If I were an advisor to the Governor of Missouri, the issue I would encourage him to address is the manufacture of drugs and the use of drugs and alcohol throughout our state. The advice I would give him is to impose stiffer penalties for those who manufacture drugs and focus on prevention, and, most importantly, rehabilitation, of those who abuse alcohol or drugs.According to the Missouri Department of Mental Health, alcohol and drug abuse affects more than 259,000 Missourians and another 800,000 who are family members of substance abusers. That is roughly 20% of Missourians who are affected. Intoxication by the means of drugs and alcohol contribute to a great percentage of deaths statewide from burns, fires, homicides, assaults, drowning, suicides and traffic crashes.I believe that very stiff penalties must go towards those who manufacture illegal drugs. These people have no regard for human life.
These manufacturers sell the drugs that pollute and corrupt our society without shame or remorse and should be severely punished. I believe another way to limit the manufacture of drugs is to make a college education easier to achieve, therefore making honest, lucrative careers more obtainable. The state of Missouri should lower the cost of tuition in its colleges and universities and raise the amount of state money in the areas of financial aid, grants and scholarships. While this measure will contribute to a loss of state money, I believe that it will also save money by keeping potential drug manufacturers out of the jail cells and in the classrooms. I believe that it is also important to prevent people, especially children and teenagers, from using drugs and alcohol. Many children and teenagers throughout Missouri experiment with drugs every day.
Programs that are already in place for children, such as the "Mo Says No" and "Take Hugs, Not Drugs" campaigns are great, but I believe that these programs should continue to the junior high and high school levels because most drug use begins here, not in elementary. For junior high students, schools should hold voluntary drug testing (with the parents' consent) every month and those who test negative could receive a pizza party, a dance or something of that nature. This will reward drug-free junior high students and will encourage other students, who might have tried drugs, to do likewise.For...
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...n be comparatively easily remedied through rehabilitation.The fourth stage of addiction is called the resigned stage.
Characteristics of the resigned stage are moral, ethical and physical deterioration, suicide attempts and prolonged benders. It is at this stage that addiction can first be medically detected.The fifth and final stage of addiction is the helpless stage. Characteristics of this stage are inappropriate and/ or impaired thinking, indefinable fears, paranoia and obsessive use. It is ideal to get help for yourself or a loved one before this stage takes place, but rehabilitation is still effective.Mr. Governor, I hope that the things previously stated can be put to good use for the state of Missouri. The sooner we get potential drug manufacturers in the classrooms and the sooner we get drug and/ or alcohol addicts on the road to rehabilitation, the better off our fine state will be. To the citizens of the state of Missouri, if you see any of the above warning signs in your loved ones, please seek help for them as soon as possible. Whenever the long arm of the law is extended to the addicts of Missouri, please don't forget to also extend a caring hand of rehabilitation.
Mandatory minimums for controlled substances were first implemented in the 1980s as a countermeasure for the hysteria that surrounded drugs in the era (“A Brief History,” 2014). The common belief was that stiff penalties discouraged people from using drugs and enhanced public safety (“A Brief History,” 2014). That theory, however, was proven false and rather than less illegal drug activity, there are simply more people incarcerated. Studies show that over half of federal prisoners currently incarcerated are there on drug charges, a 116 percent percentage rise since 1970 (Miles, 2014). Mass incarceration is an ever growing issue in the United States and is the result of policies that support the large scale use of imprisonment on
...tistical data put forth that the phenomenon of using and manufacturing methamphetamine is rising in our country. The state of Kentucky, particularly the rural areas, is being taken over by the use and manufacturing of meth. This phenomenon is largely costing the tax payers, as well as, putting our future generation in jeopardy. This author feels it is important for the Kentucky Legislative to look at the numbers, the cost and proper treatment in order to deal with this large problem correctly. Passing one law to decrease the manufacturing by less than ten percent isn’t enough.
Additionally, I will highlight and evaluate the influences acting on individual legislators' decisions to continue support for these ineffective policies as a more general demonstration of Congress' role in the formation of our nation's drug policy strategy. Finally, I will conclude this analysis by outlining the changes I feel are necessary for future progress to be made. Primary among these changes are a general promotion of drug education and the elimination of our current system's many de-legitimating hypocrisies. However, before the specific outcomes of Congressional influence and policy impact can be evaluated, it becomes important to first review the general history and current situation of drugs today. Our present drug laws were first enacted at the beginning of the century.
Now is not the time for the United States federal government to decriminalize or legalize illegal drugs, including marijuana. However, nor can the government continue to do nothing about the financially, economically, and socially expensive domestic drug policy it currently follows. The United States Congress should pass legislation to remove mandatory minimum penalties from drug offenses, and the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Prisons should add in-house rehabilitation programs for its incarcerated drug offenders. These policies would increase the cost-effectiveness of current drug policy and reduce crime and drug use, and do not face the political obstacles or have the uncertain consequences of decriminalizing or legalizing drugs.
Addiction is a disease that affects by ten percent of Americans but countless others, including family and friends, are devastated by it. Addiction is not a choice that a person can make; rather the disease takes away people’s ability to make conscious choice. Science has advanced to show exactly how drugs affect the brain chemically, proving that it is a disease and not a moral failing. Addiction is a disease and should be treated through rehabilitation and community based support groups such as Narcotics Anonymous (NA) and Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), not imprisonment, and the state and federal governments should increase funding and programs for prevention and treatment.
By implementing such a program, the American population can use its money and resources to combat the problem through the legal system. Legalization will decrease violent crime associated with drug dealers, it will decrease the number of users and will lower the wasteful cost associated with the current system. Such legalization will not destroy our youth in any way and will only be accessible to adults in the country. If we continue with our current system, we will never solve the problem. Drug dealers and addicts will crown our prisons and plague our streets.
The National Alliance says that the recovery process may help reverse, some of these brain changes, but it requires therapy to replace the addictive behaviors with healthy alternative behaviors.
The repeated use of drugs often causes both physical and psychological dependence, as mentioned in an article by the Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia (“Drug Dependence”). In order for an individual to truly be set free from their addiction, seeking treatment is necessary. Rehab centers are a great place with scientifically proven methods to cure those addicted to drugs. It is important to try to end drug use in our country, rather than allowing it to continue longer than it already has. While funding for rehabilitation facilities could become an issue, drug users may continue their addiction without proper treatment, and therefore those arrested for drug use should be sent to a rehabilitation center instead of prison.
The drug control policy of the United States has always been a subject of debate. From Prohibition in the early 1930’s to the current debate over the legalization of marijuana, drugs have always been near the top of the government’s agenda. Drug use affects every part of our society. It strains our economy, our healthcare, our criminal justice systems, and it endangers the futures of young people. In order to support a public health approach to drug control, the Obama administration has committed over $10 billion to drug education programs and support for expanding access to drug treatment for addicts (Office). The United States should commit more government resources to protect against illegal use of drugs by youths and provide help for recovering addicts.
The United States government projected $25 million to support schools in school-based drug testing and other drug-free programs. In 2003, many schools across the nation provided their own funding for student drug testing programs. The President wants to increase this program for 2005. He also wants to continue funding for ONDCP. This media campaign sends anti-drug messages to young adults via web sites, functions, and events on drug awareness. This approach will include information for parents and youth to encourage early intervention against drug use in 2005.
Substance use disorders and mental health disorder can be challenging for human services professionals as well as for the individual; combined these disorders together and treatment can be seemingly insurmountable. The complexity of the disorders separately, as well as together raises the need for treatment that looks at the whole person not just a set of symptoms. The debate between which disorder came first is useless at helping to resolve the problems that are currently occurring with these complex disorders. According to Stevens & Smith (2013), over five million adults have a co-occurring disorder. With such high number it’s no surprise that the amount of money that is spending on co-occurring disorders is staggering and far exceeds that
Drug abuse dates as far back as the Biblical era, so it is not a new phenomenon. “The emotional and social damage and the devastation linked to drugs and their use is immeasurable.” The ripple of subversive and detrimental consequences from alcoholism, drug addictions, and addictive behavior is appalling. Among the long list of effects is lost productivity, anxiety, depression, increased crime rate, probable incarceration, frequent illness, and premature death. The limitless consequences include the destruction to personal development, relationships, and families (Henderson 1-2). “Understandably, Americans consider drug abuse to be one of the most serious problems” in the fabric of society. And although “addiction is the result of voluntary drug use, addiction is no longer voluntary behavior, it’s uncontrollable behavior,” says Alan Leshner, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (Torr 12-13).
High school students are leaders to younger kids and many others in their community. As a leader these student must show others what good character is like, but instead they are destroying their lives by doing drugs. In the past decade the drug use among high school students is on the rise once again. With the internet, their exposure to drugs is much greater. High school students are convinced that they are able to get away with using drugs. These drug addicts soon influence other students into doing the drugs because there isn’t a rule preventing drug use. In order to protect these student’s future, drug tests must be enforced among all students ensuring a safe environment for students to learn successfully. Allowing random drug testing in high schools will shy away students from trying these harmful drugs. The stop of drug use among high school students is crucial because drugs prevents student from learning leading them to dropping out of high school. Students that become overwhelmed by these harmful drugs will ruin their lives forever, but if steered in the right direction they can be saved.
Alcohol and drug abuse is one of biggest problems in United States today. It is not only a personal problem that dramatically affects individuals' lives, but is a major social problem that affects society as whole. "Drug and alcohol abuse", these phrases we hear daily on the radio, television or in discussions of social problem. But what do they mean or what do we think and understand by it? Most of us don't really view drug or alcohol use as a problem, if that includes your grandmother taking two aspirins when she has a headache or your friends having few beers or drinks on Saturday night. What we really mean is that some drugs or alcohol are being used by some people or in some situations constitute problem with which our society must deal. It becomes a real problem when using or I should say abusing drugs cause accidents, antisocial behavior, broken relationships, family instability, crime and violence, poverty, unsafe streets and highways, worker absenteeism and nonproductivity, and the most tragic one death. The situation in which the drug or alcohol uses accurse often makes all the difference. The clearest example is the drinking of alcohol, when individual begins to drink during the job, at school, or in the morning, we have evidence that indicates a potential drinking problem. If a person takes narcotic drug because he just wrecked his knee while his physician prescribed playing football and the drug, most of us would be not concerned. If, on the other hand, he took the same drug on his own just because he likes the way it makes him feel, then we should begin to worry about him developing dependence. Even use of illegal drugs are sometimes acceptable, but it also depends on situation, for example in some countries smoking marijuana is legal just like drinking alcohol in United States. Some subcultures even in United States that accept the use of illegal drugs may distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable situation, some college age groups might accept marijuana smoking at a party on weekends, but not just before going to a calculus class. Most of people would accept a fact that a bartender or a waiter who is working at a night club is having a beer or a drink on his break or that a landscape worker is having a cold beer with his lunch on a hot summer day. I'm not saying that it is "OK" but we wouldn't complain a...
Mandatory drug tests have proven to help teenagers reduce the use of drugs and alcohol in their daily lives. If young people get used to it when they are young, it’s proven that they would have a difficult time trying to loss their addiction to the substance. Helps the person without any criminal chargers but with all the help needed. They even have different types of drug tests to show the time period of when the person might have taken a drug recently.