- According to a 2012 National Survey on Drug Use& Health, 23.9 million people reported they had used illicit drugs within 1 month of the survey.
- Emergency room visits for non-medical usage of prescription drugs rose 98.4% from 2004 – 2009.
- From 1998 – 2008, drug overdoses increased 56%.
- According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, there are 23 million addicts in the United States and only 2.6 million ever seek help or treatment.
- 8.4 million people who abuse substances also suffer from at least one mental illness.
Drug addiction is a complex disorder, with mental health issues being just one aspect of the disease. Since treatment for abuse and addiction is delivered using a variety of behavioral and pharmacological approaches, it can be hard to quantify the number of treatment facilities and space available, but the estimate that I could find was that there are 14,500 specialized drug treatment facilities in the United States. 14, 500 may seem like an adequate number until you realize that there are 23 million addicts! Even you are one of the few who seek treatment; you may not be able to afford it. Health coverage doesn’t always adequately cover treatment, which results in shorter stays for many addicts who needs months and maybe even years to fully recover. The Affordable Care Act (commonly referred to as ObamaCare), includes parity of coverage for both mental health and substance abuse problems, which only means the demand for these services could grow even higher, resulting in a continued shortage of treatment facilities.
It’s a tough problem, and one America hasn’t done a great job of solving. We have either taken too harsh of stance – in the case of marijuana, which is still classified as a Schedule I narcotic, along with cocaine and heroin, or we have taken too passive of a stance – as in the case of the “Just Say No!” campaign.
I’m interested in knowing your thoughts. So my question to you this week is, “What do you think can be done to curb America’s drug problem? Do legalizing “lighter” drugs, like marijuana help or hurt the problem? Should health insurance companies be mandated to cover drug rehabilitation stays, or is the individual responsible for their own addiction?” You must answer all questions for full credit. Answers are due no later than Wednesday, March 16, 2016.
I think legalizing "lighter" drugs, like marijuana helps because there is more control over it than it was before. I think it all depends on the case for the insurance companies to cover dug rehabilitation the individuals should have a good reason for the dug use and have evidence that they have a medical issue and not just easily be given to them.
ReplyDeleteLegalizing lighter drugs like marijuana could help it is a not that bad of a drug, there are far more harmful drugs out there. The people who are constantly cracking down on marijuana use should be more concerned about the drugs that kill people. the health insurance companies should be responsible, if you put an addict in charge of their own addiction the results will either be no existent or very harmful, due to the fact that they are not thinking rationally they are thinking like addicts.
ReplyDeleteMore needs to be to done to fully understand addiction. I think the best way for us to combat drug use in America is knowledge. Better use of our funds, better training for our officers, and more understanding of the drug world is a necessity. Legalizing a drug like marijuana frees up an incredible amount of resources to better fight the drugs that are taking lives and are a real epidemic in our communities, such as heroin. If we can make more money off the taxation than we can incarcerating and fining non-violent offenders then why wouldn't we want to reform, tax, and regulate this "lighter" drug? Addiction is a disease. Health insurance should feel obligated to help people recover who are willing to take the necessary steps to at least try to gain their health and control back.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with Eric, we should try to achieve a better understanding of addiction and drugs. I also believe that legalizing some of the lighter drugs like marijuana would free up some of our tax money and we would be able to fight the real drugs (meth, cocaine, etc) in our communities, and by taxing and regulating said lighter drugs we would gain extra tax revenue. I am not sure if that is the only way to curb America's drug problem but its a good start. On the other hand i believe health insurance companies should be responsible to cover the first and maybe second drug rehabilitation stay, but after that it should be the individuals responsibility.
DeleteI dont think we can curb the drugs because when we lock them up they get back out there or they came back in with the outlaws. when it comes to marijuana I say you should smoke it if u want but every work place should to drug texting and if you fail the text you should not be hire because of safe in the work place. my thing is do all the drugs you want, but the minute you do something to hart me or my family i will final changes against everyone. I don't drink or do drugs because i Have seen what happens when you don't say no (Jonathan Hall)
ReplyDeletelegalizing it will not help the drug issues, once you tell ppl that they cannot do something they want to do it more...when you tell them they can do it they do it more...lose lose situation....the US has been fighting drugs for a log time and it has just gotten worse...imo just let ppl OD on it if they must and the problem might lessen...the only thing legalizing it will do is to add more tax revenue and mabye lessen the amount of drugtrafficing across the borders....drug control is a useless quest...
ReplyDeletehonnestly legalizing might help but it could easily bite America back in the butt. Soon everyone might start using and nothing will get done. Plus taxes will go up which means everyone gets to pay for what stupid people are doing. Plus I don't believe in the "lighter" drugs. Their all the same... Making one self feel "good" then wanting more, soon that's all ur body wants then you get hospitalized then other people have to take care of your sorry butt. I think the person is responisable for their own addiction don't help them out if you do all the time, effort and money just goes to the drugs. Let the drug users hit rock bottom and see for themselves just how bad of a situation they got themselves into.
ReplyDeleteI think that we do need to focus more on helping addicts. There is not enough affordable treatment available to them. Most people that are addicts have mental health issues and they can not seek adequate treatment so they turn to self medication. We need to do more research in understanding addiction. I think that part of the drug problem in america is because of this we do not have enough treatment available. I think that legalizing marijuana would free up money that could help fund more treatment facilities. We should help people who are addicts instead of focusing on punishing them.
ReplyDeleteI think The US has been handling the drug problem all wrong. Yes i think we should legalize the "lighter drugs such a marijuana specifically because of the benefits that have shown in states where they are legal. As for hard drugs, the US should not be punishing those with these addiction because they are an addiction. There should better programs aim for those with the addiction to help ween them off their drug habit, where as rehab centers often help in the wrong ways and make the issues worse. I think if the US starts treating this as a health issue rather than a criminal offense, there would be a huge change in this country and I think health insurance companies should cover this.
ReplyDeleteI think legalizing the "lighter" drugs may help the problem. There aren't a lot of crimes involving marijunana (unless its a deal gone bad) I feel as if there are bigger problems in the drug world than marijuana. As far as the insurance companies having to cover rehab and such..I feel it depends on the situation. Every addict is different, not saying they all don't need help but you can't always help someone who doesn't want it.
ReplyDeleteI think legalizing the "lighter" drugs may help the problem. There are crimes involving marijuana sometimes actual bad deals. The insurance companies cover rehab all depends on the situation itself. There are going to be people that need help well others wont accept a helping hand.
ReplyDeleteI too agree that the government should legalize the lighter drugs such as marijunana, also believe that yes insurance should cover rehabilitation stays, I feel this would definitely help family's that cant afford the cost of those fees and later benefit those families lives. I do strongly feel that if a person is addicted to drugs that they have to want to change with in their selves. though may not have the funds to get the full treatment they need to have a full recovery.
ReplyDeleteI think yes, marijuana should be legalized, it would definitely help reduce crime and maybe people wouldn't stray to start doing heavier drugs. Also I think that something we can do for people with drug problem is not immediately lock them up. I think that when we see drug addicts we automatically just look at them as a criminal when there is more we can do to than just lock them up. Because that doesn't help when even though they should can possibly get access to drugs in jail and prison. If we start treating this people as they have a health issue than there would be a lot more positive things that would come out of it, and less negative things like a criminal record.
ReplyDeleteI think that in order to "curb" America's drug addiction problem, we would have to make all drugs illegal. This includes the "lighter" drugs like Marijuana. Marijuana is often viewed as a gateway drug and more often than not, people who start using Marijuana start using other hard drugs like cocaine and heroine. I feel like health insurance companies should not be required to pay for rehabilitation stays, because it is the individual's fault for getting into drugs in the first place. I however, think that it is different if someone is a child and forced to live in a meth house and get addicted without actually doing drugs. I feel like it is the responsibility of the drug addict to pay for their own actions and trying to get clean.
ReplyDeleteI feel like marijuana should be legalized. States that have it legalized have a lower crime rate. I don't belive in any other drug. Ive seen how it can affect friends and family. I feel that the insurance could help out with the rehab but if the person didnt succeed in rehab there should be a fee. Amber Pierre
ReplyDeleteI believe that all drugs should be illegal, lets stop making all these excuses on why it helps people. to me there is nothing good about weed. to curb America's dry problem all drugs should not be legal. health insurance companies should not have to cover rehab, i feel like it's a waste a time. if people want to get clean they will get clean, they din't need a program to help them with it.
ReplyDeleteI think that legalizing mary jane would curb America's drug problem, mary jane is not a bad herb at all. A lot of people function better when they are high, it puts them in a happy place. The US doesn't want weed to be legal because people will be calm and really realize how corrupted the world really is. All of the medications and therapy for illnesses like Alzheimers and depression would go away because mary jane could fix it all! I think insurance companies should provide rehab coverage because it can get pricey and everyone can't afford it so they continue to use the drug. With that being said, it should be a no leave policy stating that if you leave rehab the next time you'll have to pay.
ReplyDeleteI think all of america needs a detox. Regardless if you legalize it or not its still going to be an issue. People usually use drugs to not feel the pain that have hurt them. So I would suggest more thearphy sections and rehabilitation into the issue that caused them pain.
ReplyDelete-Ronasha Paschall
I think all of america needs a detox. Regardless if you legalize it or not its still going to be an issue. People usually use drugs to not feel the pain that have hurt them. So I would suggest more thearphy sections and rehabilitation into the issue that caused them pain.
ReplyDelete-Ronasha Paschall