Abuse of Drugs in the USA, Essay Example

Introduction

The use and abuse of drugs has become an alarming and important social issue in the United States and other countries throughout the world. This paper examines the concept of drug use in the USA and how this has contributed towards escalation in Crime and decline in social and moral standards. Have drugs penetrated American society to such an extent that they represent an irreversible trend in the deterioration of crime and society at large?

The use of drugs

Drugs remain at the forefront of an employersproblem in dealing with employees that have an addiction problem. It is considered that the right to privacy relative to drug use does not outweigh the right of the employer, appropriate to whether such usage might impact the performance of the individual or the organization whilst at work. The employer has the legal obligation to provide a safe and environmentally clean workplace for its employees. This really rests at the legal and ethical responsibility of the employer and the regulations of the Company i.e. not to permit the use of drugs or alcohol whilst at work in consideration that this may be a danger to both the individuals and others in the workplace. (M.Harris)

This remains a critical problem for business today with some estimated $30 billion being lost in productivity owing to drug use and some $60 billion applicable to alcohol abuse. (M.Harris). Those workers who had reported drug use missed more than two days per month at work and on average had more thanthree employers per year. “Out of 16.6 million drug users, 12.5 million (75%) are employed and out of 51.1 million binge drinkers 41 million (81%) were employed (Office of National Drug Control).

An additional issue for employers is that a person under the influence of drugs may be prone to making errors or mistakes. This is particularly dangerous when working with machinery, chemicals or other hazardous materials.  Firms are also very aware of issues related to health care costs and these end up being paid by the company. Owing to all of these factors it might well be argued that Companies have both a moral and ethical duty to test for and screen out drug users in the workforce. This particularly so where it represents a hazard to the individual or other employees at work. Companies should not have to assume the responsibility for rehabilitation of workers who are drug abusers or alcoholics and they should never endanger the lives of other people or the other employees of the company.

America is at the front of the world’s drug problem “Americans consume 60 percent of the world’s production of illegal drugs: 23 million use marijuana at least four times a week; 18 million abuse alcohol; 6 million regularly use cocaine; and 2 million use heroin” (American Council for Drug Education).  As such many American Companies are now promoting a drug free workplace and are involved in fighting the war against drugs in order to increase productivity and build improved working environments for its employees.

The problem globally

In a recent interview with the BBC, the World Health Authority (WHA) stated that “heroin addiction in Cambodia was widely viewed as a social problem” (Launey, 2010) as opposed to that of a health issue. Until recently the Government imposed treatment by the imposition of hard work and exercise in established labour camps. These camps being described as having appalling conditions and a contravention of human rights. The country has now launched the opening of a new clinic and ‘methadone treatment program’. Methadone being a heroin substitute that is used for treatment in withdrawal programs.

It is without a doubt that heroin is one of the most addictive of all the drugs being used today “Heroin is one of the most dangerous drugs in the world.  Few drugs carry with them so many potential hazards for the user – psychological, physical and social in equal measure.”  (Heroin.net, 2010).  Heroin addiction does not discriminate amongst the addicts, despite age, gender or socio-economic status. In the USA there is a very diverse range of addicts who have become dependent upon the drug. In addition to the immediate health hazards like liver failure and the lethal risk of overdose.  Those that share needles also place themselves at serious risk of contracting other serious diseases like HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis. Trying to overcome heroin addiction on your own is virtually impossible. The best course of action is to get help from a prescribed treatment centre.

It is interesting to note that approximately half a million heroin addicts land up in jail each year. A majority of those in jail do not receive medical treatment for their addiction. The World Health Authority issued guidelines that stated the prisons should offer appropriate medical treatment to addicts. It is clear that most prisons are not abiding by these guidelines. The addicts also eventually get released from jail without any referral to medication or health support.  This sees them back on the streets and resorting to criminal activities in order to feed the habit. Subsequently these people find themselves back in jail and so the vicious cycle continues.

In the UK the favoured method of treatment for heroin addicts is by the prescription of methadone. The conservative leader David Cameron has been a critic of the policy “too many problem drug users do not manage to shake off their addiction” (Campbell, 2010). In England it has been estimated that there are 330,000 people addicted to heroin, crack cocaine or both. It has been estimated that this costs the UK taxpayer some £15 billion per annum and in addition £13.9 billion of criminal activity related to drug abuse offenders. The only good news is that 2/3rds of the 330,000 people are receiving treatment. The problem has equally created a small industry around this with the employment of 11,000 related drug workers spanning some 1000+ projects costing some £800 million per annum that is devoted to treatment of drug abuse. The UK Government is now questioning whether the £1.2 billion per annum strategy for dealing and tracking drug misuse is working.

Although methadone remains the treatment of choice for heroin addicts, the USA offers other treatment options that include “Other pharmaceutical approaches, such as buprenorphine, and many behavioural therapies also are used for treating heroin addiction. Buprenorphine is a recent addition to the array of medications now available for treating addiction to heroin and other opiates” (NIDA, 2010).

Conclusions

Have drugs penetrated US society to such an extent that they represent an irreversible trend in the deterioration of Crime and society at large? There is no doubt that the US has a major issue with Drug abuse and importation of illegal drugs from abroad.  “Drug addiction is a life threatening challenge to the public health” (Kinger). The changes in social lifestyle, particularly among the poorer echelons of American Society, estimated as being 25% of the population, means that the problem will take a considerable time to resolve.  Blocking the supply of importation of the drugs to the USA is paramount in destroying the business at source.

Works Cited

American Council for Drug Education. Why worry about drugs and alcohol in the workplace? 1999. 15 10 2010 <http://www.acde.org/employer/DAwork.htm>.

Campbell, Denis. Will Conservative plans to overhaul heroin addiction treatment work? 20 4 2010. 15 9 2010 <http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/apr/20/conservatives-heroin-addiction-treatment-overhaul>.

Heroin.net. Learn About Heroin Use, Abuse, and Treatment. 2010. 15 9 2010 <http://heroin.net/>.

Kinger, Laura V. Trends in lifestyle and health. New York: Nova Science Publishers, 2005.

Launey, Guy De. Cambodia opens first methadone clinic for heroin users. 15 9 2010. 15 9 2010 <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11310931>.

M.Harris. Alcohol and Drug use in the workplace: issues, controversies & directions for future research. 4 8 2008. 15 10 2010 <http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4>.

National Institute on Drug Abuse. NIDA InfoFacts: Marijuana. 7 2009. 26 5 2010 <http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofacts/marijuana.html>.

Office of National Drug Control. Druge Free Workplace. 4 8 2008. 2010 10 15 <http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/prev..>.