Analysis of Substance Use, Addiction Theories, and Societal Responses

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SUBSTANCE USE AND SOCIETY
Contents
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................................2
BODY.........................................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................12

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INTRODUCTION
This assignment aims to provide information on drug use of different individuals and
explains the reasons for drug use. It describes how many people can indulge in drug
use due to pain or suffering and how drug use has become common among youngsters.
It provides information on the addition of a person and explains how the brain becomes
acceptable to drugs making a person addicted. It mentions about different theories of
addiction which gives a basis for the addiction of drugs of people and explains various
risk factor that can increase chances of addiction. It mentions about prevalence rate of
different drugs in Europe and also mentioned about world report on a drug to
understand prevalence all over the world and mentions about the attitude of people,
government and media towards those who are addicted or use drugs (Cami, 2003).

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BODY
In today’s generation drugs have become a common thing for every youngster.
Depending on drugs is considered acceptable among youngsters, not realising of the
long term problem with substance use. Intake of drugs is usually common among young
generation than any other generation and the possible reason for it could be less
maturity and being easily influenced by fancy or short term satisfactory things. People
indulge in drugs due to many reasons depending on their lives and experiences
(Schwabe et al, 2011).
 Drugs can relieve emotional pain or heartbreak which makes a person to indulge
in it to be out of misery.
 People who suffered abuse or are in a difficult relationship prefer drugs for
escape.
 People in stress or with mental illness tend to take drugs to be out of their
problems or rather to feel relaxed and calm.
 Some people fall for substance use because of losing near ones while others
indulge because of poverty to have a sense of happiness and satisfaction.
 People with low self-esteem or those who are bullied are likely to indulge in drugs
 Sometimes youngsters take drugs out of pressure and to fit in the fancy lifestyle
(Verster et al, 2012).
The above-mentioned reasons are common among people for taking drugs but there
can be other reasons as well. The above-mentioned reasons suggest that drug intake is
a voluntary process but not many people realise that this becomes involuntary and
leads to addiction. Intake of drugs gives satisfaction and happiness in a person which is
the feeling that everyone strives for but not many people realise it is short term
happiness which doesn't last forever. It is caused because of the release of excess
dopamine in the body which excites and makes the person happy. Dopamine is a ‘feel
good' hormone which when triggered causes pleasurable feelings in a person. It can be
triggered with chocolates and cuddling which suggest the reason for people to love
these two things but with drugs excess of dopamine is released which gives a new
profound feeling to a person that they want to hold on to. Though the intake of drugs is

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voluntary, in later stages, the nervous system changes its pathways and cannot control
the behaviour or impulses of a person, thus making a person completely dependent on
drugs. This dependency becomes so intense that even when the drugs do not give that
pleasurable feeling; it becomes the need for survival (Hu et al, 2011).
Not every person can become addicted to drugs but there are many factors which
influence a person to be addicted and this increases the risk of addiction
Environmental factors: environment has a great influence on a person's life with family,
work, and quality of life. In case of abuse, sexual abuse, work pressure, stress, parental
guidance etc. it becomes difficult for a person to deal with this thus making him weak
and this causes risk of drug addiction which is influenced by the environment.
Biological factors: genetic background of a person can influence addiction in a person
because genes account for half of the person's addiction. People with genetic disorders
or mental disorders are at higher risk of developing addiction (Darbro et al, 2012).
Developmental factors: age influences a person for addiction along with other genetic
and environmental factors. It is important to know the exposure of a drug to a person at
which developmental stage. It is noted that people who are exposed to drugs at a
younger age tend to be more addicted than the elder ones especially teens. In teens,
certain areas of the brain are under development like self-control, decision making, a
judgement which puts them at higher risk of addiction.
It has been observed that substance use causes the majority of death, illness, and
disability among people. In 2015 it was reported that a quarter of billions of world
population was addicted to drugs of which opioids were used by 70% of the population
showing negative impact as it is the harmful substance. 29.5 million People suffered
from drug use problems like dependency, homelessness etc. The picture below
explains the prevalence of different types of drugs in England describing data regarding
different age groups (World drug report, 2017).

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Source: http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/data/stats2018/gps
The above-mentioned chart shows statistics of cannabis drug which was reported to be
24 million among adults and 17.2 million among youngsters in 2017 with lifetime use of
87.6 million
The rate of cocaine use was 3.5 million among adults and 2.3 million among youngsters
with 17 million lifetime use.

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The use of drug MDMA was reported to be 2.6 million among adults and 2.2 million
among youngsters with 13.5 million lifetime use.
Amphetamines were reported to be 1.7 million among adults and 1.2 million among
youngsters with 11.9 million lifetime use.
The high-risk opioid users were reported to be 1.3 million with 84% fatal overdoses.
New psychoactive substances used by school students were reported to be 3% with
lifetime use of 4% (EMCDDA 2018 report).
Addiction of drugs is dangerous to every human being and the society and this addiction
can be explained through theories of addiction which explains about various risk factors
that can lead to addiction (Skinner et al, 2010).
Moral theory: this suggests that addiction comes out of the moral weakness of a
person which can lead to an addiction-like feeling of pride, envy, anger generally forces
a person to take up an addiction. This type of addiction can be resolved by discipline
and a better lifestyle.
Learning theory: it describes that addiction is learned by watching people. When
people find addiction to be relieving from pain, relaxing a person and providing
pleasurable feeling, they learn to get addicted to it.
Sociocultural theory: it describes addiction to be influenced by the environment, my
friend circle and by media. The depiction of addiction in the media makes it more
appealing to the younger generation and they prefer trying it and peer pressure forces a
person to take up an addiction to fit in the culture and circle. This type of pressure is
common among youngsters where they learn to get addicted because they find it fancy
and modern and acceptable.

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Cognitive behavioural theory: negative reaction or emotion is caused because of
irrational thoughts which trigger a person to be stressful or be in a depression, anger or
anxiety which ultimately leads to addiction because it turns negative thoughts into
positive pleasurable feeling for time being.
Exposure theory: this theory suggests that continuous exposure of a drug into the
body will lead to addiction of that drug. For example, people taking drugs like painkillers
continuously will decline body response gradually and make the person dependent and
addicted to the drug (West et al, 2013).
The above-mentioned theories suggest biological, environmental, behavioural, cultural
and adaptive methods by which a person can get addicted to drugs. Once a person gets
addicted, their life is affected greatly which they don’t realise initially and these theories
suggest how some people are more likely to get addicted than others (Everitt et al,
2016).
Drug addiction leads to many problems for human beings as well as society. It not only
damages a person mentally but also has a physical impact on the person. A person with
drug addiction suffers from low immunity, cardiovascular conditions, abdominal pain,
and nausea, vomiting strokes etc. mentally addiction will hamper memory, decision
making and will lead to lack of attention. This, in turn, will affect the normal life of a
person like problems at work, homelessness, financial problems, risky sexual drive, and
loss of relationships. It not only affects the person but society as well because such
behaviour will cause trouble in the family and at work.
The attitude of people towards drug taking
From the onset of drugs up till today, a lot has changed with the perception of people.
Earlier the news of drugs was considered a huge things and people stayed away from it
but with time and increased incidents, there was sense of acceptance and it became
common for people to sympathise with the person, to accept it or to be intolerant thus
suggesting mixed reviews from people taking drugs (Ersche et al, 2010).
Intolerance and blame

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A major section of society thinks that the dependency on the drug is the choice of the
person himself and it usually occurs due to a lack of self-control and discipline. They
find wastage of money when it is invested in the recovery of a drug addict and consider
that it can be spent on a better person. It is believed that a drug addict can recover
himself with strong will power and discipline and doesn't require support and sympathy
from public or government.
Sympathy and care
Many people, on the other hand, sympathise with the drug addicts and believe that it is
the responsibility of every individual to help a person recover from drug addiction. They
see it as an illness just like any other major disease which requires help and treatment.
Some people also believe that it is not as harmful as it is portrayed in the media and
that sometimes media gets too harsh on people with a drug history.
Exclusion and fear
Many people also feared from drug adductors explaining that they would never live next
to such people. Also, some suggested that people with drug history should not be
trusted with babysitting, serious relationship or even work. Some preferred exclusion of
people with drug use or drug history for the betterment of people. Many people disliked
drug addicts getting treatment in the neighbourhood (Brener et al, 2010).
Acceptance
Certain of a section of society accept those with drug addictions or drug history. They
believe anyone can be addicted to drugs which don't mean they are bad or harmful for
the society. It is important to work for their recovery and accept those who have
recovered from drug use by giving those equal rights and place in society.
Believe towards recovery
People believed that a person can be fully recovered from drug addiction but a few
contradicted by saying that any drug prescribed like methadone can lead to addiction
again.

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Attitude towards family
A certain section of society blames parents for the cause of drug addiction in their
children stating that children of good parents can never be a drug addict. Some people
also preferred keeping their children away from those of people with a drug history.
It suggests that people have mixed reviews about drug use and addiction with some
giving strong opinions while others accepting those with drug history (Lloyd, 2013).
Attitude of government
The government sees drug use as a generalised problem for the nation and the
youngsters of the nation. More people or youngsters with drug addiction will lead to a
reduction in the economy and for the government, the involvement of youth in the
economy of the country is necessary. Drugs tend to take the senses away from people
and they are not able to do normal day to day work properly which is a problem for the
government as it is risking the lives of many individuals and putting them at risk. The
government has laid down primary prevention program for drug use by through 4
important people; police, they focus on particular communities ensuring prevention of
drugs, education through teacher who provides normal education on harmful effects at
school, peers focus on their target populations and bring them into confidence of ill
effects of drugs, parent involvement, and education is necessary to prevent drug use
among teens and children (Fletcher et al, 2008). The spread of drug use will lead to a
deterioration of general health of many individuals of the country which is an alarming
situation for the government. The government doesn't want to lose its people to drugs
and prefers recovery of every individual suffering from drug addiction. There are many
centres in the UK for people with drug addiction to recover and be useful to the country
by contributing in the economy. Government ensures the safety and health of every
individual and thus makes drug use and drug purchase illegal so that the general
population is not exposed to drugs. If at all the ban on drugs is lifted it will lead to many

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with drug use and drug addiction especially at a younger age which is a problem for the
community and the country and so government should take necessary measure to
protect its people and prevent them from such addiction (Shoemaker, 2012).
Media attitude
Media plays a crucial role in portraying drugs in front of people and thus changing their
perception. Media has evolved in these years and influences public opinion at a large
level. It usually describes drugs and drug users to be morally wrong and criticises with
an unaccepted attitude towards them. This unaccepted attitude towards drug users or
people with drug history creates negative thoughts among people for those trying to
recover from drugs. This leads to troubles for people and they are not supported or
helped in recovery due to the negative portrayal of them in the media. Media these days
also have become a medium for people to try new things, the portrayal of drugs and
substance use in media, movies, television makes the teenagers want to try these out of
curiosity to understand the results whether it is the same as the media portrays but this
leads to addiction of teenagers at a young age. Sometimes media can also give
negative signals with the portrayal of fancy, famous people into drugs, this makes
general people follow famous people into taking drugs not realising about the harmful
effects of drugs. Though the media can be negative for certain section, it can also show
support and help in preventing drug use. Media campaigns regarding the harmful
effects of drug use suggest prevention at a larger level where people are influenced by
preventive measures towards drug use. People can also be educated about different
types of drugs and their harmful effects by media allowing prevention of the spread of
such drugs (Cami, 2003).

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CONCLUSION
This assignment explained the drug use and how people can be influenced by drugs
either due to traumatic life, or to relax or because of pressure and stress, all of which
ultimately leads to addiction. It explains how the brain can get addicted to drugs and can
become an involuntary process. It includes statistical data describing the prevalence of
different drugs among adults and youngsters. It explains addiction through different
addiction theory which suggests factors that can possibly lead to drug addiction. It also
mentions about the attitude of people, government and media towards drug use (Lloyd,
C., 2013).

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REFERENCES
 Brener, L., Von Hippel, W., Von Hippel, C., Resnick, I. and Treloar, C.,
2010. Perceptions of discriminatory treatment by staff as predictors of drug
treatment completion: utility of a mixed methods approach. Drug and
Alcohol Review, 29(5), pp.491-497.
 Cami, J. and Farré, M., 2003. Drug addiction. New England Journal of
Medicine, 349(10), pp.975-986.
 Darbro, N. and Malliarakis, K.D., 2012. Substance abuse: Risks factors and
protective factors. Journal of Nursing Regulation, 3(1), pp.44-48.
 EMCDDA statistical report 2018. Online last assessed on 19/1/2019 at
http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/data/stats2018/gps
 Ersche, K.D., Turton, A.J., Pradhan, S., Bullmore, E.T. and Robbins, T.W.,
2010. Drug addiction endophenotypes: impulsive versus sensation-seeking
personality traits. Biological Psychiatry, 68(8), pp.770-773. Online last
assessed on 19/1/2019 at
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006322310006049
 Everitt, B.J. and Robbins, T.W., 2016. Drug addiction: updating actions to
habits to compulsions ten years on. Annual review of psychology, 67,
pp.23-50.
 Fletcher, A., Bonell, C. and Hargreaves, J., 2008. School effects on young
people’s drug use: a systematic review of intervention and observational
studies. Journal of adolescent health, 42(3), pp.209-220.