foster care, the government has successfully managed to minimize the likelihood of such children ending up like their parents.
Due to foster care, children have been able to make it to the universities and colleges, which is something that wouldn’t be possible without government intervention. Unfortunately, the foster care program hasn’t been so successful in mitigating the issue of substance abuse in general.
The reason for his is because…even families with financial success still find themselves in a pickle regarding substance abuse. That is, some of their children are drug abusers and most tend to become addictive (Wiechelt et al., 2012).
The government needs measures that go beyond foster care and child welfare programs. For example, such measures may include introducing mental health check-ups and treatments.
Impact on Families in General
Apart from children, substance abuse has the toughest effects on close family members. For example, if it is a teenage girl getting drugs, it is the parents and siblings who tend to suffer the most (Whitesell et al., 2013).
Such situations are worse if the drug abuser is one individual. This is because he/she will have to face lots of criticism from family members, which will most likely worsen the situation.
The reason for such a cause of substance abuse is mainly due to lack of better parental upbringing, or an abusive family. Hence, it is important to understand the reason behind a child or lone family member becoming an addict to substance abuse.
The same premise applies to a family where a husband or wife is so addicted to drugs that he/she forgets about the partner. Due to stress, a wife or husband may become depressed and thus act violently towards other members of the family.
Such misdirected anger may be due to denial and lack of knowledge on how to handle mental problems; hence the need for counseling. In reiteration of an earlier point, children coming from such a violent, substance-abusing family are most likely to become depressed adults.
Economic Effects
Although it may seem like it, but substance abuse has dire economic effects on a country. In other words, someone may argue that certain drugs (such as alcohol) don’t really affect an economy in the negative perspective of things.
In fact, some even claim that drugs like alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana are beneficial to an economy (Fox et al., 2013). Well, these are fair arguments. However, the same drugs and general abuse of substances are negatively affecting a nation’s economy.
For instance, 87 percent victims of substance abuse are less likely to hold on to a job for more than a year. When this happens, a company or business fails or become less effective. Such resourcefulness in expert employees is wasted due to drug abuse.
From another vantage point, substance abuse is detrimental to an economy because addicted employees tend to steal cash, supplies and equipment. This negatively affects an organization, which has to incur losses and extra expenses in buying new equipment or supplies.
The other reason why substance abuse is economically disadvantageous is absenteeism. This usually results in lost productivity and increased costs of medical expenses and insurance benefits due to employee overdose in some cases. Such employees may also cause errors that may cost a company’s overall profits.
Other than workplace losses and expenses, substance abuse is also economically detrimental due to crimes, court cases, and incarcerations.
While governments spend millions of dollars in preventing drug abuse — ingestion and selling — there is no doubt they have to deal with criminal and court cases, which are very expensive (Carpenter et al., 2017). With high cases of substance abuse, it means the local government has to increase its funds towards the police department.
Solutions — Methods and Approach on How to Prevent Drug Abuse
It is important to use research-based preventive measures. In the recent years, researchers have managed to develop a wide range of successful program that have positive outcomes regarding preventive measures on substance abuse. Such measures are effective in boosting preventive aspects whilst eliminating and reducing risk factors for substance abuse.
The programs have been designed to fit with various ages, communities, schools and families. Basically, it is imperative for policy makers, as well as the community in general, to apply such programs and preventive measures.
Most importantly though, is the need to look at the preventive programs from a causative, addiction and treatment perspectives (Wiechelt et al., 2012). That is, instead of focusing on how to punish those who abuse drugs, it is important to make things right by understanding what causes the need to abuse drug despite knowing the long-term consequences.
The approach should be organic and naturally occurring; therefore, policy makers should create an economic environment that is less depressing to families and substance abuse victims. The reason for this is because one of the main causative factors to substance abuse depression.
Thereby, and as concurred by Whitesell et al. (2013), once a family is happy and workplaces are less depressing, cases of drug abuse are more likely to reduce. Moreover, studies by Boys et al. (2019) indicate that treatment programs meant to mitigate substance abuse in the United States can result in savings to cost ratio of about 12 to 1, especially in regards to healthcare and crime.
Solutions — Applicable Preventive Measures
In applying an organic approach to the preventive measures, it is recommendable encouraging parents and children to seek mental health assistance.
It is still a stigma for adults to seek mental health assistance, with most people claiming it is either expensive or they are simply in denial over their mental problems (Fox et al., 2013).
Therefore, it is imperative for governments to intervene and encourage (and even perhaps insist) parents to seek mental health help alongside their children. This way, families are more likely to become less depressed and thus avoid any indulgence in substance abuse.
Also, government policy makers should also come up with ways of making sure the community learns of the importance of keeping a balanced life.
Even though such measures have been unsuccessful in the past, Whitesell et al., (2013) believe the communication should be different. Instead of preaching the same old message of “Stop Using Drugs,” the focus should be on the advantages of having a balanced, drug free lifestyle.
Conclusion
As aforementioned, substance abuse has dire effects on a society, and if handled poorly, preventive measures may not be successful. In mitigating drug abuse, the paper motes the significance of using a different approach, acknowledging that most preventive measures currently being used have been unsuccessful.
In essence, other than using an organic approach to looking at things from a causative perspective, it is also important to change the message regarding preventive measures. That is, instead of being too stringent with the laws regarding drug abuse, it is important to focus on encouraging families to embrace mental health doctors and always seek assistance.
References
Boys, A., Marsden, J., & Strang, J. (2019). Understanding reasons for drug use amongst young people: a functional perspective. Health Education Research, 16(4), 457–469. https://doi.org/10.1093/her/16.4.457
Carpenter, C., McClellan, C., & Rees, D. (2017). Economic Conditions, Illicit Drug Use, and Substance Use Disorders in the United States. Journal of Health Economics , 52 : 63–73.
Fox, T. ,., Oliver, G., & Ellis, S. M. (2013). The Destructive Capacity of Drug Abuse: An Overview Exploring the Harmful Potential of Drug Abuse both to the Individual and to Society. International Scholarly Research Notices.
Whitesell, M., Bachand, A., Peel, J., & Brown, M. (2013). Familial, Social, and Individual Factors Contributing to Risk for Adolescent Substance Use. Journal of Addiction, PMID 24826363.
Wiechelt, S. ,., Gryczynski, J. J., & Caldwell, D. (2012). Historical Trauma Among Urban American Indians: Impact on Substance Abuse and Family Cohesion . Journal of Loss and Trauma, 17(4), 319–336.
