The Social Impact of Drug Abuse: Understanding the Scope of the Problem

Drug abuse is a problem that affects not only the person using drugs, but their loved ones and friends as well. Consequently, drug abuse has a huge social impact that cannot be denied.

Drug Abuse

• According to helpguide.org, drug abuse is not a matter of willpower. It causes changes in the brain that make users have stronger and stronger impulses to use those substances.

Family and Friends

• Drug abuse affects family and friends on a huge level; watching a user spiral further and further out of control is extremely upsetting. In some cases, family and friends can suffer even more than the user who self-medicates with drugs.

Societal Impact

• According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, "drug abuse and addiction are a major burden to society. Estimates of the total overall costs of substance abuse in the United States̵2;including health- and crime-related costs, as well as losses in productivity̵2;exceed half a trillion dollars annually."

Professional Impact

• As a drug user slips further into addiction, work becomes more difficult, since attendance and performance can suffer. Some users lose professional licenses that cannot ever be regained. Some lose income, which affects their families, too.

Crime

• Drug abuse causes users to do things they never would normally, including committing crimes in an effort to get more drugs. This not only places them in danger, but their family and friends as well.

Tips

• Clearly, drug abuse is a social problem. In fact, many feel that is all it is and do not understand why an addict can simply stop taking drugs. Like everything, education about drug abuse is the key to unlocking its reality.