Past and Current Trends

Past and Current Trends

Drugs and alcohol have played a role in American society for many years. There is, however, a wider variety of drugs available today than ever before and with this wider variety there comes a wider range of addictive qualities and health related risks that individuals who take these drugs are subjected. Habit forming drugs were introduced into American society as far back as the 1700's. These drugs were widely used for "medicinal" purposes without any knowledge of their addictive properties and the health risks involved with taking them. One such drug, Laudanum, a drug containing opium, was widely available in the 1700's and in the 1800's there were many products readily available that contained ingredients such as cocaine, morphine, and/or heroine. These drugs and others were considered miracle drugs when first introduced and were given to infants and children, as well as being used by adults. When these drugs were first introduced they were more than just legal, they were commonplace.

Past and Current Trends

Before you can analyze the trends in drug abuse you must look at the reasons why individuals use drugs and thus the reasons behind the abuse. Individuals use drugs to reduce tension and anxiety, to escape from stress, and to cope with the problems of day-to-day life. Other known reasons, especially in teenagers, include peer pressure, family problems, and curiosity. Due to the increase in these factors the current drug trend for illegal drug use is on the rise.

In an article written in the Journal of Drug Issues, the writers state that "...results from the Monitoring the Future Program, which surveys 8th, 10th, and 12th graders, reported that methamphetamine use has doubled in the last decade." While this article only speaks of methamphetamine use teenagers have increased their use of other drugs as well. This increase in teenage drug use indicates that peer pressure is strong, family problems have heightened, and curiosity to experiment with drugs has risen. Unfortunately, in a society where economic class, popularity, good looks, and the student's learning or athletic ability are often the markers for success more undue stress is being placed on teenagers than ever before. Thus society has unwittingly supported an increase in drug use not only among teenagers, but adults as well.

Another trend that is currently on the rise is prescription drug abuse. According to Kenneth D. Tunnell in his article The Oxycontin Epidemic And Crime Panic In Rural Kentucky, "The prescription drug abuse problem has steadily increased during the past three decades. Drug use continues to be the number one concern in Kentucky law enforcement"

Tunnell goes on to say, "OxyContin abuse is a highly localized problem requiring specific interpretations. Probable explanations for OxyContin abuse within rural eastern Kentucky include: prescription drug use is a culturally entrenched phenomenon; Kentucky leads the nation in prescription drug use, in part because the state has the fourth highest cancer rate in the nation; Kentucky has an above-average older population that uses prescription drugs; Kentucky's higher levels of chronic 245 illnesses and debilitating diseases contribute to increasing numbers of pharmaceutical prescriptions and addictions; prescription fraud largely has been ignored by medical, academic, and legal communities; OxyContin is a very powerful drug whose design makes it easy to abuse; and Purdue Pharma aggressively promoted OxyContin."

According to the article Projecting And Monitoring The Life Course Of The Marijuana/Blunts Generation, "Clearly there are wide variations in rates and types of crime among and within cities and local neighborhoods that are related to alcohol availability and use as well as cocaine (and other drug) use. Given the complex and varied associations between crime and drugs across sites, intervention approaches need to be tailored to the nature of the problem in specific locales." The crimes most commonly associated with drug use are illegal drug trafficking, theft, and murder. Drug users frequently turn to theft in order to maintain their supply of drugs or they begin to sale drugs to supply their habit.

The following excerpt from the article Drugs, Violence and Economics by David Friedman shows the correlation between violent crimes, such as murder, and drugs. Friedman states, "Broadly speaking, the link between drugs and violent crime could occur in three ways: violent crime by consumers of drugs, violent crime associated with the production and distribution of drugs, or violent crime directly associated with the attempt to enforce