The Cost Of Substance Abuse In Canada Case Study

In Canada, the amount of illegal drugs on the street increased by 89% in the last 10 years and expenditure from illegal drug sales are over $7 billion dollars annually. It is no doubt that Canada is in the midst of a war on drugs, but is Canada’s current approach working? In 2011, the mandatory minimum sentencing for drug possession doubled, and didn’t include legislation for those special circumstances, such a mental illness.

Canada’s Drug Strategy (CDS) is an initiative controlled by the Canadian federal government that emerged in 1987. The CDS addresses the many harmful effects substance use can have on not only an individual but families and communities as well. The CDS believes that substance abuse has a negative impact on health, social life, safety and economic conditions. The CDS has four pillars: prevention, treatment, harm reduction and enforcement. The program attempts to solve the issue of substance abuse by decreasing the popularity of harmful drug use, the number of Canadian youth experimenting with drugs, the frequency of contagious diseases related to substance abuse, the illicit drug supply, new and emerging drug trends, avoidable health, social

Substance-related disorders: these can be mainly drug or alcohol related it when people are addicted to these substances

People today are blinded by the clouds of drugs. Just within the 2015 year over, 47 thousand Canadians deaths were linked to substance abuse. Canadians are aware of the dangers connected to taking part in this practice, however, we do not want to accept it.

There has shown no decline since 2012 in use of the six illicit drugs (cannabis, cocaine or crack, speed, ecstasy, hallucinogens or heroin) as well as no decline in the five illicit drugs (cocaine or crack, speed, ecstasy, hallucinogens or heroin) (“Summary of results for 2013 CTADS”). We aren’t preventing and recovering fast enough, and just as many people how are recovering are starting to use. 23% of youths 15-19 and 27% of young adults 20-24 are users of illicit drugs (“Summary of results for 2013 CTADS”). This means that there is a high amount of youths that are taking drugs. Along with the drug problem in Canada, we also have a major problem with alcohol. 76% of Canadians report using alcohol in the past year (“Summary of results for 2013 CTADS”). 60% of youths aged 15-19 and 83% of young adults aged 20-24 have reported alcohol use(“Summary of results for 2013 CTADS”). Teen are using drugs and alcohol from a young age giving them a high chance to become alcohol dependent from a younger age. Showing drugs and alcohol abuse is a major problem in Canada among the younger

Substance abuse involving drugs, alcohol, or both is linked with a variety of negative social conditions, including family disturbances, monetary problems, lost output, and failure in school, domestic violence, child abuse, and crime. Furthermore, both social attitudes and legal answers to the use of alcohol and illicit drugs make substance abuse one of the most multifaceted public health issues. "Estimates of the total overall costs of substance abuse in the United States, including lost productivity and health- and crime-related costs, exceed $600 billion annually" (Substance Abuse, 2012).

Saskatchewan needs to focus on the “achievement of individual and collective goals consistent with justice, and the attainment and preservation of conditions of fundamental equality” (Feather 250). This can be done through strengthening the community, the improvement of social programs and provider skills, and in empowering our Northern communities (Feather 252). As discussed earlier, Canada focuses on the enforcement of drug and substances rather than on prevention. Social costs by alcohol abuse may have some bearing on what types of programming are available (Adrian 321). Major health concerns and other problems within our communities caused by alcohol become a strain on resources (Global News 2017). Alcohol abuse resulted in 77,000 hospitalizations in Canada in 2016 (Global News 2017). In Saskatchewan, hospitalization rates were 44 per cent higher than the national average (Global News 2017). Instead of spending money on imprisonment and medical costs, the money could instead be spent on prevention and advertising the negative impacts of alcohol consumption. Alcohol has become a major issue in our society cementing the importance of education and communication. In treating alcohol as the primary cause instead of a secondary factor, society can begin the conversation. People need to look within their communities, provinces and country about how alcohol has not only affected them as an individual, but the world that they live

According to Drugs, Society, and Criminal Justice, substance dependence and substance abuse are identified by Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) as two specific behavioral conditions (Levinthal, 2012). It is important to distinguish the difference between substance dependence and substance abuse, as substance dependence is when a person feels compulsive in the continuation of a drug and substance abuse shares the same principles, except the person continues to take the drug with disregard to the negative impacts the drug will cause (Bethel, 2012).

Stevens & Smith (2013) ascertain that alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs have cost $180-$484 billion dollars annually, yet that dollar estimate does not include what damage it causes to the family and victims of substance abuse users. In contrast, research indicates to use caution when deciphering the costs of substance abuse due to new data that is constantly changing (Single, 2009). Furthermore, some associated costs may not be reported because medical community is constantly evolving and potential links to deaths caused by substance abuse is continual (Single, 2009). What cannot be measured is the damage to the substance abuser’s family relationships and friends. The stress the abuser places on their family may also cause more rising health costs that could possibly remain unreported in the overall cost assessment. Literature suggests that approximately one-half of United States citizens reported that up to three family members had firsthand knowledge of someone related to them having a substance abuse problem (Hussaarts, Roozen, Meyers, Van de Wetering, & McCrady, 2012). Additionally, it has been calculated that for every individual with a substance abuse problem, up to five close relatives or friends will be negatively impacted in various life areas (Hussaarts, et. al. 2012). Therefore, there is a dollar amount associated with the effects of substance abuse as well as causing a multitude of problems for the abuser’s

It is ill-fated that numerous individuals within our community and global suffers from the effects of alcohol dependence. There are countless issues linked with this dependence and several times it’s not solitary the object that deals with the habit but also the individuals in close involvement with the individual.

The alcoholic beverage has remained an established element to society’s social world and has grown into a way of living. As alcohol continues to flourish in its prevalence among citizens of the United States, so does the concept of alcohol addiction. A person becomes addicted to alcohol when they “drink excessively and develops a dependence that results in noticeable mental disturbance, or an interference with bodily and mental health, their interpersonal relations, and their smooth social and economic functioning” (Calahan, 1970, pp. 3). In 2009, the National Institute on Drug Abuse reported that about 52% of Americans used alcohol at least once within 30 days of their survey. As the percentage of Americans who consume alcohol

Drugs are mind altering chemicals that changes the way a person thinks. The effect of the controlled substances alters a person’s mood and perception and has the potential to get people into trouble. Abuse of controlled substances should be treated as a health problem primarily because it changes human behavior. It interferes with an individual’s ability to make well considered decisions. Drug addiction is a brain disease which changes the brains structure and change how it works. Mental illness is associated with the brain. Therefore one can say abuse of controlled substances is a mental health condition that changes a person’s thinking, feelings, or behavior. Addiction is a disease but one of choice and consequences. People who suffer from addiction have medical issues. For example some drugs when abused are toxic and may damage the brain or nervous system, drug abuse and mental illness co-exist.

The disease model: This theory states that an individual who abuses drugs requires medical treatment rather than moral punishment or exhortation. This theory also justifies spending money to research substance abuse in the same way that money is spent to research other diseases. However, usually the term disease is reserved for a state in which we can identify an abnormal biochemical or physical condition. No abnormal biochemical or physical condition has been found in the case of substance addiction, although mounting evidence suggests that some individuals are genetically predisposed to addiction more so than others. Nevertheless, this theory continues to appeal to researchers, and an intensive effort is always being made to identify the physiological “switch” that establishes addiction after exposure to a drug (Lee, 2010).

The abuse of drugs and alcohol has been a growing problem nationwide. This problem usually starts during a person’s teenage years and grows into a vaster problem during a person’s adulthood. In the United States these problems have seem to expand over the years in each coming generation. For instance, a growing problem that the current generation is facing is the use and abuse in prescription drugs. Also, there has been a movement in drugs such as from powder to crack. Additionally, many other issues have been discovered as an effect of this substances being used such as defects in the children of pregnant woman that consumed the substance while pregnant. With an increase of substances there has also been an increase in movements to stop

Substance-related Disorders: Relate to disorders of intoxication, dependence, abuse, and substance withdrawal caused by various