Substance Abuse: Definition & Causes - Report Sample

Introduction

The World Health Organization defines substance abuse as the use of harmful or hazardous psychoactive substances such as alcohol and illicit drugs (WHO, 2020). Other authors define substance abuse as a pattern of harmful use of any substance for mood-altering purposes. Substance abuse can also be referred to as drug abuse, which is the use of drugs in amounts or methods harmful to an individual (Thomas, 2020). Substance abuse is commonly associated with substance use disorder. In 2017, it was reported that 19.7 million American adults were battling substance use disorder (Thomas, 2020). 74% of those suffering from substance abuse were closely associated with alcohol abuse (Thomas, 2020). The main aim of this paper is to discuss substance abuse among Hispanics-binge drinking adults.

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Latino Americans

Latino Americans were the fastest-growing group in the United States by 2015, and they represent about 18% of the total population (Sukumaran, 2020). The population of Latino Americans in the United States is about 58 million, and it is the largest ethnic minority group in the US. When it comes to alcohol use, more Latinos (31.8%) have never had alcohol compared to the White population, which stands at 15.8% (NIAAA, 2019). However, Latinos who use alcohol are seen to have alcohol dependence. 33% of Latinos have alcohol-related problems, while only 22.8% of their white peers have persistent problems (Alvarez, Jason & Olson, 2017). Different Hispanic groups have different alcohol-related problems. Puerto Ricans have higher rates of heavy drinking, while the Cuban Americans have lower rates.

Latinos are more likely to drink heavily than their white counterparts are. In the last month, 24.7% of Latinos reported binge drinking, which is more than the national average of 23 %( Sukumaran, 2020). Only a third of Cuban American drinkers participated in binge drinking while half of the drinking adults with Puerto Rican ancestry participated in binge drinking. As Latinos become assimilated into the American culture, their drinking habits are also seen to change. Women are seen to consume more alcohol in America than when they are in their parent countries. Adolescents of Hispanics who have lived in America for more than 10 years have higher rates of alcohol abuse than those who have lived there for less than 10 years (Sukumaran, 2020). Those with Hispanic origins who choose to complete surveys in English are also twice as likely to drink alcohol than those who answer entirely it in Spanish.

Factors That Predict Drinking Behaviour Among Hispanic Community

Gender

Hispanic women in the United States are seen to drink even more than young Hispanic men (NIAAA, 2019). According to the traditional Hispanic culture, women could only drink in family gatherings or private settings, but this norm has changed.

Acculturation

A huge group of Hispanic communities has moved to the United States, settled there, and adopted their culture. Adapting the American culture has made alcohol consumption among the Hispanic community increase. The best evidence is that of women who did not drink when they were in their parent countries but started drinking after moving to the US.

Attitudes

The Hispanic community is mostly of Protestants who have very strong faith. However, those who are not Protestants have very relaxed attitudes towards drinking. They are, therefore seen to drink heavily and are associated with alcohol-related problems.

Country of Origin

The country of origin determines whether people are likely to drink heavily. Hispanics who come from Cuba are less likely to drink heavily than those from Puerto Rico (Alvarez, Jason & Olson, 2017).

Language

The language preference among the Hispanic community is one of the indicators of drinking behaviors among them. When completing surveys, the choice of language can predict their alcohol dependence rate. Hispanics completing surveys in English are likely to more than those who complete surveys in Spanish.

Consequences of Binge Drinking Among Hispanics

The alcohol dependence among Hispanics is very less compared to other whites. Only 9.5% of Hispanics depend on alcohol compared to 13.8% of non-Hispanic whites. However, most Hispanics who are alcohol dependent have recurrent alcohol problems (Sukumaran, 2020). 33% of Hispanics have persistent alcohol problems compared to only 22.8% of non-Hispanic whites (Bezrutczyk, 2019).
Hispanics who drink heavily are exposed to different diseases. One of the common diseases is alcohol-related cirrhosis, which affects white Hispanic men at a higher rate than other races (Bezrutczyk, 2019).
Driving under the influence of alcohol has been seen to increase in the US among the Hispanic women aged 18-29 while it has reduced among Hispanic men of the same age (Alvarez, Jason & Olson, 2017). Central and South Americans and Mexican Americans, are mostly seen to receive citations for drunk driving.

Treatment of Alcohol Problems Among Hispanics

In the past year, alone, 9.9% of Latinos were seen to have Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). Despite being diagnosed with this disorder, less than 10% looked for addiction treatment (NIAAA, 2019). Hispanics who speak English are more likely to benefit from Detox and Rehab services than those who speak Spanish. Latino Americans rarely seek help or join support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous despite them being available in Spanish language and free.

Latinos feel that rehab is difficult to access due to several reasons. They include poverty and financial strain. Some Latinos cannot afford to pay the money required for the rehabilitation process (Bezrutczyk, 2019). Most Latinos do not have health insurance, making it almost impossible for them to access addiction treatment services. Latinos are also seen to have less access to substance abuse treatment or have to wait for a long time before accessing the services compared to other Americans.

Various recommendations are made to make addiction treatment services easier and accessible to the Hispanic community. Bilingual recovery programs should be incorporated, and they should involve family members so that more Latinos may feel the need of joining these programs (Sukumaran, 2020). The treatment should also include language translation. Treatment services and programs can also reach more people of Hispanic origin if they are gender-specific and cater specifically for the Hispanic community.

Impact of Substance Abuse by Hispanics on the Economy

It can be noted that the US losses more than $740 billion annually because of substance abuse. It is lost in lost workplace productivity, crime-related costs, and health expenses (NIAAA, 2019). Health expenses and crime-related costs are seen to be direct costs that are incurred because of substance abuse. Lost workplace productivity refers to the loss incurred because work in the market was never done, and production did not take place.

Conclusion

More Latinos (31.8%) have never taken alcohol compared to other non-White Hispanics (15.8). They, however, involved in binge drinking more than other people do. Latinos also have recurrent alcohol problems. Binge drinking has various effects on an individual, such as diseases and overall society, such as loss in workplace productivity and an increase in health expenses. More research needs to be conducted to establish the cause of binge drinking among the Hispanics in the US.

References

Alvarez J., Jason L., & Olson B. (2017). Substance abuse prevalence and treatment among Latinos and Latinas. PubMed Central (PMC).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3059600/

Bezrutczyk D. (2019, July 24). Latino Americans and alcohol. Alcohol Rehab Guide.
https://www.alcoholrehabguide.org/resources/latino-americans-alcohol/

NIAAA. (2019, June 26). Alcohol and the Hispanic community. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).
https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sheets/alcohol-and-hispanic-community

Sukumaran, P. (2020, June 22). Alcoholism: A rising health crisis for Latinos. Salud America.
https://salud-america.org/alcoholism-a-rising-health-crisis-for-latinos/

Thomas S. (2020, May 19). Addiction statistics | Drug & substance abuse statistics. American Addiction Centers.
https://americanaddictioncenters.org/rehab-guide/addiction-statistics

WHO. (2020). Substance abuse. World Health Organization.
https://www.who.int/topics/substance_abuse/en/