Role of Drug Addiction in USA

Role of Drug Addiction in USA

Introduction

Drug Addiction has been on an increasing trend in the context of USA economy. There have been many factors that have played a significant role in the increased cases of drug addictions. The American economy has employed a number of policies and programs that have looked to alleviate the concerns associated with cases of drug addiction. We would look to identify the statistical figures associated with the rising trends of drug addiction (UNODC, 2013). In addition, there have been specific populations that have been plagued by the rising trends of drug addictions. A comprehensive analysis would be conducted which reveals the true picture of the rising cases of drug addictions in USA.

Facts and Statistics of Drug Addiction in USA

In the period of 2010, there were approximately 22.6 million drug users above the age of 12 in the context of American economy. This translates to a total of almost 9% of the total population that is aged 12 or older (UNODC, 2010).

The most commonly used drug in this period was marijuana. There were approximately 17.4 million American users that had excessive drug addiction with this type of substance. If we compare the results of 2007 and 2010, there has been a marked increase in the cases of drug addiction. The percentage of drug addicts increased to 6.9% from 5.8%.

The individuals falling in the age bracket of 50-59 years had the drug addiction rate doubled as their rate went up from 2.7% to 5.8% from the period of 2002-10 (UNODC, 2010).

There were an estimated 10 million individuals ranging from the ages of 12-20 that confessed to being drinkers, 6.5 million were those that fell in the category of binge drinkers, and there were a total of 2 million that were categorized as heavy drinkers.

There are more than 6 million children that are governed by at least one drug addict parent.

Every year, drug addiction and drug abuse have been known to cost employers more than 122 billion dollars in which productivity time was lost as well as more than 15 billion dollars that were characterized as health insurance expenses.

The states of Baltimore and Maryland have more individuals that have been plagued by heroin addiction than any other state in the USA.

Since the period of 1990, there has been a remarkable increase of 500% of individuals that take prescription drugs illegally.

Experience of populations

National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign

There have been a number of policies and programs developed by American economy that looks to minimize the role of drug addiction in the context of American economy. The National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign uses the role of media to successfully educate and make the American masses well equipped to reject use of unnecessary drugs. Since people are exposed to a variety of mediums on a regular basis, it serves as an effective tool to successfully make the different populations aware about the threat posed by drug addiction ...