Drug Abuse

Drug abuse is an issue that our world knows all too well. In December 2010, more the 22.6 million people, age 12 or older, used an illegal drug or some sort in the United States. That works out to be one of every fourteen people used an illegal drug that month according to the United States Department of Health and Human Services. This doesn’t include the amount of prescription drug abuse either. 25% of the deaths in the United States are the result of drugs. It is safe to say this issue is growing.

I will be looking at this problem as if I am a functionalist. Functionalists look at society as an organism. Each part of society has different functions, but can also be dysfunctional, abnormal, or ill. In other words, functionalists see society as intertwined. If one was to think about, say, walking, it takes the movement of bones, tendons, ligaments, and muscles working together. Each has its own function that makes walking possible. This is one easy way to view functionalism.

Some of the most prominent issues that cause illegal drug use include hereditary intake of drugs, disturbed childhood, lack of confidence, peer pressure, and easy access to drugs.

All these lead to drug use at any age. But what exactly is drug use to you? Do you believe alcohol use is drug use? Is the mal-use of prescription drugs drug abuse? Ifs using drugs “every now and again” actually drug use? It is safe to say that everyone’s outlook on drugs differ greatly.

But the real question that stands very apparent to me is what, exactly, causes people to feel the need to use drugs? For some it can be the escape from reality. For others though, it is the income, and home situation they grow up in. This is where a functionalist would break down the problem. Children who grow up in homes where the mother/father relationship is great, income is at least middle class, and the parents care about their children are much less likely to use drugs. This makes sense as the family “functions” like a well-oiled machine. But a child who is brought up in a house of neglect, without a father and/or mother figure, prior drug use by a family member, and is abused or beaten is much more prone to drug abuse. Once again, makes sense. “Dysfunctional” house leads to dysfunctional human beings. When humans are missing “parts” of normalcy, they tend to act out in non-normal way. When all “parts” are present, normalcy will most likely prevail.

Another role that causes drug abuse/use is schooling. From a study done in 2002 by National Survey of Drug Use and Health, kids who dropped out of school were much more likely to abuse drugs than those who stayed in school and graduated. Is this due to the fact that children feel like failures if they drop out? Or is this due to something much larger, like area of schooling? Children who like to learn and value learning enjoy being able to function in a school setting. Children who don’t seem to care or value learning try to just make it through the day, which is a case of dysfunction.

The following is a video of heroin abusers that are so addicted, that it is now their only focus.