Argumentative Essay About the Addiction as a Disease (Essay Sample)

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Addiction is a Disease
Today in the United States, the prevalence rate of drug use and abuse is staggering. The abuse of Drugs is a social problem that cuts across all races and economic backgrounds affecting millions of individuals both young and old. Markedly, the current state of the social vice is causing alarming strains to resources in the departments and agencies tasked with the prevention and treatment such as drug enforcement institutions and the healthcare system. Every day in America there is an alarming and disturbing news headlines on people dying or directly getting affected with the menace of drug use and abuse. The clinical psychology and scientific research define Addiction to drugs as a compulsive psychological condition that results from a continuous and constant use of drugs. In the medical and mental treatment of substance abuse, there is a red line the moment a user crosses doubles up the urge to use abuse substances. While substance abuse continues to elicit sharp debates, evidential research indicates that drug is and abuse is an individual decision. This essay, however, argues that addiction drug is not a personal choice but a disease not directly associated with the behavior of human beings.
Addiction to drugs is no longer an emotional or social dysfunction as researchers continue to categorize into a chronic problem that affects the brain as a result of regular use of drugs. Across the globe, an estimated 30 million people are victims of abuse of opioids. In the United Sates alone, about 3 million people are estimated to suffer from conditions associated with painkillers. The country continues to record rising cases of opioid use, and the severe consequences are devastating. For instance, over the past few years alone, reported cases of unintentional overdose of prescription drugs took a sharp increase (Leshner, 76). In the year 2015, the center for disease control reported that an estimated 33,000 people died from heroin and opioids related cases. Most of the deaths are preventable cases of overdosing prescription drugs. Over the past few years, scientific and empirical research indicates that substance addiction is not a personal decision one makes as evidential proof shows that genetics causes the disease of drug addiction. The Scientific Research discovered that genes in humans significantly influence the process of compulsion to use and abuse drugs. Further, environmental factors also dismiss the notion that human behavior is directly linked to abuse of drugs. Scholars and medical experts argue that children of drug addicts such as alcoholics have higher risks of suffering from drug addiction. Past studies provide additional support for the argument that argument drug addiction is genetically related and poses more risks because human beings have hundreds of thousands of genes (Leshner, 80). Markedly, studies show that inherited brain malfunction causes use and abuse of drugs. Scientific evidence from Alan Leshner suggest that inheriting bad habits and unpleasant traits from parents increases the chances for people to get into severe drug use. Brain dysfunctions make people lose the factor of self-control which plays a central role in cushioning one from using drugs. Leshner argues that drug addiction is mental disease and victims must seek medical treatment (Leshner, 78).
Conversely, evidential research shows that drug addiction is a personal choice. People get into drug use and when they make conscious decisions to use drugs. Voluntary choices also give them the opportunity to quit drugs when they get enough incentives to stop voluntarily. Research on cocaine users indicated that up to 70% of addicts when given rewarding options (Sremac, 23). Additionally, alcoholics’ rate of recovery increases when they make personal choices to stop drinking. The conscious choices people make to quit using drugs without the help of psychologists or medical treatment indicates that drug addiction is a personal choice (Tosmic, 87). Thus it makes for a compelling argument to say that addiction is a personal choice because personal decisions and lifestyles are causative factors. Choices people make regarding their lifestyles is a determinant of drug addiction. Making decisions to use alcohol or even hard addictive drugs cause addiction to substances. However, impulsiveness does not directly cause individuals to use and abuse drugs. Drug addiction victims endure the consequences of personal decisions they make to use drugs. Thus, the society should encourage members to make decisions and choose to live responsibly so that addiction cases are eradicated (Sremac, 50).
The disease of addiction significantly affects the state of mind and body of the users. Over time, drugs make the body depended physically and psychologically. As a disease, addiction causes grave consequences such as compromising the safety of nonusers. Apart from self-destruction, addiction as a disease causes positive and negative reinforcement depending on how users apply the drug (Leshner, 50). When drugs stimulate the limbic system of the brain, it pleasures the individual showing that addiction to substance use is a disease and not a decision someone makes. When the limbic system changes, it means that the body craves for the drugs to regain its normal functionality. These examples thus support the argument that addiction to drugs is a disease and not a decision an individual makes.
National Associations of Drug Court Professionals define drug courts as programs designed to help alter the behavior of drug addicts. These criminal justice plans were first developed in the year 1989 and since become a significant ascent of helping addicts reform. Further, the program offers therapeutic programs that th...