SUBSTANCE USE

Substance Use

Substance Use

In this article, Jeffrey Jensen Arnett is trying to explain the substance use in Emerging Adulthood. Most Americans report that substance use is the number one problem in the United States, despite the steady decline in the reported use of illegal drugs over the past thirty years. The use of alcohol and other drugs is decreasing, and legal substances such as nicotine are becoming impermissible in public settings. It may also result from the visible impact drug abuse has on social institutions, including the family, schools, and the criminal justice system.

Arnett (2005) has made referenced to National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which highlights that approximately 70% of 21 to 25 year-olds used alcohol in the last one month. Use of illicit drugs was found higher in the people age between 18 to 20 year olds having 23% prevalence rate. However, marginal decline is observed for the people age between 21 to 25 years, having 19% prevalence rate (Arnett & Jensen, 2005). Emerging adulthood age people have reported highest misuse of substances; for example, binge drinking was highest among 21 to 25 year olds with 44% population representation in the sample (Arnett & Jensen, 2005).

Moreover, substance use in emerging adulthood is a social problem, as opposed to an individual problem, because drugs affect social beings and the entire society. Drugs cause problems for individuals, families, communities, and institutions. The abuse of legal substances, like alcohol and tobacco, and the use of illegal substances, such as marijuana or cocaine, can be costly for society (Arnett & Jensen, 2005). The over-consumption of alcohol is a leading cause of automobile accidents and is highly correlated with family violence. Some illegal drug abusers commit crimes in order to support their drug habit leading to an increase in the rate of violent ...