Efforts to Reduce Drug Abuse

The final question is basically a repeat of the second question. However, now that you have worked through all the chapters of the text and other sources, you should have more academic/intellectual knowledge to support your response.

After what you have learned in this course and based on your own experience/beliefs, do you feel the efforts to reduce drug abuse and drug addiction in the United States is positive, that is moving in the right direction? Or do you feel the efforts have stalled or are actually counterproductive? Has your view changed from the first time you responded to this question early in the term? Defend why you believe your response has remained the same or has changed.

With this being the last question I often see students forgetting to defend their opinion post and thus losing out on some valuable end of term points.

Please remember the following to gain all 25 points:

1. Your opinion post must be presented before any critiques
2. If defending your opinion academically be sure the source is cited in APA format. Also if using the course text (Hanson et.al.) be sure you also note the page number in the text where you are pulling that information.
3. Make sure your critiques go beyond just agreeing or disagreeing, be sure you provide substance on just why you agree or disagree (explain why).

Based on your own experience/beliefs, do you feel the efforts to reduce drug abuse and drug addiction in the United States is positive, that is, are the efforts being conducted moving us in the rig

Efforts to reduce drug abuse

The efforts to reduce substance abuse and drug addiction in the United States are moving in the right direction. Even though there are still many cases of drug abuse and drug addiction in the United States, there are efforts that have been put in place to reduce the substance abuse. The Office of National Drug Control Policy has set targets that need to be achieved to reduce drug abuse. Preventing the abuse of drugs and addiction is a critical, national public health goal. About sixty-one million Americans who once used illegal drugs have now rejected them since many of them a suffered as a result of abusing drugs. Prevention measures have been directed at susceptible youths since adolescents are the most susceptible to the appeal of narcotics (Hawkins & Catalano Jr, 2010).

Reports from national cross-site evaluations have indicated that the preventions programs bring positive results. It has been observed that substance abuse among students who participate in school-based substance abuse programs is lower. Parents have also been included in the reduction measures since they play a critical role in the lives of their children as influencers. The National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign has also put in place efforts to use the media to educate and enable the youth in the United States to reject illegal drugs. Among the goals is to prevent drug abuse and encourage the current users to quit. The media plays a major role in the public health campaigns due to their extensive reach and ability to influence behavior. The Department of Education Safe and Drug- Free Schools and Communities Program make funds available to every school district to support drug abuse prevention programs. All the efforts mentioned above are moving in the right direction in an attempt to reduce drug abuse and drug addiction in the United States. However, since there are still more cases of drug abuse and drug addiction in the United States, more efforts should be put in place (Hawkins & Catalano Jr, 2010).