Drug Abuse Statistics – Trends in the New Generation
Monitoring the drug abuse statistics in our youth is a great indicator of the future of the next generations. Organizations such as Monitoring The Future (MTF) have been conducting research since the mid 1970s on the use of drugs amongst 12th grade students and their perception of drugs and its use. The University of Michigan’s Institute of Social Research conducts the studies.
The study is longitudinal and follows the patterns and changes in attitudes of the students over time. In 1991, the studies included 8th and 10th graders too.
The latest drug abuse statistics conducted by MTF were taken in 2008. The key findings showed a decrease in the abuse pattern for a majority of the drugs compared to the previous year.
There were a few positive results that were highlighted. In 2008, the number of 10th graders that have used any illicit drugs in their lifetime had significantly declined in comparison to 2007.
The percentage of youngsters in this age group that smoke cigarettes have continued to decline over the years, and has fallen to the lowest rate in the history of the survey. This is a promising finding, as the use of tobacco is one of the major concerns in health problems.
Categories: Drug Abuse Tags: Drug Abuse, drug abuse statistics, drugs, health problems, illicit drugs
The Implication of Drug Abuse in British Economy
Drug abuse is a serious problem of modern society. It influences almost all areas of social and individual life of the person. It has negative impact on the criminal situation, economic and cultural level of the country. In my article I will centre on the negative impact drug abuse has on the British economy and the way government resists this problem.
When study the impact of drug industry on the economy of the country and each separate individual it’s necessary to take into account three main categories of illicit drugs. First category consists of illicit drugs which are produced from natural products and these group includes such drugs as morphine, heroine and opium. Second category consists of illicit drugs produced synthetically and includes such drugs as amphetamines. Psychoactive pharmaceutical drugs constitute the last category. It’s necessary to keep in mind that different groups of drugs have different impact on the economy of the country. Drugs can have different impact to the life of an individual. They can occupy complementive or substitutive place. In the cases when person is really a drug edict the is much probability that he of she will take more than one kind of drugs. Researches have proved that the drugs of the second and third groups are oftener used to complement the drugs from the first group. Each group of drugs has different impact on the metal, physical and emotional state of an individual and the use of different drugs makes the study of the problem more difficult. Same it makes more difficult to study the economic effect of complement or substitute drugs and this should also taken into account.
Drug abuse has strong negative effects on the British economy. “An investigation commissioned by the European Community found that the identifiable costs of drug trafficking and abuse amounted to $3.2 billion 43 in the United Kingdom, equivalent to 0.4 per cent of GDP or about $60 per capita. Of that amount, about 85 per cent was the value of stolen property, thus clearly identifying crime as the most important side-effect of drug abuse.” (Commission of the European Communities). Every day the country loses millions of pounds because of drug abuse. Sadly but the problem of drug abuse has the tendency to grow and drug addiction brings more and more damage to the economy of the country. Money, which could have been spent on the health care or the development of educational sphere, is spent on the fight with drug abuse. “Based on estimates of some 130,000 to 150,000 hard-core abusers, the average annual costs to society per addict were thus approximately £13,000, or approximately $23,100.” (Commission of the European Communities).
Categories: Drug Abuse Tags: Drug Abuse, Drug Abuse Is A Serious Problem Of Modern Society, drugs, illicit drugs, natural products, Psychoactive pharmaceutical drugs
Inpatient Rehab Atlanta Georgia
It is a proven fact that once a child/teenager begins smoking marijuana the odds that they will progress to harder, illicit drugs increases four times that of a person who does not smoke marijuana. The easy availability and high addictive qualities of these drugs not only ruin the lives of those who are addicted, but also those who love and care for them. Narconon Arrowhead has an effective inpatient drug and alcohol rehab with a 70% success rate along with drug education to over 65,000 youth about the realities and consequences of drugs and alcohol.
According to the 2004 – 2005 NSDUH data, approximately 175,000 Georgia citizens reported needing but not receiving treatment for illicit drug use while in October 2007 21% of the active inmate population of the Georgia Dept. of Corrections reported a drug abuse problem and an additional 15% reported a drug and alcohol abuse problem. Approximately 37% of all probationers had a drug offense as their primary offense. Obviously people do not learn how to live a responsible, productive drug free life while in jail. These are not rehabilitation facilities, they are measures to keep those addicted to drugs out of the communities for a specific period of time in hopes that they “will straighten up and see the light”. For a person already caught in the cycle of addiction, inpatient rehab is the answer for that person to regain a drug-free, productive, responsible, ethical and happy life.
Categories: Drug Abuse Tags: alcohol, drugs, high addictive qualities, illicit drugs, inpatient drug and alcohol rehab, Narconon, Smoking marijuana
An Overview of Illegal Drugs
Illegal drugs are mostly addictive which can be in form as chemicals, pills, herbs etc. Such drugs make people so addictive that they consume these even if they feel sick. These are dangerous of course, having various side effects affecting ones mental, physical and psychological aspects. This is the reason most of the governments have ruled out laws regulating their usage not banning totally as these are sometimes used for medical purposes too. Usage of illicit drugs is not confined to any one region or country but is seen world widely.
Trading illegal drugs is a criminal offense in many countries. Legal amount of these drugs are often distributed carefully and are taxed too heavily. For e.g. cigarettes are legal drugs but are expensive and are also cautioned to be consumed by anyone below a certain age. A similar drug is alcohol. Apart from these there are various other illegal drugs as caffeine, heroine, morphine, temazepam, opium, methamphetamine etc. And if the person is caught with any of these drugs he may be punished as per the specific country rules.
There are various legal usages of most of the illegal drugs for which total ban cannot be made. These are:
- Cocaine: It is used as an anesthetic legally.
- Heroine: It is used legally as an analgesic – painkiller.
- Methamphetamine: It is used to treat Narcolepsy.
- Crack: Used as Cocaine.
Categories: Drug Abuse Tags: chemicals, herbs, illegal drugs, illicit drugs, mostly addictive, pills
Facts About Drug Addiction
You may rightfully get upset when you find out someone you love is an addict. You may think that the person chooses to take drugs for fun. Choosing to take drugs is not a choice in the life of an addict. He or she is addicted to drugs and it should be treated like a disease.
Estimates of the total overall costs of substance abuse in the United States exceed half a trillion dollars each year. That includes $181 billion for illicit drugs, $168 billion for tobacco and $185 billion for alcohol. What is important to know though is the cost of drug addiction extends to every citizen in the United States of America. We pay for the drug addiction through family disintegration, loss of employment, failure in school, domestic violence, child abuse, and other crimes.
Drug addiction changes the structure and function of the brain and is frequently referred to as a disease because of these characteristics. The brain’s communication system is disrupted and changed from repeated use of substances and so when the addict stops using drugs, a craving is induced. It is for this very reason that addicts are compelled to do whatever it takes to purchase more drugs; prostitution, theft or other crimes. In fact, most incarcerations are somehow directly or indirectly tied to addiction.
Categories: Drug Abuse Tags: addicted to drugs, alcohol, an addict, child abuse, Drug Addiction, drugs for fun, illicit drugs, Tobacco
