Illegal Drug Use Prevention
Illegal Drug Use Prevention in The United States
By
Elizabeth R. Vaught
Crime Prevention in America
CJ334
Damon Simmons
October 27, 2013
Abstract
In this paper I am investigating the effects of prolonged use of meth, what the effects will be on our bodies and why some continue to use. What are the police doing to stop this epidemic of drug abuse? What programs are they using to help cut down on the use of these drugs? I will give some historical statistics on the drug problems in our nation. I will research and investigate how the law enforcement are tackling the issues of illegal drug distribution, what programs are being used to help curtail this problem as well as how this problem is faced on the boarder and with immigration. …show more content…
I will touch on how disposing drugs in the trash and flushing them will cause pollution to the environment.
CONTENTS
Thesis Statement
In this paper I want to show how the drug problems in our great nation have not gotten any better and how the government has been working to improve this situation.
I am going to look into some historical data and show how the numbers have changed and how far we really need to go before we will see any type of improvement in the amount of victims to illegal drugs. As we know there are several programs out there that concentrate on the removal of unused prescription drugs, but have we put into consideration how we dispose of these medications and what they can do to the environment? I am going to look into how we are affecting our environment and even our own drinking water. This will also involve what happens to our bodies when exposed to illegal drugs for long periods of time and how it not only affects the one using but also the families and the livelihoods of those around …show more content…
them.
Another goal I will work to achieve is to show what programs are in effect and how they work, are they successful? What has the government been doing? These are all things that I have addressed and given my sources for.
Methamphetamine
The area that I want to center my time on will be the issues of methamphetamines, by issues I am referring to the medical use, and the abuse of this drug, as well as the recriminations to our family lives and the impact it has had on the nation as a whole.
The abuse of this drug and all of the other classifications continue today, I will bring to light some of the more devastating effects we see in our families and social life. Methamphetamines are classified by several different types and classifications. Some of these classifications that I found in the Encyclopedia from Yahoo education website are, amphetamine (Benzedrine) , methadone (dextroamphetamine) , ice, methamphetamine (Desoxyn), ("Methamphetamines") The medical use of this drug is very limited and is always prescribed at a lower dose, and never has any refills available. Methamphetamine is classified as a Schedule II drug; this means that the government and DEA must have detailed records of the distribution of this drug at all times.
Some of the common names for methamphetamine include but are not limited to, Batu, Bikers Coffee, Black Beauties, Chalk, Chicken Feed, Crank, Crystal, Glass, Go-Fast, Hiropon, Ice, Meth, Methlies Quick, Poor Man’s Cocaine, Shabu, Shards, Speed, Stove Top, Tina, Trash, Tweak, Uppers, Ventana, Vidrio, Yaba, and Yellow
Bami.
How does methamphetamine affect the body? When we take this drug in small but frequent amounts it can have serious results. Some of these results can include increased periods of wakefulness, hyperactivity, loss of appetite, rapid or irregular heartbeat, and even overheating. High doses can even cause your body temperature to rise to a lethal level that can cause convulsions, memory loss or even heart failureii.
Some statistical information that I was able to gather on the history of abuse of this drug are as follows ("Methemphetamine:," n.d.);
In 2006 - 731,000 (0.3%) of the national population reported use during that month.
In 2012 – 440,000 (0.2%) of the national population reported use during that month. This is a decrease from 2006
In 2012 – approximately 1.2 million (0.4%) of the national population reported using that year.
School aged usage:
In 2012 – Monitoring the Future (MTF) reported a decrease in the use of 10th – 12th graders, but no change in the 8th graders use.
By 2012 – 133,000 new users were reported ages 12 and older
In 2012 – the average age of new users is 19.7 years old.
Emergency room visits due to methamphetamine use:
In 2004 – 132,576 Emergency room visits
In 2011 - 103,000 there was a decrease of around 29,576iii
Methamphetamine (MA) is a derivative of amphetamine, which was prescribed in the 1950s and 1960s mainly as a treatment for depression and obesity, it reached its highest in the U.S. in 1967 with 31 million prescriptions ("Journal of," n.d.).
Child abuse and neglect have been substantiated through Child Protective Services; the neglect of a small child has shown that it may cause irreversible developmental damage. To date, research indicates that chronic methamphetamine use can lead to unemployment, homelessness, arrest and incarceration, serious physical and mental health problems, and child welfare involvement or termination of parental rights (Gonzales R, Marinelli-Casey P, Shoptaw S, Ang A, Rawson R).
Denzil van Wyk, a community activist and lay preacher in the fishing resort of Hout Bay to the south of Cape Town says "It is ruining a lot of families". He also stated that he knows many women who have started taking Tik because of the weight loss effect and hoping for the extra energy. He has even visited the homes stripped of curtains and even cutlery as once respectable families try to find ways to finance their drug habit Kapp, C. (2008).
Programs for the prevention of drug use and sale
In 1986 the DEA established the Demand Reduction Program (DRP), this program uses a three tiered program/concept. One concept is that the juvenile brain does not fully develop in the area of judgment until they are around 25 years old, so it’s very important to not let teens do drugs. Another concept is that if youths feel that drugs are dangerous they are less likely to try to use them. Then lastly, the longer a child waits to do drugs we see a less likelihood of substance abuse disorder. The DEA also maintains two websites that are designed to provide the fact on the dangers of drug use and side effects. The website www.justthinktwice.com and www.GetSmartAboutDrugs.com are full of helpful information for the youth as well as the parents and caregivers ("Dea United States," n.d.). The DEA have programs such as Cannabis Eradication, Clandestine Drug Laboratory Cleanup, Diversion Control/Demand Reduction, and the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA), all of these programs have one thing in common, the removal of drugs from the mainstream society ("Dea United States," n.d.). The Office of Diversion Control has set up a national prescription drug take back program, this program will dispose of any unused or unneeded prescription medications, instead of us flushing the old and unneeded drugs down the drain or in the trash and end up contaminating our water supply and grounds we can get rid of them safely.
The program “Be under your own influence” has been adopted by a school in Columbus, Ohio, and the Office of Drug Control Policy adopted a similar program called “Above the Influence” (Grabmeier). In the community with the “Be under your own influence” volunteers provided posters to local businesses and organizations, organized anti-drug events, and provided information to the local media, with the goal of reinforcing the in-school communication efforts of the two local schools. Of course there is the D.A.R.E. Program (D.A.R.E., 2013); this program has been very influential in the younger children’s lives.
Police have been actively hunting drugs and the ones who sell, grow, transport and buy them. The state task force allied with the Inland Crackdown task force and were able to arrest 4 suspected members of the Mexican cartel La Familia Michoacanna as well as approximately 107 pounds of methamphetamine, five kilos of cocaine, and a half pound of heroin with the combined street value of $5,916,800 according to authorities ("Daily Bulletin Drug," n.d.).
Prescription Drug Abuse
Prescription drugs are one of the highest abused and sold drugs in our schools, we have Doctors who will write a prescription for and to anyone, and this can cause an abuse problem with the patients and the members of a family who are involved. Prescription drugs are the second most commonly abused category of drug being abused ahead of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and some other drugs. It is estimated that nearly 20% of people in the United States have used prescription drugs in a context other than prescribed. ("Perscription Drug," n.d.)
From 1999 – 2010, the amount of opioid narcotics that have been prescribed by doctors has tripled and the narcotics prescriptions for children has doubled since the1990’s. In 2011 there was enough hydrocodone prescribed to medicate every American around the clock for a month ("Viewpoint: Are," n.d.) .
This is a small summary of - Illegal drug distribution can involve many different types of distribution/delivery, Doctors writing prescriptions for un-needed medicines, selling or trading prescription drugs to others for money or an equivalent trade. Drug dealers in this country are distributors of illegal drugs and have no real care of the problems that they cause or the damage to our bodies and those of our children.
DEA’s financial budget
The DEA’s annual budget is $2.87 billion for FY 2012. From FY 2005 through FY 2012, the DEA stripped drug trafficking organizations of approximately $21.5 billion in revenues through the seizure of both assets and drugs. The DEA has 226 offices that are organized into 21 different divisions around the United States.
Strategies to be used
The DEA has a vision on how they will attack the problem of drug trafficking; they will attack the financial infrastructure, if they can cripple the money traffic it will make it very difficult for the drug dealers to continue trading. In order for the money to get where the dealers and cartels want it to go they will have to employ a more risky plan in order to take the money over the borders. Disrupt and dismantle the major drug trafficking supply organizations and their networks, including organizations that use drug trafficking earnings to fund terror in the States. By improving the collecting and sharing of intelligence to predict changes in trafficking trends, to identify all components of the major drug supply organizations, as well as supporting counterterrorism. Strengthen partnerships with our domestic and foreign law enforcement counterparts to maximize the impact of our worldwide operations. Prevent the diversion of pharmaceutical controlled substance and listed chemicals from legitimate channels including the Internet, while ensuring an adequate and constant supply. ("Dea Factsheet," 2013)
Some statistics on the amount of success in the fight on drug use that are found in the Successes in the Fight against Drugs; Impact on Demand (2000 through 2012) are listed below (Drug Enforcement Administration, 2013) Teen drug use: It is estimated that more than 750,000 fewer teenagers used illicit drugs last year than in 2000, a 17 percent decline.
Marijuana: Current marijuana use by teens has dropped seven percent. Methamphetamine: Current methamphetamine use by teens has plummeted 67 percent.
Ecstasy: Current use of Ecstasy has been slashed by 42 percent among teens.
Cocaine: Current cocaine use among high school seniors has dropped 48 percent, and crack cocaine use has decreased 40 percent.
Steroids: Steroid use by teens has dropped by 44 percent.
LSD: LSD use has dropped by an astounding 64 percent.
Workplace drug use: Drug use among workers remains overall at its lowest level in nearly 25 years. Since 1988, positive drug tests have fallen by nearly 75 percent, from 13.6 percent in 1988 to 3.5 percent in 2012.
Cocaine use among workers: Cocaine use among America 's general workforce continues and has declined by about 40 percent between 2008 and 2012.
Environment Effects
Pharmaceuticals have been detected in surface waters, these come primarily from patient use. Small amounts of medicines pass through the body without being metabolized completely and make their way to surface waters through the municipal wastewater treatment system. In addition, people in the past have flushed unused or expired medications, or poured them down the drain. At one time, flushing was believed to be the safest way to dispose of medicine. Flushing medications were thought to protect children and pets from accidental ingestion of unused medication and decreased the chance of the medications being misused. There is a new technology that is capable of detecting small concentration of chemical waste, including small amounts of pharmaceuticals. These studies have shown municipal wastewater treatment facilities do not remove miniscule amounts of pharmaceutical waste and their by-products. However, studies do show that these trace amounts have no significant risk to our health.
When pills are just thrown in the trash, it can lead to unplanned exposure to people or animals. People may go through the trash to get hold of unused medications or personal information found in redundant prescription bottles. This is called "Dumpster diving." Moreover, if trash is not securely closed, scavenging animals may accidentally eat discarded medicines along with the food they find in the garbage or in a landfill. Also, trash occasionally spills, allowing loose pills to reach the environment where they could pose a risk to fish and wildlife. The extra steps recommend, including removal of personal information from medication containers, provide a safer method of disposing of unused or expired medications ("Smarxt Disposal," n.d.).
Physical dangers of prolonged use
When people take meth for long periods of time they will start to see changes in their bodies, teeth start to go bad, their looks go downhill ("The deadly effects," 2013) , and their cognitive abilities become dulled. The effects of using meth are said to be an instant rush, and then a feeling of euphoria that can last as long as 12 hours and it is the result of drug causing the brain to release excessive amounts of the chemical dopamine, a neurotransmitter that controls pleasure. The main problem with this is that it takes more and more to be able to withstand that initial feeling. This in turn causes detrimental destruction of the physical body and the addicts mental abilities. These are just some of the results of the use of meth, several other issues would be, Increased heart rate, Disorganized lifestyle, Lowered resistance to illness, Liver damage, Convulsions, Extreme rise in body temperature, which can cause brain damage, Stroke, and even Death ("How meth destroys," 2011) . There is a great deal more information can be found at this site, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/meth/body/#4
References
Daily Bulletin Drug Cartels. (n.d.). Retrieved October 12, 2013, from www.dailinnybulletin.com/ general-news/ 20131009/ 107-pounds-of-meth-seized-in-fontana-bloomington-drug-bust
D.A.R.E. (2013, May 20). Drug abuse trends change – dare america responds. Retrieved from http://www.dare.org/drug-abuse-trends-change-dare-america-responds/
DEA United States Drug Enforcement Agency. (n.d.). Retrieved October 9, 2013, from www.justice.gov/ dea/ prevention/ overview.shtml
Gonzales R, Marinelli-Casey P, Shoptaw S, Ang A, Rawson R. Hepatitis C virus infection among methamphetamine-dependent individuals in outpatient treatment. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment. 2006;31:195–202.
Grabmeier, J. (n.d.). National anti-drug campaign succeeds in lowering marijuana use, study suggests. Retrieved from http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/aboveinfluence.htm
How meth destroys the body. (2011, May 17). Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/meth/body/
Journal of Psychoactive Drug. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.search.proquest.com/ docview/ 207957841/
Kapp, C. (2008). Crystal meth boom adds to South Africa 's health challenges. The Lancet, 371 (9608), 193-4. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/198990043?accountid=27655
Methamphetamine: Abuse and Addiction. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.drugabuse.gov/ publications/ research-reports/ methamphetamine-abuse-addiction/
Methamphetamines. (n.d.). In Encyclopedia Yahoo Education. Retrieved September 28, 2013, from www.education.yahoo.com/ reference/ encyclopedia/ entry/ X-methamph
Prescription Drug Abuse and Addiction. (n.d.). Retrieved October 10, 2013, from www.crchealth.com/ addiction/ prescription-drug-addictions-2/
SMARxT Disposal. (n.d.). Retrieved October 10, 2013, from www.smarxtdisposal.net
The deadly effects of meth. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/crystalmeth/the-deadly-effects-of-meth.html
Viewpoint: Are Doctors to Blame for Perscription-Drug Abuse? (n.d.). Retrieved October 10, 2013, from deas.time.com/ 2012/ 11/ 26/ viewpoint-prescription-drug-abuse-is-fueled-by-doctors/
By
Elizabeth R. Vaught
Crime Prevention in America
CJ334
Damon Simmons
October 27, 2013
Abstract
In this paper I am investigating the effects of prolonged use of meth, what the effects will be on our bodies and why some continue to use. What are the police doing to stop this epidemic of drug abuse? What programs are they using to help cut down on the use of these drugs? I will give some historical statistics on the drug problems in our nation. I will research and investigate how the law enforcement are tackling the issues of illegal drug distribution, what programs are being used to help curtail this problem as well as how this problem is faced on the boarder and with immigration. …show more content…
I will touch on how disposing drugs in the trash and flushing them will cause pollution to the environment.
CONTENTS
Thesis Statement
In this paper I want to show how the drug problems in our great nation have not gotten any better and how the government has been working to improve this situation.
I am going to look into some historical data and show how the numbers have changed and how far we really need to go before we will see any type of improvement in the amount of victims to illegal drugs. As we know there are several programs out there that concentrate on the removal of unused prescription drugs, but have we put into consideration how we dispose of these medications and what they can do to the environment? I am going to look into how we are affecting our environment and even our own drinking water. This will also involve what happens to our bodies when exposed to illegal drugs for long periods of time and how it not only affects the one using but also the families and the livelihoods of those around …show more content…
them.
Another goal I will work to achieve is to show what programs are in effect and how they work, are they successful? What has the government been doing? These are all things that I have addressed and given my sources for.
Methamphetamine
The area that I want to center my time on will be the issues of methamphetamines, by issues I am referring to the medical use, and the abuse of this drug, as well as the recriminations to our family lives and the impact it has had on the nation as a whole.
The abuse of this drug and all of the other classifications continue today, I will bring to light some of the more devastating effects we see in our families and social life. Methamphetamines are classified by several different types and classifications. Some of these classifications that I found in the Encyclopedia from Yahoo education website are, amphetamine (Benzedrine) , methadone (dextroamphetamine) , ice, methamphetamine (Desoxyn), ("Methamphetamines") The medical use of this drug is very limited and is always prescribed at a lower dose, and never has any refills available. Methamphetamine is classified as a Schedule II drug; this means that the government and DEA must have detailed records of the distribution of this drug at all times.
Some of the common names for methamphetamine include but are not limited to, Batu, Bikers Coffee, Black Beauties, Chalk, Chicken Feed, Crank, Crystal, Glass, Go-Fast, Hiropon, Ice, Meth, Methlies Quick, Poor Man’s Cocaine, Shabu, Shards, Speed, Stove Top, Tina, Trash, Tweak, Uppers, Ventana, Vidrio, Yaba, and Yellow
Bami.
How does methamphetamine affect the body? When we take this drug in small but frequent amounts it can have serious results. Some of these results can include increased periods of wakefulness, hyperactivity, loss of appetite, rapid or irregular heartbeat, and even overheating. High doses can even cause your body temperature to rise to a lethal level that can cause convulsions, memory loss or even heart failureii.
Some statistical information that I was able to gather on the history of abuse of this drug are as follows ("Methemphetamine:," n.d.);
In 2006 - 731,000 (0.3%) of the national population reported use during that month.
In 2012 – 440,000 (0.2%) of the national population reported use during that month. This is a decrease from 2006
In 2012 – approximately 1.2 million (0.4%) of the national population reported using that year.
School aged usage:
In 2012 – Monitoring the Future (MTF) reported a decrease in the use of 10th – 12th graders, but no change in the 8th graders use.
By 2012 – 133,000 new users were reported ages 12 and older
In 2012 – the average age of new users is 19.7 years old.
Emergency room visits due to methamphetamine use:
In 2004 – 132,576 Emergency room visits
In 2011 - 103,000 there was a decrease of around 29,576iii
Methamphetamine (MA) is a derivative of amphetamine, which was prescribed in the 1950s and 1960s mainly as a treatment for depression and obesity, it reached its highest in the U.S. in 1967 with 31 million prescriptions ("Journal of," n.d.).
Child abuse and neglect have been substantiated through Child Protective Services; the neglect of a small child has shown that it may cause irreversible developmental damage. To date, research indicates that chronic methamphetamine use can lead to unemployment, homelessness, arrest and incarceration, serious physical and mental health problems, and child welfare involvement or termination of parental rights (Gonzales R, Marinelli-Casey P, Shoptaw S, Ang A, Rawson R).
Denzil van Wyk, a community activist and lay preacher in the fishing resort of Hout Bay to the south of Cape Town says "It is ruining a lot of families". He also stated that he knows many women who have started taking Tik because of the weight loss effect and hoping for the extra energy. He has even visited the homes stripped of curtains and even cutlery as once respectable families try to find ways to finance their drug habit Kapp, C. (2008).
Programs for the prevention of drug use and sale
In 1986 the DEA established the Demand Reduction Program (DRP), this program uses a three tiered program/concept. One concept is that the juvenile brain does not fully develop in the area of judgment until they are around 25 years old, so it’s very important to not let teens do drugs. Another concept is that if youths feel that drugs are dangerous they are less likely to try to use them. Then lastly, the longer a child waits to do drugs we see a less likelihood of substance abuse disorder. The DEA also maintains two websites that are designed to provide the fact on the dangers of drug use and side effects. The website www.justthinktwice.com and www.GetSmartAboutDrugs.com are full of helpful information for the youth as well as the parents and caregivers ("Dea United States," n.d.). The DEA have programs such as Cannabis Eradication, Clandestine Drug Laboratory Cleanup, Diversion Control/Demand Reduction, and the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA), all of these programs have one thing in common, the removal of drugs from the mainstream society ("Dea United States," n.d.). The Office of Diversion Control has set up a national prescription drug take back program, this program will dispose of any unused or unneeded prescription medications, instead of us flushing the old and unneeded drugs down the drain or in the trash and end up contaminating our water supply and grounds we can get rid of them safely.
The program “Be under your own influence” has been adopted by a school in Columbus, Ohio, and the Office of Drug Control Policy adopted a similar program called “Above the Influence” (Grabmeier). In the community with the “Be under your own influence” volunteers provided posters to local businesses and organizations, organized anti-drug events, and provided information to the local media, with the goal of reinforcing the in-school communication efforts of the two local schools. Of course there is the D.A.R.E. Program (D.A.R.E., 2013); this program has been very influential in the younger children’s lives.
Police have been actively hunting drugs and the ones who sell, grow, transport and buy them. The state task force allied with the Inland Crackdown task force and were able to arrest 4 suspected members of the Mexican cartel La Familia Michoacanna as well as approximately 107 pounds of methamphetamine, five kilos of cocaine, and a half pound of heroin with the combined street value of $5,916,800 according to authorities ("Daily Bulletin Drug," n.d.).
Prescription Drug Abuse
Prescription drugs are one of the highest abused and sold drugs in our schools, we have Doctors who will write a prescription for and to anyone, and this can cause an abuse problem with the patients and the members of a family who are involved. Prescription drugs are the second most commonly abused category of drug being abused ahead of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and some other drugs. It is estimated that nearly 20% of people in the United States have used prescription drugs in a context other than prescribed. ("Perscription Drug," n.d.)
From 1999 – 2010, the amount of opioid narcotics that have been prescribed by doctors has tripled and the narcotics prescriptions for children has doubled since the1990’s. In 2011 there was enough hydrocodone prescribed to medicate every American around the clock for a month ("Viewpoint: Are," n.d.) .
This is a small summary of - Illegal drug distribution can involve many different types of distribution/delivery, Doctors writing prescriptions for un-needed medicines, selling or trading prescription drugs to others for money or an equivalent trade. Drug dealers in this country are distributors of illegal drugs and have no real care of the problems that they cause or the damage to our bodies and those of our children.
DEA’s financial budget
The DEA’s annual budget is $2.87 billion for FY 2012. From FY 2005 through FY 2012, the DEA stripped drug trafficking organizations of approximately $21.5 billion in revenues through the seizure of both assets and drugs. The DEA has 226 offices that are organized into 21 different divisions around the United States.
Strategies to be used
The DEA has a vision on how they will attack the problem of drug trafficking; they will attack the financial infrastructure, if they can cripple the money traffic it will make it very difficult for the drug dealers to continue trading. In order for the money to get where the dealers and cartels want it to go they will have to employ a more risky plan in order to take the money over the borders. Disrupt and dismantle the major drug trafficking supply organizations and their networks, including organizations that use drug trafficking earnings to fund terror in the States. By improving the collecting and sharing of intelligence to predict changes in trafficking trends, to identify all components of the major drug supply organizations, as well as supporting counterterrorism. Strengthen partnerships with our domestic and foreign law enforcement counterparts to maximize the impact of our worldwide operations. Prevent the diversion of pharmaceutical controlled substance and listed chemicals from legitimate channels including the Internet, while ensuring an adequate and constant supply. ("Dea Factsheet," 2013)
Some statistics on the amount of success in the fight on drug use that are found in the Successes in the Fight against Drugs; Impact on Demand (2000 through 2012) are listed below (Drug Enforcement Administration, 2013) Teen drug use: It is estimated that more than 750,000 fewer teenagers used illicit drugs last year than in 2000, a 17 percent decline.
Marijuana: Current marijuana use by teens has dropped seven percent. Methamphetamine: Current methamphetamine use by teens has plummeted 67 percent.
Ecstasy: Current use of Ecstasy has been slashed by 42 percent among teens.
Cocaine: Current cocaine use among high school seniors has dropped 48 percent, and crack cocaine use has decreased 40 percent.
Steroids: Steroid use by teens has dropped by 44 percent.
LSD: LSD use has dropped by an astounding 64 percent.
Workplace drug use: Drug use among workers remains overall at its lowest level in nearly 25 years. Since 1988, positive drug tests have fallen by nearly 75 percent, from 13.6 percent in 1988 to 3.5 percent in 2012.
Cocaine use among workers: Cocaine use among America 's general workforce continues and has declined by about 40 percent between 2008 and 2012.
Environment Effects
Pharmaceuticals have been detected in surface waters, these come primarily from patient use. Small amounts of medicines pass through the body without being metabolized completely and make their way to surface waters through the municipal wastewater treatment system. In addition, people in the past have flushed unused or expired medications, or poured them down the drain. At one time, flushing was believed to be the safest way to dispose of medicine. Flushing medications were thought to protect children and pets from accidental ingestion of unused medication and decreased the chance of the medications being misused. There is a new technology that is capable of detecting small concentration of chemical waste, including small amounts of pharmaceuticals. These studies have shown municipal wastewater treatment facilities do not remove miniscule amounts of pharmaceutical waste and their by-products. However, studies do show that these trace amounts have no significant risk to our health.
When pills are just thrown in the trash, it can lead to unplanned exposure to people or animals. People may go through the trash to get hold of unused medications or personal information found in redundant prescription bottles. This is called "Dumpster diving." Moreover, if trash is not securely closed, scavenging animals may accidentally eat discarded medicines along with the food they find in the garbage or in a landfill. Also, trash occasionally spills, allowing loose pills to reach the environment where they could pose a risk to fish and wildlife. The extra steps recommend, including removal of personal information from medication containers, provide a safer method of disposing of unused or expired medications ("Smarxt Disposal," n.d.).
Physical dangers of prolonged use
When people take meth for long periods of time they will start to see changes in their bodies, teeth start to go bad, their looks go downhill ("The deadly effects," 2013) , and their cognitive abilities become dulled. The effects of using meth are said to be an instant rush, and then a feeling of euphoria that can last as long as 12 hours and it is the result of drug causing the brain to release excessive amounts of the chemical dopamine, a neurotransmitter that controls pleasure. The main problem with this is that it takes more and more to be able to withstand that initial feeling. This in turn causes detrimental destruction of the physical body and the addicts mental abilities. These are just some of the results of the use of meth, several other issues would be, Increased heart rate, Disorganized lifestyle, Lowered resistance to illness, Liver damage, Convulsions, Extreme rise in body temperature, which can cause brain damage, Stroke, and even Death ("How meth destroys," 2011) . There is a great deal more information can be found at this site, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/meth/body/#4
References
Daily Bulletin Drug Cartels. (n.d.). Retrieved October 12, 2013, from www.dailinnybulletin.com/ general-news/ 20131009/ 107-pounds-of-meth-seized-in-fontana-bloomington-drug-bust
D.A.R.E. (2013, May 20). Drug abuse trends change – dare america responds. Retrieved from http://www.dare.org/drug-abuse-trends-change-dare-america-responds/
DEA United States Drug Enforcement Agency. (n.d.). Retrieved October 9, 2013, from www.justice.gov/ dea/ prevention/ overview.shtml
Gonzales R, Marinelli-Casey P, Shoptaw S, Ang A, Rawson R. Hepatitis C virus infection among methamphetamine-dependent individuals in outpatient treatment. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment. 2006;31:195–202.
Grabmeier, J. (n.d.). National anti-drug campaign succeeds in lowering marijuana use, study suggests. Retrieved from http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/aboveinfluence.htm
How meth destroys the body. (2011, May 17). Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/meth/body/
Journal of Psychoactive Drug. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.search.proquest.com/ docview/ 207957841/
Kapp, C. (2008). Crystal meth boom adds to South Africa 's health challenges. The Lancet, 371 (9608), 193-4. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/198990043?accountid=27655
Methamphetamine: Abuse and Addiction. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.drugabuse.gov/ publications/ research-reports/ methamphetamine-abuse-addiction/
Methamphetamines. (n.d.). In Encyclopedia Yahoo Education. Retrieved September 28, 2013, from www.education.yahoo.com/ reference/ encyclopedia/ entry/ X-methamph
Prescription Drug Abuse and Addiction. (n.d.). Retrieved October 10, 2013, from www.crchealth.com/ addiction/ prescription-drug-addictions-2/
SMARxT Disposal. (n.d.). Retrieved October 10, 2013, from www.smarxtdisposal.net
The deadly effects of meth. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/crystalmeth/the-deadly-effects-of-meth.html
Viewpoint: Are Doctors to Blame for Perscription-Drug Abuse? (n.d.). Retrieved October 10, 2013, from deas.time.com/ 2012/ 11/ 26/ viewpoint-prescription-drug-abuse-is-fueled-by-doctors/