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The Importance of Drug Education: Preventing Substance Abuse and Addiction, Study notes of Economics

The rising trend of drug abuse in the us and the need for effective drug education to prevent substance abuse and addiction. It highlights the impact of drug education on individuals and communities, focusing on early intervention in schools and community-based programs. The document also touches upon the environmental and internal factors contributing to substance use and the main risk periods for substance use.

Typology: Study notes

2020/2021

Uploaded on 07/29/2022

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Drug abuse is rising dramatically around the country and no one seems to know how to stem the tide. Over the past ten years, the percentage of employees testing positive for drug use has reached an all-time high, with heroin use and amphetamine use skyrocketing over this period. These trends have carried over into all parts of society, from the boardroom to the classroom, impacting both working professionals and students alike. While the reasoning behind the increase in substance use disorders and substance addiction cannot be pinpointed, the need to improve methods of addressing the problem have become rather apparent. The following statistics highlight the growing health crisis in dramatic fashion: Recent studies conducted by the CDC indicate that over 24.6 million Americans over the age of 12 admitted to using an illegal substance within the last month. The number of heroin users within the United States hit a 20-year high over that same timeframe and has shown no sign of slowing down. With statistics like these surging, and the number of active substance users expanding exponentially, it is more important than ever to begin working to address this issue through improved, preemptive measures. Providing comprehensive therapeutic interventions to individuals looking for substance abuse help is a great method of addressing an existing substance addiction. But how can we begin to address the problem of substance abuse before it erupts into a full-blown addiction? Identifying effective preemptive methods of addressing substance use, and the dangers associated with all levels of addiction, is a necessary first step in the fight. This process can begin by: Posing the right questions to address the rising flood of drug addiction Educating those individuals unaware of its addictive and dangerous qualities Is Drug Education Important? Improved methods of drug education can have a significant impact on individuals and aid in the battle against substance addiction on a number of levels: It provides knowledge necessary to avoid risky situations and information to make healthier personal choices. It aids in creating personal strategies for avoiding both negative peers and the inherent social pressures associated with substance use in social scenarios. Working to inform individuals of the physical dangers associated with substance use and equipping them with effective strategies for avoiding challenging situations arms people with the knowledge necessary to justify their substance avoidance. Would Drug Education in Schools Prove Effective? Recent studies have shown that early-intervention drug education within schools can provide students with a variety of positive social skills. It educates them on the dangers of substance use, even isolated incidents. It equips them with effective refusal skills to implement when confronted with negative peer pressures associated with illicit drug use. It addresses possible cultural issues associated with substance addiction. It provides an improved foundation of knowledge for younger individuals to approach the topic of drug use within the community. This type of early intervention aids in developing students’ personal life skills and identifying an appropriate range of relationships in which students should engage. It also identifies the influence the media and entertainment industry have on personal substance use and improves students’ perspective on positive social acceptance and maladaptive social influences.

What Should Drug Education Focus On? The key to providing impactful drug education to people is to include content relevant to current experiences and interests. Implementing highly interactive pedagogies that engage individuals in problem solving and critical thinking allows them to work through pertinent scenarios and learn methods of improved self-awareness and positive assertiveness. Providing the educational information in a manner that positions drug education with broader health and personal learning curriculum focused on mental health issues – such as stress and anxiety – aids in personalizing the information and increases the likelihood that the participants will connect with the information. Prevention programs work at the community level with civic, religious, law enforcement, and other government organizations to enhance anti-drug norms and pro-social behaviors. Many programs help with prevention efforts across settings to help send messages through school, work, religious institutions, and the media. Research has shown that programs that reach youth through multiple settings can remarkably influence community norms. Community-based programs also typically include the development of policies or enforcement of regulations, mass media efforts, and community-wide awareness programs.[22] Increasing health education in the community also plays a role in helping to decrease the consequences of substance use. On a community level, established safe injection sites that provide a hygienic space supervised by licensed healthcare professionals allow for safe monitoring of participants and provide health education and care to prevent overdose. Another way to help prevent overdose, especially regarding opioids, is the increased access and knowledge of naloxone. Naloxone is the standard opioid overdose reversal agent.[23] Studies show Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution (OEND) programs decrease the rate of rate of deaths from opioid overdose.[24] Naloxone comes in different routes of administration such as, an injection that's administered intravenously, intramuscular, or subcutaneously and a nasal spray. Naloxone injection and the nasal spray are both commonly used in adults and children who are going through drug overdose because it is successful in reversing the overdose effects [25][26] As a safety precaution, patients taking opioids are recommended to always carry naloxone with them and should replace the naloxone regularly, via reference to the expiration date.[27]Research has shown that extra effort in providing incentives, flexible schedules, personal contact, and the public support of important community leaders helps attract and retain program participant Protective and risk factors Environmental and internal are two main factors that contribute to the likelihood of developing a substance use disorder. Environmental factors in the individual's adolescence include: child abuse, exposure to substances, lack of supervision, media influence, and peer pressure. Drug activity in an individual's community may normalize the usage of drugs.[3][page needed] The result of substance use can be caused do to stressful situations within household which can result of learned behavior of the is of substances to cope. Similarly.[4] if an individual is placed through treatment and then placed back into the same environment that they left, there is a great chance that person will relapse to their previous behavior. Internal factors that are within the child or personality-based are self-esteem, poor social skills, stress, attitudes about drugs, mental disorder and many others.[5] A few more factors that contribute to teen drug abuse are lack of or poor parent to child communication,[6] unsupervised accessibility of alcohol at home, having too much freedom and being left alone for long periods of time.[7] Additionally, there is evidence that gender moderates the effect of family, school and peer factors on adolescent substance use.[8] For example, some studies report that not living with both biological parents or having poor parent-adolescent communication is associated with substance use, especially in female adolescents.[9][10] Main risk periods for substance use occur during major transitions in a child's life. Some of these transitional periods that could increase the possibility of youth using drugs are puberty, moving, divorce, leaving the security of the home, and entering school. School transitions such as those from elementary to middle school or middle school to high school can be times that children and teenagers make new friends

and are more susceptible to fall into environments where there are drugs available. One recent study examined that by the time are seniors in high school, "almost 70 percent will have tried alcohol, half will have taken an illegal drug, nearly 40 percent will have smoked a cigarette, and more than 20 percent will have used a prescription drug for a nonmedical purpose” (Johnston et al., 2013).[11] Binge drinking has also, been shown to increase once an individual leaves the home to attend college or live on their own.[12] Most youths do not progress towards regular, heavy substance use after experimentation. Research has shown, when drug use begins at an early age, there is a greater possibility for addiction to occur.[13] Three exacerbating factors that can influence substance use to become substance use are social approval, lack of perceived risks, and availability of drugs in the community. Youths from certain demographics are also at higher risk for addiction. These groups include those suffering from a mental illness and who comes from a family history of addiction. Yet, some[quantify] teens living with dual diagnosis prove that there is not always a causal relationship between mental illness and a substance use disorder. Moreover, when addiction occurs, youth are more likely to require teen rehab as a form of treatment.[14][promotional language] Most young adults have a false perception that they may be invincible. These individuals believe changes won't be made until an extreme event happens i.e. a friend overdoses, a car accident or even death. Even then it is not likely that they will see the correlation between use and trauma. Substance use includes risk factors that correlate to one's health that can include HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B virus, and Hepatitis C virus. These viral infections can be easily be spread by injections from needles. Effective drug education is important because young people are faced with many influences to use both licit and illicit drugs. Education can play a counterbalancing role in shaping a normative culture of safety, moderation, and informed decision making. https://covenanthillstreatment.com/drug-education-importance/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substance_abuse_prevention