Hart is able to connect with readers on the hardships of life and how a single choice can influence your entire life. I originally chose this book to inform myself on drugs in today’s society and what influences the use of them. After reading the book, I was able to understand what causes drug use and how what we learn by the media is somewhat incorrect. This memoir is truly well written and includes a unique way of writing that continuously keeps the reader active and engaged in the…
Over 20 million Americans above the age of 12 have an addiction, and 90% of those with an addiction began drinking, smoking, or using illicit drugs before the age of 18. Many of these addictions are products of peer pressure and students attempting to be the life of the party. In Cole Meyers “Addiction” he shows us how the continued use of drugs can give one a short term gains to increase his or her social status; however, in the long term, addiction strips the individual of his or her identity.…
Cited: University of Phoenix PSY 425. (2010) Levinthal, C. F. (2010). Drugs, Behavior, and Modern Society (6th ed.). Boston: Pearson. Retrieved Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, and 9 October 2010.…
Teens look up to adults, entertainers, and sports figures. Some have admitted to doing drugs, such as the President Bill Clinton and Vice-President Al Gore who has admitted to smoking Marijuana during their past (Levinthal, 2012). Anti-drug campaigns use the media to help discourage young people from doing drugs (Levinthal, 2012). The fight against drug abuse will continue to use the Internet, bill-boards, television, radio, and role models to fight the everlasting drug abuse and addictions in the United States. The sad thing is it continues to be a losing battle among people today.…
The stereotypical view of a drug addict is the poor, dirty, economically challenged, bug-eyed, and most likely of non-white ethnicity. However, Jeff Bishop reports from an interview with Pamela Shepard, coordinator of the Coweta County Adult Drug Court,…
In Claire’s Sterk’s book, “Fast Lives: women who used crack cocaine”, she uses information from observation, conversations, interviews and group discussions to explain how using crack affects active users. She also shows how they started using, how they survived, how they developed and maintained relationships with friends and family, and how they were mothers and drug users at the same time. In addition, Sterk started Project FAST, the Female Atlanta Study to identify the impact of drug use patterns on lives of active female users. In this study, most of the women’s stories are similar but yet different in many ways to each other. While curiosity and peer pressure caused these women to experiment with drugs, others were introduced to it by friends. While prostitution was frequently used to support their drug usage, many other women participated in the drug business or credit card fraud or shoplifted. Another similar thing they share is that they knew the negative images of crack cocaine users. They are expressed more negatively than their male counterparts as “being a drug user and a woman are generally seen as incompatible social roles” (Sterk, 4). As one of the goals of this study was to have a greater understanding of the lives of female crack cocaine users, Sterk had intentions to challenge the popular perception of crack cocaine addicts and I believe she did not succeeded in her pursuit.…
NIDA InfoFacts: Understanding Drug Abuse and Addiction. (2011, March). Retrieved June 18, 2011, from National Institute of Drug Abuse: http://www.drugabuse.gov/infofacts/understand.html…
Salant presents a saddening stereotypical addiction story: the drug user. The excerpt from his book shows the depths to which the victims of addiction will stoop to get their “fix”, or the substance or device that the addicted desire. This excerpt can be considered “stereotypical” due to several reasons. The illegal and legal drug addiction is, unfortunately, the most popular and most well known of addictions because of its presence within modern day pop culture (movies, tabloids, etc), and due to its “popularity” within our culture, the use and abuse of drugs is one of the only kinds of addiction because not as many other types of addiction are as common/dangerous. In addition, the drug addiction is well known, sometimes, because of its legality; the drug is illegal; therefore, it is bad for the user and may or may…
In the documentary “Through a Blue Lens”, drug addicts are represented as people who can come from anywhere and lead miserable lives. The documentary shows the viewer that it doesn't matter how you were raised by using a shot of Darlene, one of the addicts, speaking about her life at home. Her mother was addicted to heroin, and her father was abusive, the stereotypical family life of a drug addict. The…
Upon entering the NA meeting I had mixed feelings. I didn’t know how to come to the meeting knowing my intentions were neither to give nor receive help. I felt like I was an intruder. I didn’t understand why I should betray others or act as if I was an addict who chose not to interact in the healing and recovering process. All of those things pushed me into the door of a meeting and open my mind to the hurt behind the physical appearance of these people. Their stories were heart wrenching. They all wanted help or do be noticed at some point of their lives before they became addicts. Never knowing the decisions they chose to take that first hit would turn their worlds upside down and take their family and friends from them. Forever changing their lives and not knowing if it will ever return to what it once was.…
Using material from item A and elsewhere, assess sociological explanations of the ways in which the mass media represent any two of the following: gender; sexuality; disability. (33 Marks)…
For over a century, America has waged a failing war on drugs even as it feeds a cultural apathetic and underground acceptance of drug and alcohol use. The views of the dominate group have placed blame on society’s ills on the evils of rampant drug use throughout the past few hundred years, which have given way to a practice of outlawing , persecution, and imprisonment. Such a view has led to the overflow of our state’s prisons, the race to build even more, and need to fund a culture of imprisonment that has a difficult time in trying to figure out if it wants to help the addicted person, or continue to try and fund a gluttonous prison machine. We will look at some of the causes for the failed war on drugs, and some of the consequences if our society continues to ignore the need to help the addict, or simply lock them away.…
Drug and alcohol addiction is a very serious and widespread problem in America, and across the globe. Drug addiction is a constant craving, seeking, and using of a substance, despite the negative consequences it may have on the addict or those around them. When drug use becomes more frequent, it is considered drug abuse. Once an individual’s drug abuse is can no longer be controlled, and they are using the drug to get through everyday life, it beomes an addiction. A person on drugs has an altered way of thinking, behaving, and perceiving. There are treatment facilities all over the world dedicated to help those suffering with drug addictions. All though there are drugs to help reduce cravings and discourage drug use, there is no drug that can stop a drug addiction. Many times the facilities are not accessible to addicts, and even those who are able to receive treatment have a high risk of relapsing, or continuing drug use after being clean from the drug. Because of the history of drug addiction and abuse in my own family, my interest was sparked at and early age. When seeing an addict or hearing about them on television I used to ask myself “why can’t they just stop” . After learning the anatomy of an addiction, and how it changes the chemistry of the brain I realized it’s more than a matter of willpower or wanting to quit. It’s not a matter of being clean for an addict, it’s a matter of survival. As a person with a passion for addicts and a future of helping them on their steps to recovery, it is hurtful to know that many people think drug addiction is just a choice the addict made. Although it may be a result of the choices they made, once they are addicted is it much more complicated than that. In my research, I wanted to find evidence that supports the argument that drug addiction is a disease, as opposed to what many believe, a decision. To support this idea, I have…
The novels, Tweak by Nic Sheff and Beautiful Boy by David Sheff have shed an enormous amount of light on a topic that most of the population tries to avoid and pretend doesn’t exist: drug addiction. These novels are both compelling and haunting. They leave the reader anxiously turning each page, unable to read quick enough. Both sides of a drug addiction story, the addicts and the families of addicts, are told with deep sincerity and powerful insight. Because of these novels countless of people have a changed perspective towards addiction, sobriety, and strength. Addicts are not solely comprised of their addiction and addiction does not equal strength. People should not be ashamed to talk about their life story, Nic Sheff explained that “[He’s] come to discover that holding on to secrets about who [he is] and where [he came] from is toxic. [His] secrets will kill [him]” (Sheff, N., 2009, p.322). These novels have challenged society’s “hush, hush” mentality about addiction, and have brought an intimate insight into how addicts and families of addicts think and feel. This information will greatly change addiction treatment, therapy, and the Social Work profession.…
To have known so many people that have struggled with drug addiction in their teenage years it has become very apparent what a vital time in one’s life it is to know the dangers of abusing drugs as a teenager. Even though not all teens abuse drugs, it is an epidemic in the United States because more teens are turning to drugs to escape or use out of boredom. Take my younger brother for instance; he has struggled with drug addiction from the time he was a teenager into his early twenties. My brother Matthew started off smoking pot and drinking socially out of boredom. Then he found the drug crack cocaine to escape from reality as his world came crashing down around him. Once he found that drug he went overboard and started stealing electronics and pawning them for money to buy his drugs. From there he would also beg people for money and obtain it to get his fix. He would clean up for about a week at a time but would fall right back into it. He would blast his music in his room while he was high on drugs. He would also disappear for days at a time while on a drug binge. After stealing everything in my mother’s house my mother finally committed him to a drug rehabilitation center. The first one failed. The second one failed. Matthew just could not get off the drugs. He to this day struggles with drug addiction, and he is now twenty four. However Matthew is just one of many with stories like these. Let us look at how many others are a part of this vicious cycle known as drug abuse among teens.…