Drugs and Their Impact on Poverty

There are many ways in which the drug problem impacts poverty. The most obvious way drug use impacts poverty is through the fact that drugs are addictive and an addict will do anything to get their drugs. A drug addict will spend their life savings on drugs once all of their money is gone they may then resort to criminal activities such as robbery in order to satisfy their growing habit. This drastically contributes to the issue of poverty because not only is the drug addict in poverty but the victim being robbed is also suffering financially. Crime is closely related to drugs because first of all drugs are a crime whether or not they are used for personal purposes or with intent to sell.

An extremely important issue is the fact that drug users resort to crime but also that the dealers of these drugs are using their profits in illegitimate ways. This affects the economy in a negative sense because the money that the drug dealers are spending on guns, foreign items, and on non taxable merchandise is money that is not going back into the American economy. That issue contributes to poverty because the government is now unable to use those funds to benefit the financially unstable population of the country that need financial assistance such as welfare and other governmental programs. Without those programs the poor will certainly be unable to climb out of poverty which will most likely result in their children living in poverty and also in some cases their children's children.

Poverty and drug abuse are definitely problems that go hand in hand. People resort to drug use and abuse to escape reality. However, there is evidence that poverty is a considerable risk factor for drug abuse and vice versa. Drug addicts generally use all, or a large portion of house-hold income to buy drugs. Depending upon how expensive the substance, it is a costly hole in one's pocket especially just entering the real world. To be exact, "Of the forty five thousand addicts in Baltimore the average cost of supporting themselves and their habit is about one billion dollars per year" (Berger 9-11). Another such consequence is the lifestyle of the addict and the people living with him or her. Drug abusers are more often absent from work or work less productively, which can subsequently lead to loss of employment and income. Dependence on a substance frequently leads to criminal behavior and resorting, in some cases, to prostitution.

When taken, drugs dull the senses and generally relax the user. This makes a person extremely unmotivated to work and live a productive life. Eventually, it seems the user's only motive for living is to get more drugs. After a while of not working the money is all spent and the person is left poor and wanting drugs. At this point it is difficult for the person to get a job because drugs consume their entire lifestyle. They may now apply for governmental programs designed to help the poor and less fortunate. The only problem is that they are taking money from individuals like single parent mothers that actually need the money to survive on a day to day basis. The drug addict is wasting these programs on themselves because they would not need the programs and would not be poor if they got off drugs. It seems as though drug use is a vicious cycle and it affects more than the user and their family.

Once addicted to drugs; "the recovery from addiction or dependencies is not an event but a process" (Eldredge 172). This statement is true because once addicted to drugs it may take a lifetime to loose dependency on the substance. Even after going into rehab for a year or more it is very difficult when they return home, to stay away from drugs because they are everywhere, especially in a former drug addict's life. They consume a person's life and it is a huge test of self control for a past user to completely get rid of their destructive habit. Even if a person stays in a center that provides assistance to drug addicts for a year, the success rate that the person will stay off drugs is 60 percent. That figure is neither good nor bad, but the other 40 percent that go back to drugs are in trouble. It seems as though once on drugs