Analysis of Societal Response to Addiction and Substance Abuse Essay

This essay examines the societal response to addiction, focusing on the shift from criminalization to a more holistic approach that prioritizes rehabilitation. It analyzes an article by a former addict, 'Sam,' who shares personal experiences and advocates for changing societal perceptions of addiction as a mental health issue rather than a criminal act. The essay highlights the author's arguments, including the ethical implications of current practices, the ineffectiveness of criminalizing addiction, and the importance of emotional support for those struggling with substance abuse. It references statistics on overdose deaths and emphasizes the need for policy changes and societal understanding to reduce stigma and improve treatment outcomes. The author argues for a compassionate approach, viewing addiction as a medical problem requiring therapy and well-being initiatives rather than punishment.

Running Head: RESPONSE TO ADDICTION
RESPONSE TO ADDICTION
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction:
The response to addiction have been designed in a way that criminalises the act of
addiction rather than treating it as psychological syndrome or a disease. The issue of
addiction needs to be catered in a way that is holistic in a manner but also focuses on the
rehabilitation rather than retribution. The essay will examine the article authored by Sam who
was a former addict and writes about his experience about response to drug addiction. The
article was published by the Sky Wood Recovery a rehabilitation centre which aims at
treating addiction differently. The article titled “how-to-shift society’s perspective on
addiction” by Sam talks about how the perception of the society can be changed with respect
to addiction (Recovery, 2019).
Summary
The author being a former addict shares his experience about the effect of substance
abuse and the societal response to it. Using his experience from life the author writes about
the necessity to change the perspective of the society in treating addiction as a mental health
issue similar to any other diseases rather than criminalising them. The author establishes his
argument and opinion on the drug abuse and the societal response to drug victims by
identifying and factors that promote them and through representing the facts to provide a
clear view of the scenario about addiction in the society. Sam (2019) the author puts forward
his claims and states that ‘Addiction’ is a disease and addiction should not be punished. He
finally finds some hope in the changing laws and policies that he believes will change the
stigma and taboo about addiction in the society.
The author points out logically about why the perspective needs to be changed and
refers to the statistics which claims the deaths due to drug overdose increased by 20 percent
as compared to 2015 (Recovery, 2019). The author also logically argues that the

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treatment of addiction cannot be done according to other ways of treating a crime and states
that the first mistake in treating addiction is done by trying to address the issue in
criminalising manner making it equal at par with other serious crimes. He also states the
even after having strict laws and criminal punishments attributed to drug victim, the rate of
substance abuse or drug abuse have not reduced, rather the death rates due to drug abuse have
increased as compared to the past years (Recovery, 2019).
Through the course of the article the author also added credibility by adding ethical
arguments about the treatment and response to addiction. He very rightly has questioned the
ethicality of treating addiction as a criminal offence and argues that such response to
addressing addiction cannot be ethically justified and a treatment of a crime should be
imposed upon an individual who have been dependent upon substances due to its abuse
which can have occurred due to various reasons that do not have a criminal aspect attached to
it. The author also claims that the that the first mistake in treating addiction is done by trying
to address the issue in criminalising manner making it equal at par with other serious crimes.
In supplement of the logic and the ethical justifications provided by the author, he
also supports his article through the emotional connection with the victim of the drug
addiction and the author himself being one could very well represent the emotional
attachment of the victim and hence provides an emotional support in his argument by stating
that as cancer patients receive the emotional support and care of the families and the peers, it
also important for the victims of drug addicts to receive compassion and emotional support
from the families in order to regain their state of normalcy. The author states that instead of
locking away the victims they should be treated as issues that require medical attention and
wellbeing therapies (Recovery, 2019).

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Conclusion:
Thus it is to be understood that the issue of drug addiction and substance abuse is not a
criminal act and therefore a newer look into the addressing of the issue should be initiated
within the society to reduce the stigma and the societal taboo associated with it. The essay
also identifies that the issue of drug addiction is more of a medical problem than a societal
problem. The author also states that in order to address the issue of drug addiction, a different
approach is to be adopted by changing the perspective of how drug abuse is perceived and
simultaneously a change in policies and laws to provide a complete addressable system.

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References:
Recovery, S. (2019). How to Shift Society's Perspective on Addiction |
Skywood Recovery. Retrieved from
https://skywoodrecovery.com/how-to-shift-societys-perspective-on-
addiction/