Essay Sample on Cocaine Abuse: Impact on Society & Reasons for its Growing Popularity

Introduction

Substance abuse like cocaine has become an immense problem among people in the world today. Cocaine affects the individuals psychologically, socially, and biologically making them unable to bring positive impact to economics, politics, law, and society. Teens may involve cocaine consumption because of peer pressure, poverty, and family issues like domestic violence, neglect, and denial. Also, the internal mechanism or conflicts may make people indulge in cocaine-like antisocial conditions, depression, and low-esteem (Wolf, 2016). However, the government has introduced legislation to prevent the threat associated with cocaine consumption to improve production in school, career, society, and workplace. Therefore, this research focused on the current laws related to the abuse of cocaine in Texas.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Cocaine has adverse impacts on a person's body, depending on the quantity taken (Cunningham, Callaghan, & Liu, 2015). For example, when taken in low doses, it makes one feel euphoria, invincibility, and lose the sense of wellbeing. Various studies argued that moderate use of cocaine might results in rapture, paranoia, an increase in breathing rate and body temperature, as well as raise hearth rate and blood pressure (Appavu, 2016). Also, many statistics have shown that around 11 percent of adolescents who involve in drug abuse are associated with academic deterioration, and out of them, 6 percent consume cocaine (Cunningham, Callaghan, & Liu, 2015). It means that cocaine makes people unable to perform in academic and working places since it interferes with brain functioning. Accordingly, when cocaine is taken at a high rate, it leads to anxiety, sleep disorders, vomiting, and nausea, as well as seizures, brain hemorrhage, and convulsions, and stroke. Cocaine also, when consumed in large quantities, may have long-term effects such as sexual dysfunction, depression, cerebral atrophy hallucinations, check pain and exhaustion, and insomnia.

Current Cocaine Laws in Texas

Drug trafficking is termed as a violation of the controlled substance Act in Texas (Appavu, 2016). The individuals found guilty involving in delivering and distributing illicit drugs like cocaine may receive severe punishment as per law. The recent statistics have found that the rate of cocaine has reduced with 10 percent for the last three years due to the imposition of dangerous legislation against trafficking (Wolf, 2016). The actions discourage cocaine delivering or distributions as well as consumptions since people fear colossal penalties and punishment imposed by the court if found guilty of the acts. However, despite the laws imposed on cocaine consumption in Texas, people still involved in drug use. The sale, trafficking, and possession of cocaine are prohibited under federal law. For instance, in Texas, the penalties imposed on selling and possession of cocaine depends on the quantity of the drug at that particular time (Wolf, 2016). The punishment includes monetary fines or jail where a person having even less than one gram of cocaine may be charged as an offender or felony and can be sentenced around two years in the prison. It means an individual who has almost 200 grams of cocaine may spend nearly 99 years in jail (Appavu, 2016). Therefore, Texas laws are stringent, especially on the consumption of cocaine. For example, the person manufacturing or creating a drug by incorporating natural elements or chemical receives the same punishment as the one delivering. However, irrespective of the strict laws, some people in Texas consume cocaine in secret places like vehicles or homes as well as hidden corridors imposing severe effects on their bodies and brain.

The Treatment Program for Cocaine

The treating cocaine involves the following strategies; Medication where various addiction doctors prescribe the medicines that can assist in managing cravings and withdraw symptoms. The Prescribed drug helps to restore the balance of mental chemicals to assist one to become committed to recovering. Besides, the behavioral therapy where the treatment for cocaine addiction can incorporate group and individual therapy. These services provide an addicted person an opportunity to manage and monitor the emotional aspects associated with addiction in a friendly and supportive environment. Finally, social services help addicted people to recover both financially and health. Various treatment centers would contain social workers who assist in improving housing or employment if cocaine addiction impacted essential aspects of life (Cunningham, Callaghan, & Liu, 2015). The treatment centers assist in re-establishing relationships with friends, loved ones and family, and boosting mental and physical wellbeing. Also, rehabilitation centers help in managing the challenging symptoms related to cocaine withdrawal and finding support in a society of addition to patients and professionals.

Conclusion

The Texas government should continue imposing complex legislation against the consumption of cocaine since the drug harms people's bodies and brains, making them unable to function in their daily routine. Cocaine is associated with health issues like nausea, irritability, abdominal pain, headaches, high blood pressure, and reduced appetite. However, the addicted people can be helped to withdraw from the drugs through medication, behavioral therapy, and social services, although withdrawing from cocaine may make one develop the symptoms like depression, fatigue, discomfort, agitation, and restlessness. Therefore, cocaine consumption is a threat to any country's economy, so the government should introduce appropriate measures to discourage people, especially teenagers, from using as they are the future business leaders and inventors.

References

Appavu, R. (2016). Nanovaccine development for cocaine addiction: Immune response and brain behaviour. J Vaccines Vaccin, 7(313), 2. https://doi.org/10.4172/2157-7560.1000313

Cunningham, J. K., Callaghan, R. C., & Liu, L. M. (2015). US federal cocaine essential ('precursor') chemical regulation impacts on US cocaine availability: an intervention time-series analysis with temporal replication. Addiction, 110(5), 805-820. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.12839

Wolf, M. E. (2016). Synaptic mechanisms underlying persistent cocaine craving. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 17(6), 351. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn.2016.39