Policy Brief: Substance Abuse Crisis and Policy Recommendations in US

This policy brief assignment addresses the critical issue of substance abuse in the United States, highlighting its significant economic and social costs. It identifies substance abuse as the misuse of legal and illegal substances, leading to altered mental states and potential addiction, with a focus on commonly abused drugs like alcohol, cocaine, heroin, and prescription medications. The brief explores policy alternatives, emphasizing the need for prevention over punishment, and recommends limiting opioid prescriptions, reorganizing cannabis scheduling, supporting addiction treatment, and promoting further research. The conclusion underscores the persistent challenges in achieving a drug-free America, despite various government interventions, and advocates for a balanced approach involving medical, legal, and healthcare changes to effectively control substance abuse.

Policy Brief Assignment
Substance Abuse in the United States
SystemJP
[Pick the date]

Substance Abuse
Executive Summary
This policy brief assignment is based on discussion about a problem related to health safety
and measures. This health policy brief assignment wills discuss the problem statement over a
particular issue, alternatives for the policy and recommendation for the issue to design and
frame perfect policy brief assignment. Issue identified important for this policy brief
assignment is “The substance abuse in the United States.” Findings of National in2017
Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), approximately 19.7 million adults in America
above the age of 12 face substance abuse once in life and substance abuse cost American
society more than $740 billion yearly in vanished workshop efficiency, crime-related costs
and , healthcare expenditures increment. Addiction of the alcohol abuse is major but
challenges of the drug abuse are becoming more serious especially for the adolescents.
Detailed discussion of the issue with effective suggestions to get rid of the issues is presented
in this assignment (Thomas, 2020).
Problem statement
Substance abuse is the act when a person take medicines in form of drug or addiction that are
not legal it also includes uses of alcohol, prescribed medicine, and other legal drug in the
wrong way or in too much quantity that it affect the mental state of mind. Substance abuse be
different from addiction (Florence, Luo, Xu, & Zhou, 2016). People with substance
abuse complications are capable to leave their habit or able to change their unhealthy
behavior but it is very challenging as well. The United States have issues of drug abuse
common in the youth as compared to others. Whether it is legal or illegal both drugs have
elements that change the structure of body and mind working it perform the chemical
released in body that can give a pleasurable “high,” to the person by easing their stress, or by
helping them to avoid problems of life for a short period (Rosenblatt, Andrilla, Catlin, &

Substance Abuse
Larson, 2015). Commonly used drugs are alcohol, cocaine, heroin, and nay kind of medicine
that is prescribed by the doctors for the relief in the body to reduce the stress and cure the
diseases (Gold, 2019).
If any person consumes the prescribed medicine by the doctors as and addictive substance it
can be very dangerous for the health. Drug abuse is occurred when any person
 Taking medication given for somebody else
 Taking extra dosages or using it in other than the way it’s thought to be use
 Taking the medicine for a non-medical purpose
Kinds of medicine drugs often ill-treated contains:
 Opioid throbbing relievers
 Medicine used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and
 Apprehension medicine
The most commonly ill-treated OTC drugs included dextromethorphan comes in form of
cough and cold drug which in high doses can make a person intoxicated and feel drunk.
Whether one is taking alcohol, illegal medicine, prescribed drug in overdoses or in any other
form it falls in the category of drug abuse and is very harmful for the user in many ways. This
report will identify the challenges and solution to provide safety to such people taking the
risk of drug abuse in the relation of safety for their life (Haight, Ko, Tong, Bohm, &
Callaghan, 2018).
Policy alternatives
Policy for the prevention of substance abuse in the U. S. is the critical stage, this prevention is
a dream of many policymakers, local and state administrators, medical professionals, and law

Substance Abuse
execution personnel who had made efforts to fulfil the t dreams of a “drug-free America.” In
the deep, they recognise that fulfilment of this dream is very challenging and will never be
fulfilled. Raising awareness about the side effects of opioid use and other drug abuse is not
enough as people aware about the illegal drug consumptions and legal punishment for the
uses and storage are not taking the warning seriously (Kent, 2019). Hence, all the efforts of
punishments, motivational speeches, treatment in the hospital has not worked well for the
prevention of the issues of excess use of drugs or illegal conation of the drugs especially in
the youth of the United States. Increasing concern about opioid misuse and overindulge
losses has encouraged appeals for an enlarged attention on drug handling and anticipation as
a substitute to tough the punishment (Krzyzaniak, 2016). This step gave idea to work upon
the medical felids that can limit the prescriptions of opioid that causes the issues of the health
by taking the overdoses of the prescribed medicines,
Policy recommendations
To prevent the illegal drug consumption and substance abuse this policy suggest following
recommendations:
Limiting the use of Opioid prescriptions by the medical staff
Doctors can avoid writing the use of such medicines that are possible to be used as the drug
by user or any other person. The doctors and registered nurses can limit use of
dextromethorphan drug and these drugs can be prescribed while patient is in the hospital or in
the care of the registered nurses to manage the use of drug (Rosenblatt, Andrilla, Catlin, &
Larson, 2015).
Reorganize cannabis (Marijuana)

Substance Abuse
Effective scheduling and implication of the drug abuse laws and acts is needed very
seriously. As describing the differences between the medicines that is potential to cause abuse
and restricted chemicals in the medicine or only possible to understands with the effective
scheduling of the acts. Rescheduling of the cannabis is required to control the drug
enforcement and administration of drug controlling laws for the better development (Thomas,
2020).
Supporter for extended aid for treating and handling opioid use maladies
Introduction of The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), in 2016 in the law
has been one of the important steps that supported the establishment of federal law
committing the use of opioid drug (Florence, Luo, Xu, & Zhou, 2016). It introduced changes
in the manner that instead of punishment user will get the access to the health care services
that will help them to resolve the issue and it introduced the concept of fund provided to the
patient to strengthen the will power of being treated (summary, 2010).
Inspire research
Regular efforts to prevent the substance abuse in the field of medical, legal, healthcare or in
any other relevant need to be promoted and supported. By the policymakers, local and state
officials, medical professionals, and law enforcement personnel, aspects related to the drug
policy need to be provided a sensible support for the strong policy (Rosenblatt, Andrilla,
Catlin, & Larson, 2015).
Conclusion
This policy brief assignment on the basis of above discussion concludes that issue of the
substance abuse is very serious in nature and many legal, medical and healthcare changes are
taken by the government in the United states to reduce the issues but results are not

Substance Abuse
supporting to gain the “drug-free America” target. This assignment has detailed analysis of
the issue related to the substance abuse and many changes made by the new and old
policymakers, medical professionals; local and state officials and law enforcement personnel
identify the importance of drug as curing medicine and challenging situations of abuse of
drug for the youth health challenges. This report has provided recommendations as avoid use
of opioid as medical prescription, law enforcement to manage the better outcomes from the
policy as this policy is aimed to manage the effective control of substance abuse in the United
States.

Substance Abuse
References
Florence, C., Luo, F., Xu, L., & Zhou, C. (2016). The economic burden of prescription opioid
overdose, abuse and dependence in the United States. Medical care, 901.
Gold, M. M. (2019, May 30). Reduce Opioid Risks. Retrieved september 30, 2019, from
Addiction Policy Forum: https://www.addictionpolicy.org/blog/tag/research-you-can-
use/veterans-affairs-uses-predictive-model-to-reduce-opioid-risks
Haight, S. C., Ko, J. Y., Tong, V. T., Bohm, M. K., & Callaghan, W. M. (2018). Opioid use
disorder documented at delivery hospitalization—United States, 1999–2014.
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 845.
Kent, J. (2019, May 3). Cigna, VA Combat Opioid Abuse in Veterans with Chronic Pain.
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https://healthpayerintelligence.com/news/cigna-va-combat-opioid-abuse-in-veterans-
with-chronic-pain
Krzyzaniak, N. &. (2016). Medication safety in neonatal care: a review of medication errors
among neonates. Therapeutic advances in drug safety, 102-119.
Rosenblatt, R., Andrilla, C. H., Catlin, M., & Larson, E. H. (2015). Geographic and specialty
distribution of US physicians trained to treat opioid use disorder. The Annals of
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summary. (2010, April 22). Summary of Fraud and Abuse Provisions of the Patient
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protection-and-affordable-care-act/

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Thembi Sylvia, B. (2016). Mine workers' experiences related to substance abuse in a'zero
tolerance'policy context. Doctoral dissertation, University of Pretoria.
Thomas, S. (2020, February 03). Alcohol and Drug Abuse Statistics. Retrieved March 12,
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VanGeest, J. B., Johnson, T. P., & Alemagno, S. A. (2017). History of substance abuse
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