Substance Abuse Debate

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While many of us have seen the news reports or have seen the post on Facebook we may notice there is an uptick in the amount of stories in the news and newsfeeds which talk about drug over doses and other drug related issues. While many people may look at these news stories or Facebook post and not think much of them or think it is only the person who is using the drugs that is the problem. As a person living in a society and a social worker there needs to be a great deal of attention paid to the recent spike in substance abuse and over doses. Some shocking numbers to show the spike in substance abuse and over doses are from the ASAM Of the 20.5 million Americans 12 or older that had a substance use disorder in 2015, 2 million had a substance …show more content…
992 Expanding Opportunity for Recovery Act in a law. The bill has a quite a few great parts for example it will allow addicts to stay in treatment centers for up to 60 days instead of typical 30 days. The bill also allows treatment centers to apply for the grant money, but they must use evidence based practice in the treatment of substance abuse. This bill also focuses on the people who have fallen through the cracks and either have insurance that does not cover long term treatment or do not have insurance at all. The treatment centers that receive the grants do not just get the money and not have to do anything for it. The treatment centers must show their treatments are working with measureable outcomes. For example if the number of patience’s who leave the treatment center and do not end up in the criminal justice system. We will need the support of as many representatives as we can along with many other citizens which can help push their representatives to vote for the …show more content…
For many people even if we do not want to say it or believe it we think they are lazy and wonder how they could let themselves get to that point. We might not like our thoughts about this, but that is how society has created a stigma around substance abuse. When we need to time to listen to the stories of people who fall into the trap of substance abuse and we need to retrain our thoughts when we see someone who feel may be on drugs. As a society we know we need to help our fellow citizens, but when it comes to putting in the work we tend to shy away and think someone else will do it. Well I am here to help you see how much work needs to be done. We need to get this bill to pass and we need it to be turned into a law. We need this bill to help the citizens around us who have substance abuse problems. We need to show everyone no

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