Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Drugs and their effects on society
Drugs and their effects on society
Impact of drugs on society
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The War on Drugs
The world has many different issues, and without them the world would be a perfect place. An issue that causes a lot of controversy is drug abuse. Though the world can never be a perfect place, humans still need to do our best to make in inhabitable as possible, and drugs cause a lot of harm towards humans. Therefore, it is my belief that the first thing that needs to be fixed should be drugs and their abuse. Many possible solutions to this problem exist.
Drugs come from a wide variety of different places. Many are from plants but some, like heroin have to be chemically modified from morphine. Places that drugs come from can be very common. Caffeine, some people may not know but is considered a drug, comes from cocoa beans, while nicotine comes from tobacco. Mostly, these drugs have to be grown in their natural habitat, however they can be grown in an artificial setting. Many times because dealing drugs is illegal dealers will set up this setting in the basement of their house or some other discreet place (Vicc Drug Guide).
As the common person may know, drugs are very expensive. Prescription drugs, although still expensive, are one of the cheaper routes to go. However it can also be dangerous, because it’s easier for doctors to notice the abuse. It is said that Americans pay more for prescription drugs than any other country in the world (Brym and Lie). Other routes a drug addicted person can go is through the illegal drug trade, otherwise known as the black market. For example, cocaine can go for around $1500 per kilo in Colombia, which is around two pounds. Often times the price of cocaine in America can go for a retail price of around $66,000. These prices even for just cocaine are what keep the drug cartel’s ...
... middle of paper ...
...dical News Today. MediLexicon International, 23 July 2012. Web. 22 May 2013. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/248159.php
Smith, Melinda, Segal, Jeanne, and Robinson, Lawrence. "Overcoming Drug Addiction." : Drug or Substance Abuse Treatment, Recovery, Help. Help Guide, Apr. 2013. Web. 23 May 2013. http://www.helpguide.org/mental/drug_abuse_addiction_rehab_treatment.htm
"Where Do Drugs Come From?" Where Do Drugs Come From? Fitzroy Legal Services, n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2013. http://www.vicdrugguide.org.au/handbook/ch01s02.php
"Where Do Drugs Come From?" DrugScope. N.p., Feb. 2004. Web. 21 May 2013. http://www.drugscope.org.uk/resources/faqs/faqpages/where-do-drugs-come-from
Zill, Oriana, and Lowell Bergman. "Do The Math: Why The Illegal Drug Business Is Thriving."PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 22 May 2013. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/special/math.html
Approximately given 80 to 90 million Americans have tried an illicit drug at least which once in their lives; marijuana alone is tried for the first time by about 6,400 Americans everyday. Furthermore, illicit drugs seem to be relatively easy to attain- in for 1999, 90 percent said which this about marijuana, also 44 percent about cocaine and finally 32 percent about heroin. Yearly, for which 35 million dollars is given just to control illicit drug trafficking. Moreover, over 400,000 of drug offenders caught are in jail, of which, some 130,000 are which for possession. Not for only are these statistics a international obvious embarrassment but because for these quantities which have been growing throughout history, we can only assume that they will get worse. We can already begin to for imagine the costs of these numbers which is it not already clear that we need for to find an alternative approach to this
Concerned authorities have focused essentially on criminalization and punishment, to find remedies to the ever-increasing prevalent drug problem. In the name of drug reducing policies, authorities endorse more corrective and expensive drug control methods and officials approve stricter new drug war policies, violating numerous human rights. Regardless of or perhaps because of these efforts, UN agencies estimate the annual revenue generated by the illegal drug industry at $US400 billion, or the equivalent of roughly eight per cent of total international trade (Riley 1998). This trade has increased organized/unorganized crime, corrupted authorities and police officials, raised violence, disrupted economic markets, increased risk of diseases an...
National Institute of Drug Abuse (2010). Cocaine: How is Cocaine Abused? Retrieved from http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/cocaine/how-cocaine-abused on 24th March, 2014.
America's War on Drugs: Policy and Problems. In this paper I will evaluate America's War on Drugs. More specifically, I will outline our nation's general drug history and look critically at how Congress has influenced our current ineffective drug policy. Through this analysis, I hope to show that drug prohibition policies in the United States, for the most part, have failed.
The crack and cocaine epidemic of the United States has shaped America’s basis on the war against drugs. In the early 1980s, the majority of cocaine began to be shipped to the United States, landing in Miami originally coming through the Bahamas and Dominican Republic (UDOJ)”. The foreign origin from the drug made it easier for dealer to quietly return to the United States with the drug and also its receipt. “Soon there was a huge amount of cocaine powder in these islands, which caused the price to drop by as much as 80 percent (UDJ)”. Thus making it more assessable for shipment to America.
Cocaine itself is derived from the coca plant commonly found in South America. For centuries, the native people of South America have used the coca plant, its leaves in particular, as a stimulant for long work hours as well as for medical purposes. It was not until 1859 that modern cocaine was developed as a drug in Germany (Crack Cocaine History, n.d.). By the late 1800’s, the medical knowledge of cocaine had spread world-wide and many American doctors began to prescribe the use of cocaine as a medical drug to cure different illnesses and ease common pain. It wasn’t until the early 1900’s, however, that the negative side effects of cocaine became apparent; these side effects included addiction and death. With such detrimental side effects, cocaine was declared a threat to the nation and in 1914, cocaine became what’s known as a controlled substance that could only be obtained by a prescription from a doctor for medical reasons only (much like today’s ‘medical marijuana’). However, by controlling access and usage of cocaine, America inadvertently gave way to an entirely new drug cartel that they weren’t prepared to deal with. In the beginning of cocaine being a controlled substance, it became less popular and one of the lesser drugs to be abused in the United States. It wasn’t until the 1960’s and 70’s that the use of cocaine became popular again. This widespread ‘cocaine boom’ affected all
The Global Commission on Drug Policy (2011). War on Drugs Report of the Global Commission on Drug Policy June 2011. Retrieved from http://www.globalcommissionondrugs.org/wp-content/themes/gcdp_v1/pdf/Global_Commission_Report_English.pdf
Kaufman, Stephen. "Obama Drug Strategy: Prevention to Reduce Demand." America - Engaging the World - America.gov. 12 May 2010. Web. 02 Mar. 2011. .
According to UptoDate an evidenced-based clinical decision tool, cocaine was extracted from the leaves of the coca plant native to Andean highlands of South America. Natives of the region chewed or brewed the leaves to make a refreshing tea or to help ease fatigue. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/cocaine-acute-intoxication?source=search_result&search=cocaine&selectedTitle=3~150
Substance abuse is just one of the problems facing the United States today. Even though it seems like a big problem, it actually first started in the 1800’s when the first drugs were smuggled. This only began the never ending path of illegal drugs flowing through the U.S.
One of the most prevalent misconceptions, Benson and Rasmussen, contend is the notion that a large percentage of drug users commit nondrug crimes, what might be called the “drugs-cause-crime” assumption implicit in the government’s drug-war strategy. If true, then an effective crackdown on ...
As we learned from our readings heroin was produced in a region of Southeast Asia called the Golden Triangle. This area encompasses Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam. A current dominant source of heroin is the Golden Crescent, this region is Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey, and Iran. Mexico and areas around the Dominican Republic are also sources of heroin production. Cocaine comes primarily from regions of South America and is transported across the border of Mexico, and from Cuba into Florida. The United States receives the bulk of its marijuana from Mexico, but we also receive marijuana from our neighbors to the North. Canadian trafficking has also seen recent growth as we read in Drugs, Society, and Criminal Justice by Charles F. Levinthal. Marijuana not too much surprise, is also a widely-produced drug within the United States. Although marijuana has become legal in a few states around the country state to state trafficking has become a big topic for local law enforcement in any states bordering legalized
When things are done in a way that have a negative effect on them or those around them, I feel the need to change these things. According to Ferri, drugs have affected many people and many societies at different magnitude (Ferri FF, 2010). Drugs have a negative effect on the health the person involved. In some cases, the effects are adverse and lead to loss of life. Some individuals have misled their families as a result of drug consumption. They have affected their family 's income negatively leading to poverty. As a result, it is advisable to take drug matter serious and put efforts into changing the current situation and aim at achieving a drug free nation. The young people should be educated on dangers of drug abuse so that through them, a generation free from drugs may be achieved.
Perhaps most substance abuse starts in the teen years when young people are susceptible to pressure from their peers. One of the main concerns when dealing with substance abuse is the long term problems with substance such as addiction, dependency and tolerance. The physical state of an individual, who is addicted to a substance, will deteriorate over a long period of time. This is due to the chemicals that are being put into an individual body. One of the most important aspects of the effect of substance abuse on society includes ill health, disease, sickness, and in many cases death. The impact of substance abuse not only affects individuals who abuse substances but it affects our economy. Our government resources are negatively impacted by individual who abuse substances. According to (Lagliaro 2004) the implication of drug users extend far beyond the user, often damaging their relationships with their family, community, and health workers, volunteer and wider
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.