Interview with a Drug Addict Essay Example
Interview Paper
Many social stigmas are associated with drug use within our society. At one point in my life I shared the negative connotations associated to drug abuse with the vast majority of the population of this country and the society in which I live. As I matured and began forming my own opinions based on several personal experiences, I began to disagree with the believed norm that drugs are bad for our society. They are a means of escape for some just the same as alcohol and tobacco is for millions of others in this country. Those legal substances are just as bad for your body and habit forming as other illegal substances. Why do so many people frown on those of us who need our help? Drug addiction is a disease yet it’s treated like a crime, does the way that we as a society treat drug use perpetuate the disease?
I always wondered what drives people to become addicted to a substance like crack or heroin. What factors in their life take them down such an abusive path? Is it stress or peer pressure or is it a lack of education. I hope to find the answers to these questions and more in the pages that follow. In a 2007 survey conducted by the U.S Department of Health and Human Services 3.4% of those individuals reported having tried crack cocaine at least once in their lives. Of all the Black and African Americans surveyed 5.7% percent reported having tried the substance at least once in their lives. According to the U.S. census beaureau 9% of all families in this country are in poverty, 21.8% of those families are African American Families. Crime drugs and poverty are almost always associated with minorities in this country. In a 1997 prison survey 57% percent of all inmates admitted having been under the influence of an illegal substance in the months prior to their arrest and conviction. Of the more than five million people in jail at the time over two million of those individuals were black. Drug crimes in America account for one third
Many social stigmas are associated with drug use within our society. At one point in my life I shared the negative connotations associated to drug abuse with the vast majority of the population of this country and the society in which I live. As I matured and began forming my own opinions based on several personal experiences, I began to disagree with the believed norm that drugs are bad for our society. They are a means of escape for some just the same as alcohol and tobacco is for millions of others in this country. Those legal substances are just as bad for your body and habit forming as other illegal substances. Why do so many people frown on those of us who need our help? Drug addiction is a disease yet it’s treated like a crime, does the way that we as a society treat drug use perpetuate the disease?
I always wondered what drives people to become addicted to a substance like crack or heroin. What factors in their life take them down such an abusive path? Is it stress or peer pressure or is it a lack of education. I hope to find the answers to these questions and more in the pages that follow. In a 2007 survey conducted by the U.S Department of Health and Human Services 3.4% of those individuals reported having tried crack cocaine at least once in their lives. Of all the Black and African Americans surveyed 5.7% percent reported having tried the substance at least once in their lives. According to the U.S. census beaureau 9% of all families in this country are in poverty, 21.8% of those families are African American Families. Crime drugs and poverty are almost always associated with minorities in this country. In a 1997 prison survey 57% percent of all inmates admitted having been under the influence of an illegal substance in the months prior to their arrest and conviction. Of the more than five million people in jail at the time over two million of those individuals were black. Drug crimes in America account for one third