Effect Of Drugs And Alcohol example essay topic

A. Introduction. Many American view alcohol as one of the "good things" of life, while others advocate total abstinence. Although most Americans have a negative view of drugs such as heroin, they consider a drugs a benefit. Many people believe that consuming drugs or alcohol they will feel warm and relax but the use and abuse of other drugs affect nearly all American people directly or indirectly. Moreover, some Americans began to warn about the dangers of addiction. To know how alcohol and drugs is dangerous, people need to understand the terms addiction, abuse, and alcoholic.

Firstly, a person who is dependent on alcohol is called an alcoholic. Secondly, abuse is defined as the improper use of alcohol and other drugs to degree that the consequence are defined as detrimental to user or to society. Finally, addiction has been called a "brain disease" because continued abuse of a drug causes changes in bran function that drive the addict to compulsive seeking and use of the drugs. (Lesh ner 1998). Our focus in this assignment or research paper will be on abuse, which include addiction.

We will look at the different types of drugs and their effects (including alcohol, which is a drug itself). We will the examine alcohol and other drugs, looking a pattern of use, types, effect on the quality of life, and ways people and government have attempted to cope with these problem. Types and effects. There are different types of alcohol and drugs.

All alcoholic beverages contain the same drug, ethyl alcohol or ethanol, but the proportion varies in different beverages. Also, there are five main types of nonalcoholic drugs such as Narcotics, Depressants, Stimulants, Hallucinogens, Cannabis. A small amount of alcohol can result in changes in an individual's mood and behavior, and as the concentration of alcohol in the blood increases, there are corresponding more serious effects. If the individual consumes alcohol with a little level, the individual's motor control is affected- hands, legs become clumsy.

With a higher level, the emotional functions of the brain are impaired or will possibly die. In addition, people also are affected by drugs. If people use a drug overdose, their breath will be slow and shallow, increasing body temperature; they will feel cold, convulsion or even coma and death. Tobacco and alcohol is a kind of legal drug but they are two of the most deadly drugs in American society. This website (web) helps us to see and understand many different kinds of drugs and their effect on human being. The alcoholic and drugs addict may cause some problem about their health.

We will examine alcohol and other drugs separately that effect on the physical health. Furthermore, the effect of drugs and alcohol do not stop there. They also cause some problem for society such as economy. 1.

Physical Health 1 a. Alcohol The long-range effects of heavy drinking involve impairment of the major organs of the body; include heart, brain, and liver (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism 1975: 13). Cirrhosis of liver, one of the more widely known effects of heavy drinking, is an occupational disease of alcoholic. Heavy drinking also may result in certain muscle diseased and tremors. The function of vital muscle, the heart, may be impaired by prolonged heavy drinking.

In another way, alcohol can effect in undirected way. Alcohol abuse can lead to early death. In one year, there are more than 100,000 alcohol-related deaths, with an average 26 years of potential life lost per death (Centers for Disease Control 1990). About 20 percent of deaths involve transportation accidents, 17 percent involve suicide or homicide, 17 percent are from cirrhosis and liver damage, and 15 percent are due to alcohol-induced cancer. Other diseases and accident account for remainder. Alcohol also plays a role in various kinds of physical trauma.

Consider the following (Rivera et al. 1997; Thun et al, 1997; Greenfield 1998): o Alcohol use is associated with an increased risk of violent death (suicide or homicide) in the home. o Alcohol abuse leads to higher rates of death from cirrhosis, injuries, and various kinds of cancer. o About 35 percent of violent victimization's involve an offender who had been drinking. o Two-thirds of the victims of intimate violence report that alcohol was a factor in the attack. o Nearly a third of fatal accidents involve an intoxicated driver or pedestrian (mostly a driver). Moreover, the health problems include effects on the un-born children of pregnant women who drink. More than 50,000 babies are born each year with alcohol-related defects, and about a fourth of them are serious enough to be classified as the fetal alcohol syndrome. 1 b. Drugs We have also seen that drug abuse is a widespread problem in society and that it affects all kinds of people.

The physical harm resulting from the use of illegal drugs includes (U. S Department of Justice 1992: 10) o Death o Medical emergencies from acute reactions to drugs or toxic adulterants. o Exposure to HIV infection, hepatitis, and other diseases resulting from intravenous drug use. o Injury from accidents caused by drug-related impaired impairment. o Injuries from violence while obtaining drugs in the drugs distribution network. o Dependence or addition o Chronic physical problems. Comparing with alcohol-related deaths, each year about 400,000 deaths result from cigarette smoking, and 20,000 from the use of illicit drugs (Center for Disease control 1995d) Cocaine and tobacco use are both associated with a significant risk of spontaneous abortion. Tobacco cause more physiological damage among Americans than any non-alcoholic drug. Consequences of smoking are reduced life expectancy, increased probability lung cancer and other respiratory diseases, etc. The problem with smoking is compounded by the fact that nonsmokers who are exposed to a smoking environment also may suffer. Nonsmokers who live or work in a smoking environment are more likely than those not in such environment to develop heart disease.

Last but not least, drugs and alcohol not only kill people who consume them but also kill people who relate with. My experiences with drugs and alcohol have not been very bad, but I knew two people who have died from drug overdoses, and one person who died in a motor crash with a drunk driver. Moreover, I also knew one person who is my friend became addicted to drug. From seeing my friends experiences I have found that by smoking marijuana all the time really takes away from who you really are.

It does this because you don't need to be who you really are. The drug does everything for you; it allows you to have fun without doing anything. This makes it so that it's difficult to have fun without being high; it also makes the user lazy and wants to just sit around all the time. As a result, I feel that alcohol is a very powerful and manipulative drug that can cause people a lot of trouble in their lives, and do things that they would not normally do if they were not under the influence of the alcohol.

2. Economic Cost Alcohol abuse is costly to the nation in a number of ways. It is not easy to estimate. People with drinking problems are easier absent from work. Moreover, when they are on the job, they may not concentrate or have a problem with interaction. Industry may lose more than ten billions a year because of lost work time and lowered productivity of alcoholic employees.

In addition, determining the exact dollar cost of any social problem for drugs is also difficult. To know how much dollar the government spends, we just value it in something. Federal funding for various drug control programs is around $4 billion a year. They include such things as (U. S Department of Justice 1992: 127): o Criminal justice expenditures on drugs-related crime o Health care cost of injuries from drug-related child abuse and accident o The cost of lost productivity due to absenteeism and inefficiency and errors of users at work place. o Property damage from drug-related activities. o Toxins introduces into public air and water supplies by drug production. o Emotional and physical damage to users, their families, and friends, and the co-worker. The actual figures might be lower- but they also be higher. In any case, the economic costs to the nation for drugs and alcohol problems are exceedingly high. B. What Is to be done?

People and government should cooperate together to deal with these problem. Enforcement programs involve efforts to prevent drugs from entering the country or from being produced within the country. It also means the capture, prosecution, and imprisonment of users, dealers, and pusher. To see this more carefully, consider the Figure below, which plots real per capita expenditure by the federal government for enforcement of alcohol and drug prohibition over this same period. As discussed in Miron (1999, 2001). As you can see, the government spent more money for enforcement of alcohol and rugs prohibition during recent times.

According to Bill of right, people who harm another one can be treat or punishment. Therefore, people who sell drugs to make another one to be addicted will be punished or prison. This website (web) contains more information about the enforcement of people related drugs. A controversial form of enforcement is mandatory testing of employees at the work place.

Some people feel that such testing is a violation of the individual's civil liberties. But now federal law now requires railroads, airlines, and trucking companies to develop drug-testing programs (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism). Smoking is not only harm smoking people but also harm people who live around. Thus, that is the reason why many states have pass laws strict smoking in restaurants and regulating smoking in private workplace.

Street enforcement programs are street sales- oriented. Police watch drug sales hot spots and arrest both seller and buyer. The police alone cannot solve the problem effectively, citizen must band together to eliminate the condition that facilitate drug sales. For example: set up hotline, calling the police when seeing the suspected people who buy or sell drugs. American have had ambivalent feelings about alcohol throughout history. In general, people regarded alcoholic beverages as one of God's gift to mankind.

The men and young people who abuse or addict alcohol is the highest proportion. Therefore, government has passed some laws to limit the people consuming alcohol. The laws that allow people who are over 21 years old can consume alcohol, increase alcohol taxes, and intensify the enforcement of drinking-and-driving. In addition, there are some organizations were started by alcoholic such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).

Members gather regularly in small groups to share their experiences and help other members is needed. As well, the problem of alcoholism also has been attacked through various other program and facilities. Among these are community-care programs, which allow the alcoholic to remain in the home and the community while under treatment. Other programs remove the alcoholic from community to their home. However, the most important thing the government must do is the education programs.

Education programs must help people understand not only the dangers of alcohol but also ways they can deal with the pressure to drink. For instance, adolescents, who are most likely to give in to peer pressure, can resist drinking even in high-pressure situations. Furthermore, the defining drinker in negative terms (drinker are weak or bad person) is also pressure to them. Besides, other groups form as well - Students Against Driving Drunk (SAID) and Remove Intoxicated Driver (RID). As a result of these organizations, a number of states have taken measures to reduce the risks to citizens from alcohol-impaired drivers, including raising drinking age, using roadside sobriety tests, and suspending licenses and offenders (Social Problem). C. Conclusion. In conclusion, the wildly use of drugs and alcohol take many serious problems to society.

Various drugs have various effects depending on the method of administration. Many experts consider alcohol abuse much more serious than abuse of other groups. Most alcohol and drugs users are young, male, poor, and minority. The meaning of drug problem for the quality of life is seen in the consequences for physical health, psychological health, interpersonal health, and economic cost. Now, the government will have to devote more time, effort, and money to control the drugs, pass some laws and create some organizations to help them or enforce somebody who use drugs to harm people because of money.