1 preventing and reducing alcoholism and drug abuse
- In all the attention and effort that is employed on preventing and reducing alcoholism and drug abuse, little attention is ever paid to extenuating circumstances that often are a key incentive to whether an individual grows to become an addict or not.
- Curbing drug addiction in our communities will need more than just arrest and stiffer punishments. Our communities need to get hold of the circumstances around this modern-day addiction trap.
- There is no miracle solution; no one-size-fits-all approach that is going to magically stop drug use and alcoholism in our communities.
2
- These programs are meant to address risk and protective factors that are common to all children in a community.
- In this pursuing this direction, it’s vital to;
- Provide education on drug abuse
- Promote and encourage such programs as Guiding Good Choices (CGC)
Notes
Decisions that empower individuals to make healthy decisions is important in preventing and reducing drug abuse.
Teaching individuals, especially the youth, about the various risks associated with drug abuse is essential. The community can longer relax and hope the individuals will understand the extent of the effect of drug abuse from the internet and friends.
Family is still the strongest social unit in communities; hence, parents should teach their kids about the dangers of drug abuse.
As an activist group, there is a need to promote and encourage more teaching in schools and families about drug abuse.
3
- Unlike the universal programs, the selective programs are designed for groups of children and young adults that have specific factors that put them at increased risk of abusing drugs.
- The selective factors target such groups as;
- Teenagers in their adolescence
- Children/teenagers in unstable families
- Children/teenagers in drug-infested neighborhoods
Notes
The idea with the selective programs is to get ahead of the curve and prevent vulnerable teenagers and children from abusing drugs.
The selective programs are overly preventive and seek to understand how best children and young adults that are approaching stages in their lives that have increased potential for drug abuse can be assisted and encouraged to make the right choices. Education can still continue to be used as a quality measure to prevent drug abuse.
4
- The indicated programs are designed for children and young adults that have already started to use drugs.
- The indicated programs encourage;
- Reimagining Treatment
- Reintegration
Notes
Reimagining treatment
People dealing with drug and alcohol addiction are among the highest cost-users in the health system due to longer and frequent visitation and hospitalization.
There is a need for states’ advocacy to improve support and resources for primary care practices that receive and treat drug abusers.
This would make treatment affordable, feasible, and encourage the addicts to come forward, knowing they will receive all the necessary treatment.
The treatment needs to include follow up services like counseling and therapy programs.
Reintegration
This process is often the most under-appreciated form of preventing drug abuse and promoting health decisions.
To facilitate drug addicts back into their communities there is a prime need to address such issues as;
Vocational training
Employment and
Housing
Such issues as housing, employment, and vocational training, act as support structures that help promote abstinence from drugs and reintegrate those former addicts into the community.
5
- Many drug addicts are afraid of coming forward because the current system is structured in a way that encourages people to be sent to jail.
- There is a need for change from the current punishment oriented system to a rehabilitation oriented system.
- Drug abusers need to feel safe and no sense of shame seeking help.
- There is a need to advocate for reforms in the judicial system to dissuade every other drug abuser from being sent to jail or prison.
Notes
The zero-tolerance approach tends to stigmatize, criminalize, and marginalize those individuals using drugs, not minding some of those are children and teenagers who might be exposed to drug abuse due to such factors as peer pressure. Incarcerating the teenagers tends to overlook the fact that most drug abusers, when exposed to the right programs, can change. The current system views those using drugs as irredeemable and without a future.
6
- When a young person struggles with drug abuse, the whole community bleeds.
- The approach to drug abuse should be multifaceted, educating the whole community on what drug abuse is, targeting those that are t most risk of drug abuse, and creating measures to deal with those that have already gotten hooked up on drugs without dissuading them or demeaning their efforts to be clean.
- Drug and alcohol abuse is a matter of doing more than addressing the immediate drug problem; it’s bringing the community together to deal with a common problem with the potential to affect just about anyone.