Essay Example on Substance Abuse: Impact on Youth and Community Development

Substance abuse is the use of hazardous or harmful psychoactive substances, which includes illicit drugs and alcohol. The substance use control has been a critical issue in the todays community where the youths are the most affected. Substance use has led people to prioritize drug use more than other activities in society. In this case, young people are spending much of their time and money on buying drugs instead of investing in community development projects. Although the youths have been educated on drug consequences, they are still using the drugs. Therefore, there is a need for the community to improve their strategies on persuading the youths in the communities to stop using illicit drugs. This essay persuades the community to improve on the substance use prevention measures among the children to facilitate future drug-free generation.

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Most people who are affected the substance use are the youths. According to the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS), about 2.5 percent of the Americans who get admitted to healthcare institutions for treatment due to the substance use adverse effects are youths (World Drug Report, 2018). Thus, through the research done by the TEDS, it is therefore clear that children are the most affected by the drug abuse. Form a general estimation, World Drug Report (2018), argues that, more than 50% of the youth are involved in drug abuse in which they practice the use every day. The children get initiated in substance use at an early age, and they continue growing in such situations. The substance use is highly practiced by the high school students who encourage each other in the system. There has been an increase in dropouts due to the increased rate of substance use in high school students. Drug abuse has also led to poor grades among the students because they spend most of their time and energy in taking illicit drugs rather than studying. The psychoactive substances result in dependence syndrome – a cluster of physiological, cognitive, and behavioral phenomena developed when someone repeatedly uses illegal drugs (World Drug Report, 2018). The drug use in the community leads to the addiction of the youths, whereby they develop strong desires to take the drugs, making it difficult to control its use. In this case, most of the young people are persistent in using drugs despite being aware of its harmful consequences.

The people who mostly have the capability of initiating practical improvements on prevention of the substance abuse among youth are the family members (Watters & Byrne, 2014). Besides, the family members have the power to minimize substance use within the community by monitoring their youths. In some cases, the children adapt the behavior from the family members who usually use the drugs. In this case, if a child sees her parents taking illicit drugs, it is then possible that the child will try to 'taste' the substance. Furthermore, it would be difficult for a father who takes illicit drugs to warn his child against them. Therefore, the parents who are addicted to drugs should make sure that they don't take them in the presence of their children. The family members can quickly identify the drug suppliers and report them to the local authorities punished according to the constitutional law, thus minimizing the availability of drugs to the youths. According to Watters and Byrne (2014). a fraction of the depend on the illicit drugs as their source of income, an action which keeps the substance use being a complicated issue to solve. Without the availability of the drugs, the youths would never be able to use them. Therefore, families can facilitate the control of substance use in the community.

One of the challenges that hinder substance use control among the youths in the family's ignorance of drug prevention measures (Fernando et al. 2013). Although families have a critical power in controlling substance use, it becomes a challenge when they are ignorant about preventive measures. Drug abuse has been connected to family issues in different ways. For instance, a certain fraction of youths who get involved in drug abuse gets the behavior from family members. The children tend to mimic the ethics of their elders, whether good or bad. Thus, when the elders are taking illicit drugs, the youths perceive the act as good behavior. Due to these lousy role models, it is difficult to effectively prevent substance use within the community. Secondly, family members who use illicit drugs as a source of their income are making it hard to prevent substance use among the youths (Fernando et al. 2013). As the campaigns are taking place in different parts of society, suppliers continue selling drugs to teenagers. It would be easier to control substance use among the youths when there is low availability of these drugs, but whenever these drugs are available to the children, it becomes a great challenge to control them. Thirdly, addiction has been a significant problem among drug users. Some of the youth have used the drugs for long to the point that they have been addicted.

There have been misconceptions about substance use, which has facilitated great ignorance as much as substance use within the community. One wrongful concept is that one has the power to quit substance use anytime (First Nations Health Authority n.d). This misconception makes the youths to feel as if they are unique and compelling to a certain point that they cannot be addicted. In this case, the children use illicit drugs believing that they will stop when they need to. Through this irrelevant idea, they ignore the campaign messages on drug addiction, and they continue using the drugs until they get addicted. This misconception has been one of the reasons why drug control has been a challenge in the community. There is also a misconception that if anyone has a family and a career, he or she cannot get addicted to substance use (Mountainside, 2016). This misconception is used by those who feel they have a purpose in life and try to find themselves a reason to why they should continue taking drugs despite knowing the effects of being addicted. These myths are fatal, and the users believe that they have not reached the point of quitting.

Conclusion

In conclusion, substance use control is a critical issue that is facing the community. The population most affected by this issue is the youths since they are more prone to drug settings. More than half of the young people have been reported to have involved in substance use. The people who mostly have the power of initiating useful improvements in the prevention of substance abuse among the youths are the family members. Family ignorance of drug prevention measures is one of the challenges hindering the substance use control in the community. One of the most common misconceptions states that an individual can quit substance use when he or she needs it. The parents should make sure they control the behaviors of their children by monitoring the people whom they children are associating with during their daily routine. It is clear that youths are initiated by other people in the system of drug abuse, and thus by warning them on whom to relate with may help in the prevention.

References

Fernando Mendes, A. P. Relvas, A. Olaio, M. Rovira, G. Broyer, S. Pietralunga, K. Borhn, J. L. Recio (2013). Family: the challenge This work consists of research into the recreational arena the young of prevention of drug use. https://ntakd.lrv.lt/uploads/ntakd/documents/files/5-IREFREA.pdfFirst Nations Health Authority (n.d). 5 MYTHS ABOUT ADDICTION. Health Through Wellness. FNHA.

https://www.fnha.ca/Documents/FNHA-Myths-About-Addiction-Factsheet.pdf Mountainside (2016). 5 Common Misconceptions About Addiction. Drug Addiction. https://mountainside.com/blog/drug-addiction/top-misconceptions-about-addictionWatters N. and Byrne D. (2014) The Role of Family Support Services in Drug Prevention. National Advisory Committee on Drugs.

http://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/5928/1/2628-FamilySupport.pdfWorld Drug Report (2018). Drugs and associated issues among young people and older people. United Nations publication, Sales No. E.18.XI.9. https://www.unodc.org/wdr2018/prelaunch/WDR18_Booklet_4_YOUTH.pdf

Annotated Bibliography

Mountainside (2016). 5 Common Misconceptions About Addiction. Drug Addiction. https://mountainside.com/blog/drug-addiction/top-misconceptions-about-addiction

According to this article, there are several misconceptions about substance use that misguide the people. For instance, this article shows that many United States citizens need addiction treatment, yet only a few people receive it. In of 22.7 million Americans who require drug addiction treatment, only 2.5 million who willingly gets treated. There are different emotional and financial reasons which lead individuals to avoid seeking treatment. The first misconception, as per this article states that, if anyone has a family and a career, he or she cannot get addicted to substance use. The concept that all the addicted people are homeless and live in the struggle of staying off the streets is not true. In denying this conception, this article argues that most of the people who are addicted to using illicit drugs have jobs and their families. Mountainside shows that a certain study conducted by the NIAAA (National Institute of Alcohol and Alcoholism) found out that around 19.5% of all people who take alcohol were 'functional.' Also, as per the National Drug Threat Assessment done in 2010, 10.2 percent of the part-time employees are drug abusers, while 8 percent of full-time use illicit drugs. Therefore, these researchers object to the conception that all the people who are addicted to drugs do not have jobs and families. The second misconception in this article argues that one has the capability of quitting addiction whenever they feel like with ease. In denying this misconception, this article argues that people's willpower is not the only thing that can make an individual overcome addiction. What they do not know is that there are psychological and physical damages behind the addiction, and it requires professional attention.

The third misconception, as per this article, states that addiction is a choice which an individual makes. People who use drugs tend to believe in this misconception to empower themselves and encourage them to continue using illicit drugs and fail to get addicted. However, this article clarifies that, although it may be voluntary to misuse the drugs, the brain of human being reacts to the drugs it is not voluntary, and one cannot decide how the drug will react to the brain. Notably, substance use alters how the brain functions, and the constant use of the drugs will result in the need for professional health help. According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, as cited in this article, it is a chronic disease of brain reward, motivations, memory, and associated circuitry. One who is addicted to the substance use cannot consistently have control over the substance use and has impaired behavioral control. Addiction leads to having strong desires or craving for the particular drugs which one is used to, resulting in dysfunctional emotional responses. The substances damage the human brain, and the bodies get used to drugs such that it will be difficult for them to do without the drugs. Most of these drug abusers lack a better understanding of addiction and its effects. More campaigns should be done to increase awareness of the dangers and signs of substance use addiction to help people develop the interest of seeking professional help.