Substance Abuse and Addiction

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Introduction Substance abuse and addiction have become a social problem that afflicts millions of individuals and disrupts the lives of their families and friends. Just one example reveals the extent of the problem: in the United States each year, more women and men die of smoking related lung cancer than of colon, breast and prostate cancers combined (Kola & Kruszynski, 2010). In addition to the personal impact of so much illness and early death, there are dire social costs: huge expenses for medical and social services; millions of hours lost in the workplace; elevated rates of crime associated with illicit drugs; and scores of children who are damaged by their parents’ substance abuse behavior (Lee, 2010). This paper will look at the different theories used in understanding drug abuse and addiction as well as how it can be prevented and treated. Theories (models) in understanding substance abuse and addiction: older versus newer Any comprehensive theory (model) of substance abuse has to answer several difficult questions: What environmental and social factors in an individual’s life cause them to start abusing a drug? What factors cause them to continue? What physiological mechanisms make a drug rewarding? What is addiction, behaviorally and physiologically, and why is it so hard to quit? These questions can be answered in the major theories (models) that are described below using an integrative approach that addresses the problem of substance abuse and addiction as an urgent but elusive goal (Kauffman & Poulin, 1996). The moral model: The earliest approach to explaining substance abuse was to simply blame the drug abuser for a lack of moral character or a lack of self-control. Explanations of this sort often had... ... middle of paper ... ...lcohol policy, looking back and moving forward. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 42(2), 99-114. doi:10.1080/02791072.2010. Padgett, D.L. (2010). Review of ‘ethical challenges for intervening in drug use: Policy, research, and treatment issues’. Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions, 10(1), 99-123. doi:10.1080/15332560903408821. Robins, L.N., & Slobodyan, S. (2003). Post-Vietnam heroin use and injection by returning US veterans: Clues to preventing injection today. Addiction, 98, 1053-1060. Scott, C.K., Dennis, M.L., & Laudet, A. (2011). Surviving drug addiction: The effect of treatment and abstinence on morality. American Journal of Public Health, 101(4), 737- 744. Tian, M., Mao, R., Wang, L., Zhou, Q., Cao, J., & Xu, L. (2011). Interaction between behavioral despair and addictive behaviors in rats. Physiology & Behavior, 102(1), 7-12.

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