Drug Addiction and the Lack of Rehabilitation - Essay Example

"Drug Addiction and the Lack of Rehabilitation" is a peculiar example of a paper on the addiction. 
Drug abuse and addiction have become one of the most threatening problems in this world. Simply understood, drug addiction refers to the state when a person can not live without abusing drugs. Erickson et al define Drug Addiction as “a global description of a pattern of chronic, compulsive drug-taking behavior which is harmful” (Erickson, Javors and Stimmel, 2). Researches have found that drug abuse “is a seriously debilitating disorder”, and that “drug addiction is not created overnight and cannot be cured overnight” (Drug Addiction: The Struggle, 25). Yet, most of the problems in the trend of drug-abuse seem to stem from the non-availability of sufficient rehabilitation centers for the drug-addicts to treat themselves.

It would be difficult to assess to what extent countries in the world expend for the eradication of drug abuse. There are clear indications though, that expenditure incurred for rehabilitation programs is generally insufficient. Sandro Segre notes that according to the American Psychiatric Association, “Congress reduced federal support for ‘research and service on mental disease and addiction troubles’ programs: forty federal programs were eliminated and over four hundred reduced – with 30 percent cuts in federal financing and direct savings in public expenditure, for an estimated amount of over $25 billion” (57).

Barry McCaffrey, the former Director of the Office of National Drug Contol Policy in the US argues that “Drugs purport to be an ‘instant’ answer – wether to boredom, anxiety, frustration, thrill-seeking, or pain…we can make headway against this difficult problem by adopting a long-range approach that demands patience and perseverance” (6). But a long term solution for this general apathy towards encouraging more rehabilitation for drug addicts seems almost non-existent. There is indeed a need to expand more possibilities for drug addicts to find solace in.

More governmental and non-governmental intervention backed by greater effort in providing solutions for unrestrained drug use and addition seems to be the steps needed at hand.

Dealing with the issue of drug addiction “requires the mobilization of support mechanisms – human, medical, educational, and societal, among others…we must check its spread, deal with its consequences, and improve the prognosis…the pain must be managed while the root cause is attacked” (McCaffey, 7). Secondly, the installment of more rehabilitation centers with governmental or other initiatives can not succeed without improvement in the treatment and medicine for the victims. Treatments such as Nutritional therapy “has been a potent weapon in the treatment of drug addiction and alcoholism…” and also programs such as ‘the Positive Ego Training Programme’ “helps a person overcome a debilitating lack of sustained concentration required to follow an academic career” (Plesman, 4-5). Low self-esteem is the root cause of every emotional disorder and so is it for drug addiction. The attempt must be made to eradicate this first.

One of the most debated issues in today’s world, drug abuse, has also become a matter of concern for millions for people worldwide, for, it has claimed not just lives but the mental, physical and emotional wellbeing of the populace across the globe. Lack of rehabilitation centers in many countries has further intensified the problem. A long term solution of greater participation by governments and private sectors in eradicating this menace is necessary. Societal, medical, and educational interventions and innovations are the most vital tools that can be used for drug eradication in the world.