DRUG ADDICTION 1

DRUG ADDICTION

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DRUG ADDICTION

Drug addiction has become been one of the major causes of death in recent years

globally. although more men are addicted to drugs than women the effects remain the same

and even more severe in women than men, the causa being that women lack drug dependence

access. Many drugs have been abused and hence causing addiction among the users. The

commonly abused drugs are bang, alcohol, tobacco, cocaine, khat, and heroine. In this essay,

we are going to talk about addiction, its effects, and addiction control. we will also further

look if it’s the manufacture's or doctors’ fault for not controlling the drug to the patient if the

doctors are following the laws and also if it’s about the monetary value we will also focus on

addiction in the United States.

According to (Rastergar and Fingerhood,2015 pp.1), addiction is the result of a

complex interplay of genetics, physiology, environment, and behaviors. the substances taken

for psychoactive effects are can be classified according to their effects these include

stimulants, opioids, depressants hallucinogens, and anesthetics. In the year 2013, the national

household survey of drug use and health (NSDUH) 21.6 million Americans are dependent or

abuse illicit drugs making it 8.2% of the population which is 12years of age or

older(NSDUH,2013, as cited in Rastergar&Fingerhood,2015).

Addiction has been mostly termed as a moral weakness in the past but in recent year’s

addiction is being understood as a chronic disorder that involves a lot of factors such as

environment, behaviors, physiology, and complex interplay of genetics. The mentioned

factors contribute to the abnormal functioning of the brain.

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Physiology factors

People take drugs for a variety of reasons some; for pleasure, high productivity, and

others use drugs to relieve stress .the continues use of drugs may lead to dependence hence

making an individual crave for it most of the time he or she is just not feeling well. The

craving caused by addiction makes a person not know the potential effects of the excessive

use of the drug.

Genetic factors

Some genetic studies tend to prove that there is a change in the genes caused by

nicotine dependence among the victims, in research done by( Rastergar &Fingerhood,2015),

states that its more likely children who had alcoholic parents end up taking alcohol this is

because some specific genes have been associated with alcohol dependence.

Psychosocial factors

The environment is also a major cause of addiction, the availability and usage of

drugs among individuals are the core factors to addiction not dismissing poor parenting and

poverty. These factors may cause genes to change hence contributing to addiction. Among

the youth’s peer pressure may be the force that causes addiction as most peers try to fit in

certain groups ending up as an addict.

Physicians and Manufactures of patent medicine are also the major cause of increased

consumption of drugs. Musto(1999,p.3) states that in the nineteen-century opium and its

derivatives were ideal for patent medicine manufacturers. in the late nineteenth century, the

unregulated patent medicine was at its peak in the United States and this was until when the

Pure Food and Drug act of 1906.according to (Musto,1999), he states that drug addiction in

the year 1900 was almost 250,000 in the United States.

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The medical use of cocaine was during surgery which was used as a surface

anesthetic, it was also used for injection to relieve pain on conscious patients. Cocaine was

not restricted to physician hence a lot of people could afford hence they could be used in bars

and even peddled from door to door. This forced the implementation of state laws and

municipal ordinances to be put in place to curb the rate of usage. The issue of narcotic control

in the US came up when medicine and pharmacy were active in a professional organization.

To control the level of addiction in the US some measures were put in place in 1919

as the country addiction was becoming the country’s biggest problem.in New York City

addicts were monitored and taken off and registered .pharmacists supplied them with

medicines but with time it was seen that some addicts were cheating and would still go to

other cities to continue with their behaviors(Musto,1999).from this we can deduce that it is

not the doctor's fault when it comes to controlling of the drug to patients as some may decide

not to act accordingly.

In recent years, the advancement of technology has improved the administration of

drug delivery hence making the work easier for the doctors to even monitor their patients.

This makes the doctor's work easier when following up his or her patients, engaging with a

patient remotely gives the doctor more time hence making it more interactive. Doctors are

required to know some things about their patients to do their jobs well, however, others

disagree that a doctor should only take what the patients tell him or her. The monitoring of a

patient by the doctor only depends on the patient and the reason of the patient visiting,

because most doctors are trained to ask sensitive questions.

Many people who are addicts tend to try to recover from drugs but it's just another

battle not for the faint-hearted .there are many ways in which an individual and recover from

addiction including emotional distress and physical pain leads to recovery, self-development,
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and social relationship also influence recovery from addiction. Borsellino(2005), states that

the survey of almost 1000 physicians noted that 60% believe patients “account for the bulk of

diversion problem”. Diversion problem is said to arise from patients buying from doctors or

patients being deceived and manipulated by doctors with a forged prescription. After the

survey of more than 1000 pharmacists its was noted that almost 30% don’t validate the

prescription from physicians regularly when dispensing drugs. Doctors should not blame

patients when some of the mistakes are caused by themselves.

Doctors should work to meet the expectations of society in general .although in the

twenty-first century some doctors are still not acting professionally according to the book.

Recently we have seen the campaigns to improve the medical field “humanization of

medicine this entails making doctors stick to their values while at work.in this process of

reconfiguring the medical practice the relationship among doctors, patients, colleagues should

be strengthened .for the medical industry to achieve this some factors need to be avoided

including professional privileges, dominance, and autonomy. Doctors should be more

focused on in-service delivery more than on the monetary value.

The laws put in place to guide doctors should be observed and followed strictly as it

focuses on life matters which is more important to people. These laws not only protect

patients but also the doctors themselves because they interact with the patients who

sometimes miss behaving and the laws should apply to them the same way. Doctors' laws

have been put under high scrutiny hence taking no chances with people's lives .we have heard

of some cases where doctors have misbehaved and were punished severely. The laws that

have been amended will make the doctors behave in the manner that is needed. When dealing

with addict’s doctors are not supposed to judge them in fact, they should counsel them in the

best way they can.

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Counselling drug addicts is much important as the individuals live in our society

hence, we are improving our society daily. Addiction has a lot of effects on the victim and

also the society at large. The rate of addiction among the youth has risen in the years .some

drugs such as marijuana which is most widely used in the US, have several effects such as

sleeplessness, short-time memory, and also increased testosterone in women which can cause

infertility. These are being just a few examples of drug effects; one should be able to know

about drugs before using any of them.

In recovery from addiction, one needs to consider the individual readiness to change.

There are some stages one has to undergo to recover completely from an addiction.

According to (Rastergar &Fingerhood,2015), outlines the following as the steps to recovery

from addiction: pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, and maintenance.

Precontemplation

It’s a stage where the victim has no plan for change and does not have an insight of the

problems caused by the substance, Individuals at this stage resist talking about or addressing

the issue concerning the substance.

Contemplation

At this stage influence from friends or family makes the victim think about the

advantages and disadvantages of the substance hence takes a bit longer while the person tries

to think out what decision to make or which way to follow.

Preparation

Individuals conclude changing and decides to stop using the substance after getting

convinced that the substance is harmful to his or her health.it comes with some minimal

changes as the person reduces the rate at which he or she used to consume the substance.
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When the individual takes a formal step to avoid the substance completely it is known as

action. During this period, one may seize completely from using the drug hence achieving

something.

Maintenance stage

At this stage the individual is successful and they always strive to get back to normal

life by creating relationships in families and try to build up themselves. After these processes,

there is motivational interviewing which helps individuals compare their current situation to

that of their goal.

Inconclusion drug addiction is one of the major causes of death globally, addiction is

a global issue that should be faced with the agency it requires to curb the number of addicts

from increasing. Addiction can also become unknowing by doctors manipulating patients

with forged prescriptions. Children who are born with alcoholic parents are more likely to

drink this is because the genes sometimes change hence making the children also alcoholic.

Doctors are supposed to treat patients according to the laws that are set. In addiction

recovery, there are stages which one has to pass through.

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Reference

Rastegar, D., & Fingerhood, M. (2015). The american society of addiction medicine

handbook of addiction medicine. Central https://www.proquest.com

Musto, D. F. (1999). The american disease : Origins of narcotic control.

Central https://www.proquest.com

Kumar, N., Panda, S., Pradhan, P., & Kaushal, R. (2019). IoT Based Hybrid System for

Patient Monitoring and Medication. EAI Endorsed Transactions on Pervasive Health

and Technology, 5(19)http://dx.doi.org/10.4108/eai.13-7-2018.162805

Increasing Patient Compliance with Remote Patient Monitoring: People with chronic health

conditions like cardiovascular disease and diabetes incur the highest healthcare

expenditures by far. Unfortunately, much of this population is known to be non-

compliant in taking prescribed medication and making physician-recommended

lifestyle changes. InfoBionic CEO Stuart Long says that remote patient monitoring can

increase patient compliance, leading to improved patient engagement, better health and

lower healthcare costs. (2019, Sep 25). PR Newswire https://www.proquest.com/wire-

feeds/increasing-patient-compliance-with-remote/docview/2296680211/se-2?

accountid=45049

Jha, D., & Singh, R. (2020). Analysis of associations between emotions and activities of drug

users and their addiction recovery tendencies from social media posts using structural

equation modeling. BMC Bioinformatics, 21, 1-38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12859-

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Borsellino, M. (2005). Doctors must help fight war against drug abuse. Medical Post, 41(28),

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