A Major Health Problem Research: Substance Use and Abuse (Essay Sample)

Substance Use and Abuse
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Drug and substance use and abuse are a major health problem in almost all countries across the world. While the use of some drugs and substance has more adverse effects than others, all drugs and substance have associated effects. The most common effects of drugs and substance use include illness, injuries, financial problems and death. Drug and substance abuse affect the individual the family, friends, employers and the society as a whole. In particular, drugs and substance use has negative impacts on relationships, family life, education, employment, health, personality, finances and law. Different countries are faced with different drugs and substance abuse problems. However, the most commonly abused drugs are alcohol and tobacco. The young population are the majority victims of drugs and substance use and abuse.
The number one drug problem facing the US today is teen drug and substance use. According to a national study conducted by the Centre on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA), 75% of students in high school have used drugs and addictive substances. The majority of the students were found to have used marijuana, cocaine, alcohol or tobacco, and 20% of them met the medical addiction criteria. Also, 90% of adults in America who meet the addiction criteria started using the drug or addictive substance when they were below the age of 18. The National Advisory Commission commented on the report stating that drugs and substance use when the brain is still developing increases the chances of addiction and more devastating effects. Hence, drugs and substance use by teenagers in America are a serious problem (Hanson, Venturelli & Fleckenstein, 2011).
Drug and substance use by teenagers has devastating effects on them, their families and the society. The effects on the individual include illness, personality change, or death. The personality change of the user is characterised by anger, loneliness and low self-esteem. These impacts reduce their productivity leading to low performance in their education. Also, the increase in anger causes the user to be violent and may cause harm to family members or members of the society. The family is also greatly affected as it incurs a lot of money on treating illnesses of the user, or maintaining the addiction. The impacts to the society include more expenses on treatment of victims and dealing with lawless addicts. Moreover, the productivity of society is reduced as addicts may not be able to work effectively (Maisto, Galizio & Connors, 2014).
There are various reasons why individuals get involved in substance use. However, the reasons for the teenagers are quite different from those of adults. While most teenagers get involved in substance use due to peer pressure and perceived pleasure, adults get involved due to different reasons such as stress. Ignorance is also a common reason for individuals getting involved in drugs and substance use. Other individuals get involved in substance abuse to enable ...