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Drug abuse affects on society
The association between drug use and crime
Drug abuse affects on society
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Frontline’s “The Meth Epidemic,” is a shocking documentary that exposes the dangerous effects of meth and explores the cultural patterns related to meth addiction. Understanding the severity of the effects of meth and how it is made are two important lessons to take away from this video because understanding those two things will help us to better understand how to combat this epidemic.
Two effects of meth addiction are an increase in property crimes and an increase in the number of children entering foster career. Shockingly, half of the inmates in Portland jails were meth users, and meth addicts commit 80% of the property crimes in Oregon. These statistics show how meth can not only negatively affect an individual and a family, but a whole community. The correlation between property crimes and meth can be explained by the fact that meth is an ultra-stimulant. According to the video, one puff can an individual stay high for even a whole day. As a result, the person’s dependency leads them to do things or commit crimes they would not have done otherwise
Moreover, the video states that 50% of the children in a particular foster home were there because of a meth related incident. One particular case, a young girl describes her father cooking the meth in extensive detail; this was one of the most disturbing parts about the whole
Various pharmaceutical companies are resisting the changes by lobbying against the legislation that requires a prescription. This was the second most disturbing part of the video to me because these companies care far more about money and profits than the wellbeing and safety of the American people. This documentary offers a plan of action to take in reducing the number of meth related crimes and incidents in the United States. Other states should follow Oregon’s model by making legislation that
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.
“The House I Live” by Eugene Jarecki is a documentary that sheds a light on America’s ongoing battle with drug abuse by encompassing multiple viewpoints from all walks of life ranging from both sides of the law and everything in between: the police officers, politicians, drug dealers, inmates, grieving parents, authors and journalists about how the war of drugs affect their lives and the lives of others. The overall purpose of the documentary was to show the war on drugs and how it has failed in the United States.
Chasing Heroin is a two-hour documentary that investigates America’s heroin crisis. The documentary details the opioid epidemic and how police offers, social workers, and public defenders are working to save the lives of addicts. The documentary explores the origins and continuing causes behind the heroin epidemic such as; massive increases in opioid painkillers starting at the turn of the century, Mexican drug cartels who are now rooted in upper-middle-class neighborhoods, and the cheap price of heroin when compared to prescription pain killers. A program in Seattle called LEAD is explored. This program channels addicts into a system that points them toward help (rehab, temporary housing, counseling, methadone treatment) instead of prison
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 in the American Society is a book written by Eric Goode. This book, as the title indicates, is about drugs in the American Society. It is especially about the misuse of most drugs, licit or illicit, such us alcohol, marijuana and more. The author wrote this book to give an explanation of the use of different drugs. He wrote a first edition and decided to write this second edition due to critic and also as he mentioned in the preface “there are several reason for these changes. First, the reality of the drug scene has changed substantially in the past dozen or so years. Second much more information has been accumulated about drug use. And third, I’m not the same person I was in 1972.”(vii). The main idea of this book is to inform readers about drugs and their reality. In the book, Goode argued that the effect of a drug is dependent on the societal context in which it is taken. Thus, in one society a particular drug may be a depressant, and in another it may be a stimulant.
A “drug-free society” has never existed, and probably will never exist, regardless of the many drug laws in place. Over the past 100 years, the government has made numerous efforts to control access to certain drugs that are too dangerous or too likely to produce dependence. Many refer to the development of drug laws as a “war on drugs,” because of the vast growth of expenditures and wide range of drugs now controlled. The concept of a “war on drugs” reflects the perspective that some drugs are evil and war must be conducted against the substances
This particular drug couples society with many damaging effects. Society is put in great danger with Methamphetamine users integrated amongst the other population. Children playing in parks and other recreational areas are at risk for exposure to needles left from users. Children who live in homes where there is methamphetamine use or production are at risk for exposure to the drug. Exposure to the toxic substance could cause developmental impairments and ultimately could be life threatening. Children are again put in the crossfire of Methamphetamine when they lose a parent due to a lethal dose, or a parent goes to jail. Many states have formed a Drug Endangered Children’s Program; this program has fought to change Legislation. Due to DEC many states have made extra efforts to protect children from Methamphetamine, unfortunately Kentucky is not a state involved in this program.
Connecting Sociology to situations that arise in everyday life has become easier and easier as i have progressed through Intro to Sociology this semester. When choosing what book I was going to analyze for my report, I chose Methland by Nick Reding. It details the quote “death and life of an american small town” through the perspective of those involved in the epidemic of the production of methamphetamine’s in the rural town of Oelwein Iowa. Despite the odds of a poor, small, and rural town in Middle America, Oelwein climbed to the top of the economic ladder with a multi million dollar drug franchise spread throughout the 1990’s. The midwest suffered greatly in the 1980’s with the downfall of the agricultural business in the United States. Soon drug dealers started flocking to these seemingly desolate towns in rural America to safely distribute their product. With the loss of jobs due to the farming downfall, many residents of Oelwein were seeking work and pay in anyway they could find. This is what started the official meth epidemic. Reding spent 4 years in his hometown of Oelwein Iowa to gain insight on the production and consumption of methamphetamine’s in this small town and also shines a spotlight on the problems of meth in this country today. But ironically, the comparison in this story of how the production and consumption of meth seemed to be driving this small town further into extinction, it also brought it back to life. Despite the destruction methamphetamines caused in Oelwein Iowa, the epidemic also brought the town back to life in a way that is irreversible. The highlight of the division of social class and who is able to climb up the social ladder is themed throughout the entire novel.
"How Meth Destroys the Body." PBS.org. The Public Broadcasting Station, 17 May 2011. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.
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.
Meth is not only highly addictive it is easily "cooked" in homes across the country. Unlike some drugs, which are derived from natural sources, meth includes an array of dangerous chemicals. These chemicals can include battery acid, rat poison and motor oil.
“Meth, not even once” is a popular phrase that is associated with this drug. This drug has many known horrible effects associated with it, plus many effects more I am sure are going to be discovered over time. I am intending to cover the history, effects, the different categories of meth abuse, and the withdrawal effects of Methamphetamine in this paper, and what to do if you suspect someone you know is using meth.
Today in America a lot of young people experiment with illegal drugs. Some people try drugs for recreational purposes, others are addicted to drugs and can't survive without them. Usually it all starts from recreational purposes, and people who can not control their recreation become a drug addicts. There are many different types of drugs, but all drugs are similar in that they change one's understanding of the environment, feelings, senses and mood. Some drugs cause physical addiction, which means that after several tries of the particular drug, the body requires that chemical in order to function. Some drugs destroy lives; people use drugs so much that it changes their personality and acceptance of environment, people become happy and sad, active and weak under influence of drugs. It makes their mind and body sick. Heavy drug users do not live long, dying either from health complications or dying on the streets, or if they get lucky they go to jail. In the following paragraphs I am going to talk about the most popular drugs from my point of view and my experience with some of them.
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).
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.