In a society where the media has the ability to make people think that what they print is the absolute truth, it is hard for anyone who goes against the norm to live their life. Drugs are looked at two ways; the solution to our health problems and inversely the reason for our health problems. Today’s society and culture romanticizes drugs use, but at the same time puts the topic of drug addiction away on a high shelf, only to be brought down when it becomes inconvenient for those with the answers to continue acting like addiction is just another part of life. The Media is on constant alert for any and all stories regarding drug use and or addiction, but the light that is shed upon the issue is anything but positive. At the top of the Media’s list is those “oh so ever junky” celebrities. When it comes to the media’s attention that a celebrity has overdosed, relapsed, or checked into rehab, the same story line follows. The picture that the media paints about celebrities and drug addiction ultimately strips away any and all dignity that these people have left. As a society, we feed into this way of thinking and spread the rumors that these people are in fact “junkies with no will power”. …show more content…
For some, rehab works, others cannot seem to get out of a relapse cycle. When taking drugs, the brains reward system is greatly affected. By mimicking neurotransmitters, the drugs cause abnormal messages to be sent throughout the brain. Addiction is a disease because often time’s addicts want to quit, but the affect that the drugs has on the brain are too severe. If our society were to view addiction as the disease that it is, more people would be educated about the effects of addiction, and there wouldn’t be a negative air surrounding the topic. A reason why so many people suffer from addiction is because of a lack of education and knowledge about the reasons why it is so difficult for people to
The documentary Heroin Cape Cod, USA focused on the widespread abuse of pain medication such as Vicodin, Percocet, and Oxycodone that has led the U.S. into the rise of an opiate addiction. Many of the users within the video explained that it doesn’t matter where you go, there is no stopping, and you can’t just get high once. Instead, those who do it want that high forever. I think that this is a very important concept that those who aren’t addicted to drugs need to understand, no matter how hard it is to. The documentary featured many addicts including Marissa who first popped pills when she was 14 years old, Daniel who stated he started by snorting pixie sticks, and Arianna who started smoking weed and drinking before age 12. Additionally, the documentary interviewed Ryan and Cassie. These addicts explained that in Cape Cod you either work and you’re normal, or you do drugs.
Prescription and pharmaceutical drug abuse is beginning to expand as a social issue within the United States because of the variety of drugs, their growing availability, and the social acceptance and peer pressure to uses them. Many in the workforce are suffering and failing at getting better due to the desperation driving their addiction.
According to Leshner, drug addiction is a chronic brain disease that is expressed in the form of compulsive behaviors (Leshner, 2001). He believes that drug addiction is influence by both biological, and behavioral factors, and to solve this addiction problem we need to focus on these same factors. On the other hand, Neil Levy argues that addiction is not a brain disease rather it is a behavioral disorder embedded in social context (Levy, 2013). I believe, drug addiction is a recurring brain disease that can be healed when we alter and eliminate all the factors that are reinforcing drug addiction.
Throughout “Chasing the Scream” many intriguing stories are told from individuals involved in the drug war, those on the outside of the drug war, and stories about those who got abused by the drug war. Addiction has many social causes that address drug use and the different effects that it has on different people. In our previous history we would see a tremendous amount of individuals able to work and live satisfying lives after consuming a drug. After the Harrison Act, drugs were abolished all at once, but it lead to human desperation so instead of improving our society, we are often the reason to the problem. We constantly look at addicts as the bad guys when other individuals are often the reasons and influences to someone’s decision in
Drug addiction is on the largest contributing factors for the deaths of millions of people throughout out the ages. Todays day in age drugs have become more dangerously more potent than they were a decade back. The majority of the population believe that the reason addicts become hooked on drugs because the the chemical triggers found in the drug. This has caused many society as a whole to look down on drug addicts and treat them with less respect than anyone who is not a drug addict. Johann Hari is an english author and journalist who was published articles in newspapers like the New York times, Huffington post and the Guardian, Hari has published his own book Chasing the Scream were he goes into a three year journey on the war on drugs.
Drugs are used to escape the real and move into the surreal world of one’s own imaginations, where the pain is gone and one believes one can be happy. People look on their life, their world, their own reality, and feel sickened by the uncaringly blunt vision. Those too weak to stand up to this hard life seek their escape. They believe this escape may be found in chemicals that can alter the mind, placing a delusional peace in the place of their own depression: “Euphoric, narcotic, pleasantly halucinant,” (52). They do this with alcohol, acid, crack, cocaine, heroine, opium, even marijuana for the commoner economy. These people would rather hide behind the haze than deal with real problems. “...A gramme is better than a damn.” (55).
Addiction to drugs is very common in most music artist today. Society stresses the need for better music to vibe to, so music artists turn to an easier way to deal with it. It has damaged many music artists over the years and hasn’t gotten any better today. Most artists are faced with developing a bad addiction problem. Those who admit they have an addiction problem, seeks help and continues the rest of their musical career. As for the artists who do not choose the rehab rout, is faced with ruining their entire career and possibly their life.
“This Neuroscientist Argues That Addiction Is Not a Disease and Rehab Is Bullshit” written by Neil Sharma. Marc Lewis argues how addiction is not a disease and rehab is ineffective.
The consequences that follow the use of any drug are unfavorable. Although many individuals may see drug addiction as a mere lifestyle choice, it is a problem that many individuals suffer from and inevitably a growing issue that leaves major social and economic impacts.
Drug portrayal in the media is increasing at an alarming rate, we can see drugs in a variety of different media outlets from original series on Netflix like “Orange is the new black” that is continuing to grow in popularity to movies and commercials for prescription drugs on television. Drug portrayal in the media is most influential to growing adolescents and can increase the use of illicit or licit substances that can be harmful and have potentially deadly affects to children at a young age. Often, the portrayal of drug use in the media today undermines our programs in schools that promote the awareness of the use of these substances and stresses to young children the idea to “just say no” to drugs and alcohols. Young adolescents are at more risk to engage in drug use, alcohol, or tobacco use at increasing rates due to the portrayal of these substance that they examine in the media. According to the research, the effects of all of this advertising are increasingly clear. A sample of 9- to 10- year-olds could identify the Budweiser frogs nearly as frequently as they could Bugs Bunny (Strasburger, V. C. 2010). It is clear that adolescents are engaging in riskier and unhealthy behaviors due to the use and portrayal of substance use in the media.
Drug abuse and addiction are issues that affect people everywhere. However, these issues are usually treated as criminal activity rather than issues of public health. There is a conflict over whether addiction related to drug abuse is a disease or a choice. Addiction as a choice suggests that drug abusers are completely responsible for their actions, while addiction as a disease suggests that drug abusers need help in order to break their cycle of addiction. There is a lot of evidence that suggests that addiction is a disease, and should be treated rather than punished. Drug addiction is a disease because: some people are more likely to suffer from addiction due to their genes, drug abuse brought on by addictive behavior changes the brain and worsens the addiction, and the environment a person lives in can cause the person to relapse because addiction can so strongly affect a person.
It has been discovered that most people who struggle with drug addiction began experimenting with drugs in their teens. Teenage drug abuse is one of the largest problems in society today and the problem grows and larger every year. Drugs are a pervasive force in our culture today. To expect kids not to be influenced by the culture of their time is as unrealistic as believing in the tooth fairy (Bauman 140). Teens may feel pressured by their friends to try drugs, they may have easy access to drugs, they may use drugs to rebel against their family or society, or they may take an illegal drug because they are curious about it or the pleasure that it gives them.
The use of drugs is a controversial topic in society today. In general, addicts show a direct link between taking drugs and suffering from their effects. People abuse drugs for a wide variety of reasons. In most cases, the use of drugs will serve a type of purpose or will give some kind of reward. These reasons for use will differ with different kinds of drugs. Various reasons for using the substance can be pain relief, depression, anxiety and weariness, acceptance into a peer group, religion, and much more. Although reasons for using may vary for each individual, it is known by all that consequences of the abuse do exist. It is only further down the line when the effects of using can be seen.
Drug addiction is a very big problem in today’s society. Many people have had their lives ruined due to drug addiction. The people that use the drugs don’t even realize that they have an addiction. They continue to use the drug not even realizing that their whole world is crashing down around them. Drug addicts normally lose their family and friends due to drug addiction.
Drug abuse has been a hot topic for our society due to how stimulants interfere with health, prosperity, and the lives of others in all nations. All drugs have the potential to be misapplied, whether obtained by prescription, over the counter, or illegally. Drug abuse is a despicable disease that affects many helpless people. Majority of those who are beset with this disease go untreated due to health insurance companies who neglect and discriminate this issue. As an outcome of missed opportunities of treatments, abusers become homeless, very ill, or even worst, death.