Heavy Drug Usage: Why Some Individuals Have More Addiction Over Others Essay

In order to understand why some individuals are more addictive than others, we need to look at the issue of addiction in our country’s usage of cocaine, crack, or methamphetamine. We also need to look at their dependency on them, and why some addictions carry more weight for some than for others. Heavy drug use is the highest among youth and young adolescents   especially young males   which is presently at its highest level in 9 years for that age, according to the 2006 PRIDE statistics. (PRIDE, 2006). According to their surveys, the fourth grade and the ninth grade were the highest users of heavy drugs (i. . other drugs or illicit drugs), even though they had a more difficult time getting them than the older adolescents. Marijuana is a minor drug, but one that the majority of drug users begin with to start the addictive path. Addiction begins in the brain, with the brainstem considered as the most primitive part of our body, controlling the heart rate, inhalation and exhaling, and resting. How drugs influence this area in regard to addiction is because the drug particle is similar in size and shape to natural neurotransmitters. Once they lock into the brain, they begin to release neurotransmitters. More and more â€Å"drugs† once entered into the brain will lock and release, with more and more neurotransmitters that become unnatural flooding into the brain. Many of the illegal drugs – – nicotine, crack, crank, cocaine, and marijuana – – affect the limbic system of the brain, which is the â€Å"reward† system, responding to pleasurable experiences by releasing dopamine, the main creator of pleasurable feelings or simply â€Å"feeling good†. Excess drugs will bring on a â€Å"drug high† or overdosing. Without addictions, there would not be serious drug usage for any individual. Addictions cause the â€Å"I have to have it† feeling that originally began as an minor experiment or a fun thing to do. As the body and mind becomes dependant on the drug for a good feeling, it eventually needs more and more in the system to maintain that feeling of goodness, until the craving becomes a number one obsession – – with the level of craving depending on the type of drug used. According to the American Heritage English Dictionary, the word addiction means, â€Å"Compulsive physiological and psychological need for a habit-forming substance,† or â€Å"The condition of being habitually or compulsively occupied with or involved in something. This compulsion or addiction has ruined many lives, with drug incarceration in the U. S. the highest it ever has been, with an increase in 35% since 1995. (Colson, 2006, pg 2). Addictions begin because drugs are considered â€Å"the painkillers of physical and emotional pain. † Not everyone becomes addicted because not everyone is unhappy, has physical or emotional pain, or lives with huge amounts of unsolvable problems. But the foremost causes of addiction in youth or adolescents are also peer pressure, manipulation, or boredom, with other factors being included. There are three theories why addictions occur in someone: the first is the â€Å"biochemical† predisposition where some people react different than others do, regardless of the situation; the second theory is the â€Å"disease concept† where addiction is considered an inherited disease, where the individual is permanently ill at a genetic level; and the third theory is that addiction is a â€Å"mental weakness or flaw†, where a person can overcome it through will-power or mental processes – – another part of this theory is that of â€Å"falling from grace†, where recovery comes from a higher power. But so far, none of these theories have proved correct, which is why they are still theories. Kids continue using drugs because the feelings of unhappiness or hopelessness are buried by drug usage when using them. The addiction becomes the only way of life to live for someone to experience â€Å"happiness† or to feel â€Å"pleasure† – – anyway, as long as the money holds out for the drug purchases. If not, theft and selling drugs will begin another way of life for them to support their habit. After that, prison or death is the next and final level. Different levels of addictions are experienced by different individuals, because people are different: they are mentally and physically different; their life experiences are different; their values and ethics are different; and their problems or happiness are on different levels. Because of this, peer pressure and powers of persuasion affects different people in different ways. Peer pressure has a lot to do with influencing youth to begin using drugs of any kind. After all, nobody wants to look like they don’t belong, do they? Combined with the power of persuasion, an unhappy individual with lots of problems or filled with boredom cannot fight against it, as it promises a false sense of happiness that does not really exist, yet they still believe it is the easy way out. Self-concept of an individual has a lot to do with the usage of drugs and is considered the most vital ingredient in a happy and content individual. Once this begins to go down, drug usage and depression have an open door, as it falsely raises the lowered self-esteem. By keeping this part of the personality up, peer pressure and manipulation won’t have such a hold on the individual. To develop peer pressure, the individual needs to have friends or a group they run with – – or seek to belong to – – by doing things that goes against their personal moral beliefs, such as using drugs for the first time. Individuals who do not care what others think, will not be influenced on the same level of peer pressure. To impress someone, these peer groups exert a lot of influence over prospective new members, forcing them to conform to the group standards. Adolescent peer pressure has always been referred to in a harmful undertone, causing members to become involved in destructive behavior, such as using alcohol or drugs. Peer pressure or drug pushers use the power of persuasion as a marketing tool to obtain desire results. New members are prodded, manipulated, and debased by peer groups to do things they never would have done before, working against an individual’s vulnerable inability to fight against it. Once the individual is on the drugs, it usually is a one-way street to nowhere. Culture and social beliefs come into play with what is accepted as normal in a certain segment of society. Various racial or ethnic groups may hold specific morals, ethics, or biases about certain things that will affect what they consider normal or abnormal. But recent developments in our professional field over the past ten years or so have found that each culture has its own strengths, limitations, and differences – – yet that does not mean they are unequal to another race or culture as they were previously judged by courts, laws, and professionals. Prior to 1990, the U. S. began to undergo a lot of radical demographic changes with diverse populations. Unfortunately, drug usage began to go up with these changes, as it was not considered as abnormal in their own countries as here. When President Reagan began his drug war in October of 1982, certain segments of society, based on certain cultures, felt they were being targeted. But prior to that, society had already set the scene against drugs, â€Å"In 1982, when the drug war began, the recreational use of illegal drugs was in decline. Tonry points out that in 1982, surveys conducted by the National Institute on Drug Abuse showed significant drops in drug usage over long periods for a wide range of age groups. This decline impacted the use of both legal and illegal substances. For example, the percentages of respondents 18 to 25 years of age reporting marijuana use during the preceding year dropped by approximately 15% between 1979 and 1982, and continued to decline sharply throughout the decade of the 80s. Reported use of cocaine by the same age group also dropped by approximately 15% between 1979 and 1982, and continued to decline throughout the decade. Finally, 18 to 25 year olds who reported using alcohol during the preceding year rose only slightly from 1979 to 1982, but also declined sharply following a peak in 1985. According to Tonry, these statistics ‘signal a broadly based and widely shared change in American attitudes toward the ingestion of dangerous or unhealthy substances that can have little to do with the deterrent effects of law enforcement strategies or criminal sanctions. ‘ Consequently, Reagan’s declaration of war tapped into a growing public sentiment against illegal drug use. (Nunn, 2006). Drug efficacy is the power of a drug to produce a desire effect, or its effectiveness. Another meaning is the treatment against the drug users; â€Å"medical professionals have called for a greater emphasis on treatment for drug users rather than incarceration and felony convictions that made it hard for former users to get their lives on track. † (Connecticut News, 2005). The prisons are already over-crowded, and the drug usage does not seem to be getting any better. The drugs alcohol and marijuana are considered â€Å"gateways† to the heavier drugs or more addictive substances. Under the newer laws where non-violent events are punished with prison terms, and the youth or adolescent individual is convicted of these minor drugs, they carry a lifetime of punishment that prevents them from getting on with their lives. They feel the mistake stays with them the rest of their life, so why quit anyway? Professionals feel that because of this attitude, better treatment instead of prison or jail punishment needs to be the number one choice; due to the fact the United States has a highest population of their own citizens in prison than any other industrialized nation. (Nunn, 2006). Bibliography http://www.pridesurveys.com/customercenter/ue05ns.pdf http://www.socialistworker.org/2006-2/613/613_02_Prison.shtml http://academic.udayton.edu/race/03justice/crime09.htm