Substance abuse, also known as Drug abuse, is very prevalent in many countries. A drug is any substance that modifies the body’s normal functioning. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines a drug as any substance or product that modifies the behavior of a person for the benefit of the recipient. Substance abuse, on the other hand, is the drug use other than for the intended purpose in a manner that damages the physical functioning of the body. Substance abuse is a rampant problem in the United States. Drugs can be abused in a variety of different ways by people from every walk of life. Most of us have been affected by substance abuse either directly or indirectly. Substance abusers harm themselves, as well as their families and communities. …show more content…
It is therefore vital to carefully define each variable and its relationship to another. The dependent variable, the Perception of Consequences of Substance abuse, is broken down into three dimensions: (D1) Substance abuse leads to aggression in behavior; (D2) Over consumption of Marijuana and alcohol leads to addiction which results in substance abuse; (D3) substance abuse increases anxiety among individuals. Whereas, Perception is defined as the state of being or process of becoming aware of something through the senses to create a mental image, Consequences are defined as a result or effect of an action or condition done by individual, Substance refers to drugs like alcohol and marijuana which are the part of this research, and Abuse is a patterned use of a drug in which the user consumes the substance in amounts or with methods which are harmful to themselves or others. The independent variable consists of three dimensions: (D1) student’s current major course of study at Monmouth (D2) if the individual has any health-related concerns (D3) Biological gender of the student M/F. Through the detailed knowledge of the independent and dependent variables, it is now understood that their relationship forms the main hypothesis of this study, that is, the perception of Monmouth University Criminal Justice major students will be different from those of non-criminal justice