Cause And Effect Of Substance Abuse Essay

Addiction is a growing epidemic in the world. Substance abuse has a tremendous effect on society. It not only impacts the individual, it affects families, communities and taxpayers. It discriminates against no creed anybody can become a victim to drugs, legal or illegal. I have decided to discuss this topic because I, like many people in the world have had a close family member who was addicted to drugs. No one has been able to completely answer the question of what causes substance abuse because there are so many reasons why. According to Matthew David O’Deane, he describes substance abuse as the following: “Substance abuse is the overindulgence in and dependence of a drug or other chemical leading to effects that are detrimental to the individual’s physical and mental health”. My overall understanding as to why young people would join a gang is that chemical dependency can cause …show more content…
Violence between gangs escalates when drugs are added to the equation. Wars between gangs fighting over locations to sell narcotics destroy neighborhoods because hard working citizens become victims who fear leaving their homes. Costly consequences occur when law enforcement is tasked with continually arresting addicts, resulting in them spending time in prison costing taxpayers. However, when law enforcement is able to identify dealers, most often identified through confidential informants, and makes an arrest; it helps them target higher ranking members; hence it helps to get large quantities of drugs off the street. Rather than the addict being incarcerated, in my opinion, there should be a state mandated program to place these people in a treatment facility where they can get the proper treatment needed. In the long run, it would cost the taxpayers less because it cost a lot more to keep people incarcerated for longer periods of time rather than a six month program which could rehabilitate