Drug Addiction and Prevention
Throughout this unit we have talked about many different cases of addiction, how the media portrayed them and the treatments that were proven successful, and unsuccessful, as a way to try and combat those addiction cases. One of the least effective portrayals of addiction was the novel Go Ask Alice, by author Beatrice Sparks (Google search: Go Ask Alice). This novel, in some very extreme case, could be plausible; but, all of the events that occurred to the main character seemed extremely outlandish and exaggerated. The different events in the story, such as prostitution, being drugged, going to a mental hospital, hitchhiking to Denver, and opening up her own boutique, all could happen, but to one individual in …show more content…
Another reason this this novel was not effective was it basically said “you do drugs, you die”. The problem with this is that in the US alone over a third of teenagers have admitted to using drugs, even just once. (dailymail.co.uk) So, the ones that have think “huh, I didn’t die, they must be lying, that’s not going to happen to me”. On the other hand, the Montana Meth Project was very good at showing the effects of meth and what can happen, without seeming outlandish and exaggerated. They used examples that we as teenagers could relate to, such as doing anything for you boyfriend who you believe loves you more than anything. They also used teenage actors and depicted what the life of a meth addict can be by showing it in a world that the teenagers can imagine themselves in. Contrary to that, Go Ask Alice showed what bad things can happen from drugs, but the events were almost so terrible that no teenager could actually believe that it could happen. Since the Montana meth project was put in place teen usage in Montana has decreased by 63%, adult usage by 72% and the crime associated with meth has …show more content…
In these labs, heroin addicts can come to get a daily dose of methadone, a drug that combats the withdrawal symptoms of quitting heroin as well as making life without it bearable, giving the patient sort of an alternative high than that of heroin. These clinics are controversial due to that very fact; people feel the clinics will just heighten the epidemic, not tone it down. But for many people it is a god send. The methadone labs are very strict in how much someone gets, but at the same time, as the person continues take the methadone and starts to build a tolerance, the amount can be increased, so the methadone continues to help people and theoretically can replace the need for heroin for the rest of a person 's life. Also, even though the labs are often hard to get to due to the scarcity of them, it gives the addict some structure and a feeling of control over his or her life that in return highly boosts their self-esteem and confidence, theoretically bringing them closer to being completely clean without the help from methadone. These labs will also often times offer group counseling for addicts in need of help and support.
Throughout this unit we have talked about many different cases of addiction, how the media portrayed them and the treatments that were proven successful, and unsuccessful, as a way to try and combat those addiction cases. One of the least effective portrayals of addiction was the novel Go Ask Alice, by author Beatrice Sparks (Google search: Go Ask Alice). This novel, in some very extreme case, could be plausible; but, all of the events that occurred to the main character seemed extremely outlandish and exaggerated. The different events in the story, such as prostitution, being drugged, going to a mental hospital, hitchhiking to Denver, and opening up her own boutique, all could happen, but to one individual in …show more content…
Another reason this this novel was not effective was it basically said “you do drugs, you die”. The problem with this is that in the US alone over a third of teenagers have admitted to using drugs, even just once. (dailymail.co.uk) So, the ones that have think “huh, I didn’t die, they must be lying, that’s not going to happen to me”. On the other hand, the Montana Meth Project was very good at showing the effects of meth and what can happen, without seeming outlandish and exaggerated. They used examples that we as teenagers could relate to, such as doing anything for you boyfriend who you believe loves you more than anything. They also used teenage actors and depicted what the life of a meth addict can be by showing it in a world that the teenagers can imagine themselves in. Contrary to that, Go Ask Alice showed what bad things can happen from drugs, but the events were almost so terrible that no teenager could actually believe that it could happen. Since the Montana meth project was put in place teen usage in Montana has decreased by 63%, adult usage by 72% and the crime associated with meth has …show more content…
In these labs, heroin addicts can come to get a daily dose of methadone, a drug that combats the withdrawal symptoms of quitting heroin as well as making life without it bearable, giving the patient sort of an alternative high than that of heroin. These clinics are controversial due to that very fact; people feel the clinics will just heighten the epidemic, not tone it down. But for many people it is a god send. The methadone labs are very strict in how much someone gets, but at the same time, as the person continues take the methadone and starts to build a tolerance, the amount can be increased, so the methadone continues to help people and theoretically can replace the need for heroin for the rest of a person 's life. Also, even though the labs are often hard to get to due to the scarcity of them, it gives the addict some structure and a feeling of control over his or her life that in return highly boosts their self-esteem and confidence, theoretically bringing them closer to being completely clean without the help from methadone. These labs will also often times offer group counseling for addicts in need of help and support.