Drugs and Our Society

1
Drugs and Our Society

• Drug Taking Behavior
• Part 2

2
Personal and Social Concerns

• Drugs impact every facet of our lives
• - fetus / children / adolescents / college
  students /
• young adults / homemakers / poor people / the
  
• affluent / the elderly
• Drugs are deeply embedded in the human psyche
• - there is a tendency to use drugs to deal with
  all of our problems and fears
• - pain / frustration / personal problems /
  social interactions / disappointments
• Drug abuse is an expensive problem
• - Office of National Drug Control Policy
• - health and social costs 67 billion
  annually

3
Untreated alcohol and drug users

• Fill anywhere from a low of 10 to a high of 50
  of hospital beds nationwide
• - mostly for treatment secondary to the
  addiction
• Of all persons admitted to general hospitals
• - 20 to 40 have alcohol-related problems
• The economic cost of alcohol abuse in the United
  States is estimated at over 185 billion
• - US Department of Health and Human Services
• - medical / work loss / abuse / neglect /
  criminal

4
Drug Abuse Warning NetworkDAWN

• The federal government monitors ER visits for
  drug abuse
• - both for non-lethal ER visits and fatal
  arrivals
• Today, the most common are
• - methamphetamine
• - cocaine
• - heroin
• - an alcohol-combination
• Over 10,000 drug-abuse deaths annually

5
Jails and Prisons

• More than ¾s of all prison inmates had been
  involved with drugs to some extent
• More than 500,000 people are in American jails on
  any given day for violating a drug law
• Almost 20 billion will be spent in 2006 to
  combat drug abuse
• Two-thirds of this money will be used for
  domestic law enforcement
• - in an attempt to reduce the drug supply
• - this increases the importation of drugs

6
Prescription Drug Use in the US

• Over 2 billion prescriptions are dispensed in the
  US every year
• - and most prescriptions have several refills
• Prescriptions drugs total 85 billion yearly
• - with over-the-counter drugs costing 13
  billion
• Pharmaceutical companies spend more on marketing
  than on research and development
• Student Involvement
• Watch television this evening and list the
  number and types of drug commercials seen.

7
Drug Abuse by the Elderly

• Among Americans 60 years of age and older, drug
  abuse is becoming an epidemic
• Older adults are not necessarily abusing illicit
  substances
• - it is abuse of alcohol and prescription drugs
• - this is one of the fastest growing health
  problems in the United States
• Misuse affects up to 17 of older Americans
• - 2.5 million have alcohol-related problems
• - misuse of over-the-counter drugs with a high
  alcohol content, such as cough suppressants

8
Drugs in the Workplace

• Drug abuse costs American employers 120 billion
  annually
• 8 of full-time workers used an illicit drug
  during the previous month
• - 9 of part-time workers did
• 9 of workers drank heavily the previous month
• Alcoholism results in 500 million lost work days
  annually
• - chemically dependent 3.6 times more likely to
  have accidents in the workplace

9
How to Cope with Drugs in the Workplace

• Employee Assistance Programs (EAPS)
• - help workers deal with personal problems and
  substance abuse
• - many are voluntary
• - some are mandatory with a choice of being
  fired
• EAPS use in companies has shown great promise
• - it has reduced absenteeism by 29
• - it has reduced injuries by 82
• - it has increased the number of employees in
  rehab

10
Drug Testing

• The Presidents Commission on Organized Crime in
  1986 advocated all federal workers be drug-tested
• - federal contracts were to be withheld from
  private companies who did not drug test
• Just how effective is drug testing?
• - among full-time workers (ages 18 to 49)
• - 35 tested at time of employment
• - 20 were subject to random testing
• - 28 if supervisor had reasonable suspicion
• - 23 following a work-related accident

11
Drug Testing, cont.

• Illicit drug use higher in small businesses (1
  24)
• - smaller companies are testing more
• 70 of illegal drug users are employed full-time
• - 77 of the above are heavy drinkers
• Highest rate
• - construction workers handlers, helpers,
  laborers
• Lowest rate
• - child protective services
• Police officers have high rates of heavy drinking
  and alcoholism

12
Drugs and the Family

• Drug use has not been proven to increase marital
  separation and divorce
• - but an association does exist
• Women with alcohol-dependent partners do have
  significantly more family and marital problems
• Women subjected to violence have higher rates of
  alcohol dependence
• - as well as other drug abuse problems
• Adolescents who are emotionally close to their
  mothers are less likely to drink alcohol
• - closeness to father does not have same effect

13
Study of Married People

• People between the ages of 28 and 31 are less
  likely to use drugs if
• - they married in their early 20s and stay
  married
• - married in late 20s
• - those who had children
• Marriage and alcohol
• - reduced their use during first year of
  marriage
• - decreased significantly after parenthood
• - women whose husbands died, more likely to use
• 3. Marijuana more likely to delay
  marriage/children

14
Parents in Need

• 6 of children have one parent in need of illicit
  drug treatment
• 4 have a parent who is dependent on illicit
  drugs
• 8 have a parent dependent on alcohol
• 50 have at least one parent who smokes
• Parental substance abuse almost 2/3s have a
  child in the welfare system
• It is a prominent factor in child abuse and
  domestic abuse
• - 30 of all substantiated child abuse cases