Drug Abuse Essay
Drug Abuse: The Single Most Important Societal Problem
May 27, 2011
Drug Abuse - Single Most Important Societal Problem
Have you ever walked down the street or in a grocery store and bumped into someone you know, and they look really bad? Drugs have “eaten them alive” and they are barely recognizable. You can remember how beautiful they were “before” the drugs but you’re staring the “after” directly in the face. It is not a pretty sight, is it? Just think, it could be one of your family members or loved ones. The more I walk down streets, in grocery stores, at my child’s ball games, at work and even on my college campus it is more evident that drug abuse, is much more than a personal problem that everyday people, have in common in some sort of way. After looking at drugs from personal encounters, knowing the facts and reasons for abuse and the factors surrounding drug abuse; in my opinion, it is the single most important societal problem in existence. Imagine not having to walk down the street or in a grocery store to see drug abuse up close and personal. I don’t have to imagine. I’ve encountered drugs as up close and personal as it gets all my life. My father and step-mother did crack cocaine for the majority of my child hood, my mother smokes marijuana, my maternal grandmother died from cirrhosis of the liver from being an alcoholic, another grandmother chain smokes cigarettes, and my marriage has been completely destroyed by drugs. Talk about up close and personal. One would say that I would have no other choice but to be some type of drug abuser. I must admit that I have tried marijuana and cigarettes. I have also drank beer and liquor before, but I have not done anything more and never will. I choose not to be an abuser simply because I have seen the before and the after effects of what it can do. I can remember as a young child, maybe four or five, seeing these two girls who I thought was absolutely beautiful. I wanted to “look just like them
May 27, 2011
Drug Abuse - Single Most Important Societal Problem
Have you ever walked down the street or in a grocery store and bumped into someone you know, and they look really bad? Drugs have “eaten them alive” and they are barely recognizable. You can remember how beautiful they were “before” the drugs but you’re staring the “after” directly in the face. It is not a pretty sight, is it? Just think, it could be one of your family members or loved ones. The more I walk down streets, in grocery stores, at my child’s ball games, at work and even on my college campus it is more evident that drug abuse, is much more than a personal problem that everyday people, have in common in some sort of way. After looking at drugs from personal encounters, knowing the facts and reasons for abuse and the factors surrounding drug abuse; in my opinion, it is the single most important societal problem in existence. Imagine not having to walk down the street or in a grocery store to see drug abuse up close and personal. I don’t have to imagine. I’ve encountered drugs as up close and personal as it gets all my life. My father and step-mother did crack cocaine for the majority of my child hood, my mother smokes marijuana, my maternal grandmother died from cirrhosis of the liver from being an alcoholic, another grandmother chain smokes cigarettes, and my marriage has been completely destroyed by drugs. Talk about up close and personal. One would say that I would have no other choice but to be some type of drug abuser. I must admit that I have tried marijuana and cigarettes. I have also drank beer and liquor before, but I have not done anything more and never will. I choose not to be an abuser simply because I have seen the before and the after effects of what it can do. I can remember as a young child, maybe four or five, seeing these two girls who I thought was absolutely beautiful. I wanted to “look just like them
References: Drug Abuse in America: 2001. (n.d.). Almanac of Policy Issues. Retrieved May 25, 2011, from http://www.policyalmanac.org/crime/archive/drug_abuse.shtml National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 2001 - Drug Facts. (n.d.). Office of National Drug Control Policy. Retrieved May 25, 2011, from http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/drugfact/nhsda01.html