Illegal Drug Abuse

Illegal Drug Abuse
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Illegal drug use in the United States has been on the rise, with more youth developing the habit. By the year 2012, there was an estimated 23.9 million of youngsters aged 12 years and above using illegal drugs. This translates to more than 9.2% of the entire population in the states. In most of the recorded cases, those taking part in the habit usually use illegal drugs or at the same time abuse psychotherapeutic medication such as pain killers. A decade ago, the percentage was below 8.5% but at the current rate, this is set to go higher in the double digits. Since the year 2007 the use of drugs has been quite high and the growth rate of the habits in new users has increased tremendously. This is a trend that is linked to the use of marijuana as the first drug, where users later try out other drugs. The class of psychotherapeutic medication comes in third, with more than 6.8 million users abusing them (McCabe, Morales, Cranford, Delva, McPherson, & Boyd, 2008). Drugs such as cocaine, heroin and hallucinogens (LSD and Ecstasy) remain below 2 million users. However, the methamphetamine has remained quite steady, with more than half a million users in the United States.
More than 52% of the drug addicts start at teenage, with more than 7,000 new users every single day. Majority of those that are addicted have also been found to have started with marijuana before progressing on to the harder drugs. The illegal drugs abuse is a crucial part of the American society, given that one can draw tree diagram of all the social ills in the society and connect them to the drugs. Some of the most common consequences of abusing the illegal drugs include accidents, illnesses, poor productivity, crime, domestic violence and lost opportunities. One of the main issues that relates to the public health, is the fact that these drugs are not regulated. This means that the quality and composition of the drugs are not regulated and may have varied results on the users ranging from mild to fatal. While the vile costs the USA more than $110 billion dollars, the greatest loss is paid in the lives that are stolen through fatal incidences relating to the use.
Teenagers, as is indicative of the rate of new users are the most likely candidates of the drugs use. This puts them at the bull’s eye of persons that are at the highest risk of using the drugs. The main reason is that, due to the hormonal range at this age, the teenagers tend to take risks with anything that will even remotely provide that extra surge of a high. As such, even those that are peddling the drugs understand this fact and take advantage thus the high rate initiates being teenagers. Drugs use among the teenagers and young adults such as those in the colleges is soaring high as more than 40% of the Hispanics, 38% whites, 20% Asian, 18%, while 18% African American women ...