Drug Addiction - Term Paper Example

 Problem analysis Drug addiction has today become a major problem to the entire world. Drug addiction has not only risen from abuse of the illicit drugs but also abuse of the prescribed drugs. According to Goodman (2014), abuse and misuse of the prescribed medicines in US has become a growing problem with the younger members of the society being involved in this form of drug abuse than the elderly members. Drug addiction is therefore a major problem to most teen in America today especially the college-age students (Stanton and Shadish, 1997). This has eventually contributed to the mortality rates in America with approximately a twenty percent of the overall deaths being attributable to diseases as a result of drug addiction (Klaidman et.al, 1996). Memphis city in Tennessee has been in the recent past ranked among the major crime cities in America with drug addiction as a major contributor to the rising number of crimes in the city. According to Sanders (2007), the rate of drug abuse and drug addiction in Tennessee is particularly acute. This state has even been ranked among the two major cities where drug addiction in America is a major problem (Sells, 2009). Drug addiction is a situation where the behaviors of an individual are influenced by use of drugs (Bozarth, 1990). Drug addiction is basically associated with various adverse consequences on the human body. Amongst them all is the fact that drug addictions eventually lead to suicide or suicide attempts. The past research has revealed that there are quite a number of lives that are lost every day from suicide cases as a result of drug addiction. Drug addiction has cycles and is curable and results from drug abuse. Drug abuse is initiated by different factors such as peer pressure and curiosity. Target population This program will basically target the college-age persons in Memphis. These are the individuals of ages of between seventeen years to twenty five years. The targeted persons must show characteristics of drug addiction. These characteristics include depressions, mood swings, paranoia, high tempers, and change in attitudes, agitation and even impaired coordination. These are some of the basic characteristics that we will be looking for in our target population. The program will be targeting at least one thousand individuals who are both male and female from Memphis. Identification of relevant theory and research Different scholars of the world have in the past elaborated on the nature of human behaviors by use of different behavioral theories. According to Jaffe (1975), drug addiction is highly attributable to changes in the behaviors of a person. In this context, we can therefore use similar theories to adequately explain and analyze our problem. These theories will include the Emotional-processing Theory (Rachman, 1980; Foa & Riggs, 1993). This theory provides adequate frameworks that can be used to adequately analyze drug addiction in different individuals since emotions quite influence a person’s behaviors. This theory is therefore quite significant in explaining why different individuals abuse drugs. Also, the behavioral theories will be used to elaborate more on drug addiction behaviors in different individuals since drug addiction is a form of a human behavior. Behavioral theories were first developed by B. F. Skinner in 1930s. Behavioral theories will also help us understand why the problem has escalated amongst the teenagers in Memphis. Different researchers have in the past used the behavioral theories to analyze other behaviors in human beings such as crime and violence. Strategy & Objectives: Program Hypotheses & Variables In a recent survey by the world Health Organization, abuse and drug addiction is a major problem in Tennessee State. According to Kedia (2007), a part of individuals in Tennessee State who abuse drugs abuse prescribed drugs. This has made the prescribed drugs fall second after marijuana in a list of the most abused drugs by youths in Tennessee State (Sanders, 2007). Some of the most common prescribed drugs abused by teenagers in Memphis include painkillers, opioids, stimulants and steroids. On the other hand, illicit drugs commonly abused by teenagers in Memphis include marijuana, opium, cigarettes and alcohol. Therefore, amongst the greater part of the teenage population in Memphis is struggling with the drug addiction problem. Seventy percent of the prescribed drug abusers in Memphis abuse painkillers and Opioids hence developing an addiction while ninety percent of teenagers using marijuana in Tennessee State are addicted (Whitten, 2006). Between the years of 1991 to 2003, the rate of teen who abused the prescribed drugs alone rose from a nine percent to approximately a hundred and twenty six percent on boys and from a seven percent to three hundred and fifty percent on girls in Tennessee State (Kedia, 2007). Drug addiction has vital adverse effects on the health of the different individuals. Some scholars of the world have highly linked drug addictions to the chronic health conditions. Such chronic health conditions include hypertension, cardiovascular failures, diabetes and mental illnesses (Klaidman et.al, 1996).The chronic health conditions have been ranked amongst the top ten killer diseases of the world in the recent surveys. Drug addiction program in Memphis will therefore be aimed at controlling the increasing numbers of teenagers abusing drugs; prescribed and illicit drugs as well as reducing the number of drug addiction cases. Through this program, the different teenager struggling with the addiction problem will receive proper medication as well as proper guidance and counseling. Drug addiction is basically a disease of the mind such that one becomes a slave to a particular drug. It is therefore hard for one’s brain to properly function without the administration of the particular drug. There are adequate ways in which we can fight this growing menace in America; through special programs such as drug addiction control programs and other programs that are against drug abuse in the American society as well as implementation of more strict laws and policies regarding drug abuse. The reasons as to why there are relatively high proportions of drug addiction in Memphis are as a result of loose morals in our society. As the time changes, our societal moral values have continued to disappear. Teenagers in our society no longer appreciate the societal moral values. This is the reason why it is possible to walk on the major American streets and meet a bunch of young girls and boys smoking marijuana without fear. Also, the peer influence amongst teenagers has adequately influenced the rise in the number of drug addiction cases. On the part of the prescribed medication addiction, the continued supply of prescribed medications into the different medical facilities across America has also resulted into the increase of the abuse of the prescribed medications with approximately 6.3 million individuals being abusers of the prescribed medications by the year 2003 (Kedia, 2007). This has therefore increased the availability of the prescribed medications to the teenagers. There is a huge discrepancy in the number of teenagers who were drug addicts in the 1990s in Memphis and the current number. There has been a significant increase in the drug addiction numbers among teenagers in Memphis with Tennessee State ranked among the top US states badly hit by drug addiction cases. This can be estimated to approximately 70 percent of the overall teenage population in Memphis. This means that for every five teenagers, one is a drug addict. Marijuana and prescribed medications are the biggest contributors of drug addiction in Tennessee (Kedia, 2007). The rise in the number of teens using drugs in Memphis therefore can act as bases of the normative need to handle the drug addiction problem. Through surveys and case studies by different scholars on the drug addiction problem in Memphis, we can be able to establish the perceived needs of the respective individuals in our target population. From the different research survey and case studies on drug addiction in Memphis by different scholars also, it is possible to determine the percentage of teenagers who needs help in dealing with drug addiction problem. Further, it is possible to quantify the number of teenagers who have been seeking the online services. For proper comparison of the program to other related programs in other communities, record keeping of the details of the individuals served by the program will be vital. Stakeholders (Direct vs. indirect) In addressing the drug addiction problem in Memphis, a number of individuals will be directly or indirectly involved in the program. The teenagers of the ages of between seventeen years to twenty five will be directly involved in the program since they are the main target of the program. Trained professions such as the medical therapist as well as counselors will also take part in treatment procedures as well as offering advices to affected individuals. The program coordinator will as well be a part of the program. The general American community, the federal government, state government as well as the different government agencies will also be involved indirectly. Risk need vs. demand use The target population comprises of different individuals. The population has individuals who are at a higher risk of drug addiction than the other. Therefore some individuals may be at a risk while other may just need a solution. The program will therefore integrate such factors throughout the entire process. There are particularly a number of other programs related to drug addiction in America. Most of these programs are normally run by different government agencies. These programs have been perceived by different individuals as expensive and not up to task. The hypothesis statement of the program is ‘If a significant number of drug addiction cases are resolved and proper measures to prevent drug abuse amongst the teenagers in Memphis are well implemented then the number of drug addiction cases in Memphis will eventually decline’. Drug addiction amongst the teenagers is not only a problem in America but also an emerging problem to many other developed and developing nations of the world. The only ways this problem can be prevented is if the different federal governments and state governments of the world develop more stringent measures to control drug abuse in the respective nations and states and also through the intervention of both the parents and the teachers. There is a cause-effect relationship between drug abuse and drug addiction in that continued drug abuse eventually results into drug addiction. Moreover, through the different medical therapists we will emphasize more on the best ways of preventing drug addiction and how to deal with the causes of drug addiction as individuals. Strategy & Objectives: Goals & Objectives If the program is successful, the number of drug addiction cases in Memphis will come down by half by the end of the five years. However, the program has to integrate different objectives so as to reach at the desired goal. Such objectives include outcome objectives as well as the process objectives. In this case, the outcome objectives entail reducing the number of drug addiction cases amongst teenagers in Memphis within the first two years of the program and developing substantial measures to control drug use on the part of the prescribed drugs and stringent measures to curb abuse of the illicit drugs by the teenagers by the end of the third year of the program. So as to adequately achieve the outcome objectives, we will have to first; ensure that all the teens in Memphis showing drug addictions symptoms undergo thorough medical treatment within the first eight months of the program. Secondly, by the end of the second year, the information regarding causes and effects and various ways of controlling drug abuse as well as drug addiction through the program coordinator will be presented to the state government and other government drug control agencies in America. Therefore, the treatment will be undertaken in the first phase of the program which is the first eight months. After the eight months, it is expected that the number of addiction cases among the teenagers will have gone down. After the two years, the project coordinator is expected to have collected substantial data that can help the state government as well as the different government agencies fight the rising cases of drug addiction amongst the teenagers. Program Design The program will mainly require financial and human resources. The financial resources will enable the different medical therapists successfully mobilize teenagers in Memphis and also significantly remunerate the various medical therapists for the services offered. The human resources include the medical therapists and the program coordinator. Since drug addiction has been identified as a major problem to teenagers in Memphis, special treatment, advises as well as developing proper drug policies than can help curb the problem will be the main themes of this program. During the program the different individuals will have lessons on the different ways and method of dealing with drug addiction. Individuals in the program will undertake two hour sessions everyday that will not only involve the medical treatment but also the religious sermons from different counselors. All individuals in the program are expected to complete the program and adequately acquire knowledge pertaining proper drug use and the dangers of drug abuse. By the end of the program, the different individuals should show sign of recovery. These results will be collected and properly noted down by the different therapists on the ground. The results will be rated from the standardized measures and scales of the program as well as well as client satisfaction. Data Requirement Numerical data on drug addiction cases in Memphis should be collected before the program, during the program and after the program. The cost effectiveness of the program will be analyzed by critically evaluating the costs of the program against the gains of the program in a period of one year. Monitoring the Program/Using Information Technology By use of certain programs in a computer the coordinator and the various medical therapists are able to keep records of all individuals in the program. The numeric data from the daily records kept by the different medical therapists as well as the comments by the different counselors on the progress of the different individuals in the program will adequately help the program coordinator evaluate the progress of the program. Proper evaluation of the program will be achieved through proper representation of the collected data through tables, pie charts and even graphs. This way, it is easy to share the data with the different stakeholders. Budgeting The project will need at least ten sets of computers each estimated to a cost of two hundred dollars. This makes the total computer budget figure estimate to around two thousand dollars. Direct costs will entail the remuneration of the various medical therapists and counselors. The salary of the medical therapists estimated to around three hundred and fifty dollars a month making a total of four thousand two hundred dollars an year while that of the counselors estimated to be around three thousand dollars an year. The program will incorporate at least ten therapists and ten counselors. The total direct cost per year is estimated to around fifty thousand four hundred dollars. Indirect costs of the project are estimated to around twenty thousand dollars an year. Program evaluation Different types of data in relation to the project will be collected on quarterly basis. This will adequately ensure that the program is in line with the goals and objectives of the program. The data collected will also involve the data in relation to the specific resources of the program such as the financial resources. Also, the level of client satisfaction will be vital for evaluating the success of the program. References Bozarth, M.A. (1990). Drug addiction as a psychobiological process. In D.M. Warburton (Ed.), Addiction controversies. London: Harwood Academic Publishers.  Cindy, Sanders (2007).Targeting Tennessee's Drug Utilization Rates: New Program Focuses on Schedule II Narcotics, East Tennessee Medical News (July 2007), retrieved from http://easttennessee.medicalnewsinc.com/news.php?viewStory=1045 Foa, E. B., & Riggs, D. S. (1993). Posttraumatic stress disorder in rape victims. In J. Oldham, M. B. Riba, & A. Tasman (Eds.), Annual review of psychiatry (Vol. 12, pp. 273–303). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association. Goodman, Ted. (2014). “The Need for Prescription Drug Buy-Back Programs.” Tennessee Journal of Law & Policy, 6(1). Jaffe, J., H. (1975). Drug addiction and drug abuse. In: Goodman LS, Gilman A (eds.) The pharmacological basis of therapeutics (pp. 284-324), MacMillan, New York. Kedia, Satish. (2007). Prescription Drug Abuse: A Public Health Issue in Tennessee. The SAT Report. 2(2). Klaidman, D., Barry, J., Rosenstiel, T., & Morganthau, T. (1996). The politics of drugs: Back to war. Newsweek, 128(9), 57-58. Lori,Whitten. (2006). Studies Identify Factors Surrounding Rise in Abuse of Prescription Drug by College Students, 20 Nida Notes (March2006), Retrieved from http://www.nida.nih.gov/NIDAnotes/NNvol Toby, Sells. (2009). Foundation Seeks to Curtail Prescription Drug Abuse by Tennesseans,'Duped' Doctors Memphis Business Journal, Retrieved from http://www.tnrxsafety.org/index.php?option=com-content&view=article&id=5 6:foundation -seeks-to-curtail-perscription-drug-abuse-by-Tennesseans-duped-doctors-memphis-business-journal&catid=19:psp-media&itemid=38 Rachman, S. (1980). Emotional processing. Behavior Research & Therapy, 18, 51–60. Stanton, Duncan, M. & Shadish, William R. (1997). Outcome, Attrition, and Family-Couples Treatment for Drug Abuse: A Meta-Analysis and Review of the Controlled, Comparative Studies. American Journal of Psychological Association, Vol. 122, No, 2, 170-191. Read More