Drug Control Program - Essay Example

 Drug Control Program The phenomenon of drug and alcohol use has existed in most of the American history. People in the past centuries drank alcohol, smoked cigarettes, and sniffed opium, and much more. During this period, before the 19th Century, less restrictions were put on drug and alcohol use. Nonetheless, the war on drugs in America began in 1980s, after the effects of drug addiction had become pronounced. Lauer and Lauer clarify that the use of drugs and alcohol is not problematic. This only becomes problematic when the users abuse alcohol and drugs (36). Lauer and Lauer define abuse as, “the improper use of alcohol and other drugs to the degree that the consequences are defined as detrimental to the user or to the society” (36), and consider addiction as a form of abuse. Nonetheless, in this paper, I will develop a drug control program, and identify how it differs from the proposals of Lauer and Lauer in “Social Problems and the Quality of Life” (12th Ed). In the U.S.A, overall, alcohol is widely used, followed by tobacco, and marijuana (Lauer and Lauer 53). Additionally, statistics have shown that the level of drug abuse is high among the youth aged between 18 and 25. College students in the U.S.A are highly associated with binge drinking, and these also use prescription drugs to get high. These drug and alcohol abuse patterns among the youthful population, therefore, raise concerns in the country. Additionally, drug and alcohol abuse is responsible for the deaths of close to 4,400 teenagers in the U.S.A each year. Apart from deaths, drug and alcohol abuse lowers the quality of life of the victims in various ways. First, alcohol and drug abuse has detrimental effects on a person’s physical health, as this intoxicates the body and damages important body organs, such as the liver, brain, and heart. This also affects a person’s psychological health, and impairs the functions of the brain, such as memory, intellectual abilities, and psychomotor performance. Additionally, drug abuse results in interpersonal problems, personality change, and is responsible today for increased suicide cases. Finally, drug abuse is costly, thus influencing the economic status of the individual and the nation (Lauer and Lauer 43). Nonetheless, in order to reduce these detrimental consequences of drug abuse, Lauer and Lauer consider different approaches in private and public policies, as effective components of a drug control program. Although drug and substance abuse is a major problem in the U.S.A. and other countries, it is possible to reduce the number of drug abuse incidents and their effects. The main strategy to be employed is the adoption and implementation of a drug control program. The goals of a drug control program should be to reduce illicit drug use, manufacturing, and trafficking, drug-related crime and violence, and drug-related health consequences. I propose a drug control program that involves the whole community. This means that all the people, regardless of whether they are drug abusers or not, are involved in the program, which is holistic in nature. According to Donaldson et al, although it is possible to reduce incidences of drug abuse by lessening the demand for illicit drugs, or lessening their availability, neither of these approaches will work independently (WEB). Therefore, the drug control program should incorporate both elements of lessening of demand and supply of illicit drugs. This drug control program is quite similar to that of Lauer and Lauer, except this emphasizes more on involvement of whole society, compared to that of Lauer and Lauer, which emphasized on policies only. Eliminating demand for illegal drugs would be the perfect solution for the cases of drug abuse. However, this is impossible, as the world is not perfect. However, it is possible to reduce the level of demand for illegal drugs. This will be achieved through different effective drug preventive measures such as anti-drug education, and curative measures such as group therapies. According to Mark, anti-drug education is essential. However, its effectiveness only depends on its content, and the competence with which the message is relayed (WEB). On the other hand, Gorman notes that drug-education programs, including life skills training, in the United States have failed, and this is mainly because of poor strategization (WEB). Therefore, although anti-drug education is important, its strategization and how it is delivered is important, as this will influence its effectiveness. Nonetheless, Lauer and Lauer also suggest anti-drug education as an important strategy. However, these have proved that this approach has been successful in some states in the U.S., as the demand of illegal drugs in those states came down, after the implementation of this approach (47). Therefore, for more effectiveness of the proposed drug control program, the anti-drug education should target children and students in learning institutions, as well as the adults, including parents, who act as role models to the young. Additionally, competence and proper strategization will be key, thus should be considered in the program. Another important aspect in this drug control program is supply reduction. Similarly, it is impossible to eliminate supply of illicit drugs. However, this can be lessened in a variety of ways. Most importantly, the supply of illicit drugs can be lessened by cutting all the links that make up the drug chain. This includes all stages, from cultivation of drugs to trafficking. This however, requires the collaboration of forces both at the domestic level and at the international level. It is however, more important to trace and dismantle all the organizations involved in trafficking, as these are core to the distribution of drugs across the world. This approach however, requires operations that are intelligence-driven. Additionally, this requires bilateral, multilateral, regional, and international collaboration (Kleiman WEB). Lauer and Lauer also propose supply reduction, but their approach is quite shallow, and does not involve international countries, nor all the processes involved in drug supply. Their approach therefore, does not address the root of the problem. Organizational structures should play an important role in my proposed drug control program. These organizational structures should support all the activities that aim at reducing the demand and supply of illicit drugs in a country. These activities should therefore be supported by community-based, the comprehensive, as well as the coordinated strategies. Most importantly, intergovernmental coordination is crucial. This involves the local, state, and federal levels. These should make effective decisions on the issue of drug abuse, develop drug control agencies, conduct research on drug abuse and control, and employ the present technology and intelligence to identify drug traffickers for prosecution (Kleiman WEB). A final approach in the proposed drug control program is the employment of different modes of legal control. These will influence the patterns of drug abuse, including its prevalence. Nonetheless, this approach still helps to reduce the supply and demand of illegal drugs. The most important factor is the regulation of flow of information and messages about the use of a specific illicit drug or alcohol. Today, the media promotes drug and alcohol use and abuse by its advertisements of the products. Additionally, legal control could be in the form of direct regulation on consumption. According to Pentz et al, direct regulation on consumption includes total bans and situational prohibitions, such as laws against smoking or drinking in public (WEB). Additionally, while Pentz et al support drug screening of workers, as a mode of legal control, MacDonald, Wells, and Fry (WEB) argue that screening is not an effective method, as it has more weaknesses than strengths, therefore, a less controversial method should be adopted. Drug abuse is a major issue that continues to challenge the governments of different countries. Personally, I have experienced individuals, who suffer from drug addiction, and thus, I can relate to the plight of drug abuse. In our society, the consequences of drug abuse and dependence are all over. People “lose” their life after getting into drug abuse. Some become irresponsible and end up homeless, others develop mental health conditions, while others die or commit suicide due to the meaninglessness that their life turns into. The families of the drug abusers are also affected. Mothers are the most affected, when their children start abusing drugs. Nonetheless, drug abuse is lethal to whole society. Our country spends quite a number of dollars, estimated at $559 billion each year on drug abuse issues (National Institute on Drug Abuse WEB). Drug abusers and addicts themselves use a lot of money on drugs, while their families use money to treat and rehabilitate them. Therefore, all this has detrimental effects on the economy of a country, thus effective ways of dealing with this must be adopted. Writing this paper has been quite insightful, as it has helped me to deeply delve into the issue of drug abuse. I believe that the proposed drug control program, with all its approaches, can help to address the issue. Drug abuse is a problem that affects each person; therefore, everyone must be involved, and should take the initiative of contributing to a drug-free world, even through the smallest way. A major factor that has not been given serious consideration, as far as drug abuse is concerned, is the role of the international community in drug control. Instead of a single country focusing its efforts to reduce drug abuse within its boundaries only, it is a high time that all countries collaborated, as the drug dealers have strong and well-developed networks in various countries. Therefore, I have the view that, drug control efforts and programs today should be diversified and internationalized, for improved efficiency. In conclusion, drug abuse has been existent since the past decades. However, its prevalence and consequences has steadily increased over the years, resulting in the need for drug control programs, to serve as an intervention. Drug control programs vary from country to country, or state to state, depending on the different nature and needs of the region, as far as drug abuse is concerned. Nonetheless, when developing a drug control program, it is important to consider the goals the program intends to achieve. Additionally, the effectiveness of the program should be measured, to avoid wastage of funds on ineffective programs. Furthermore, an effective drug control program should address all cases of drug abuse indiscriminatorily, as all cases of drug abuse are capable of detrimental consequences. In addition, collaboration with different countries is essential, in order to curb drug trafficking, and trace the major networks of illicit drug supply. Finally, involvement of all people in the drug control program is crucial, since drug abuse affects each person in one way or another. If effective drug control programs are developed and implemented, the world will experience a drop in drug abuse incidents. Works Cited Donaldson, Stewart I., et al. "Drug Abuse Prevention Programming." The American Behavioral Scientist 39.7 (1996): 868. ProQuest. Web. 22 June 2013. Gorman, D. M. "The Failure of Drug Education." Public Interest.129 (1997): 50-60. ProQuest. Web. 22 June 2013. Kleiman, Mark, A. R. "Science and Drug Abuse Control Policy." Society 38.4 (2001): 7-12. ProQuest. Web. 22 June 2013. Lauer, Robert and Lauer, Jeanette. “Social Problems and the Quality of Life” (12th Ed), New York: McGraw-Hill. MacDonald, Scott, Wells, Samantha and Fry, Richard. "The Limitations of Drug Screening in the Workplace." International Labour Review 132.1 (1993): 95. ProQuest. Web. 22 June 2013. National Institute on Drug Abuse. “Addiction Science: From Molecules to Managed Care.” Web. 22 June 2013. Viewed Pentz, Mary Ann, Richard J. Bonnie, and Donald R. Shopland. "Integrating Supply and Demand Reduction Strategies for Drug Abuse Prevention." The American Behavioral Scientist 39.7 (1996): 897. ProQuest. 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