Public Health Substance Abuse Essay

Topic in Public Health: Substance Abuse

Over the past years, the rates of substance abuse have significantly increased due to a high supply and demand from many individuals. This means that people can easily find sources that supply drugs and alcohol, making it more of a convenience than a health factor that could inevitably ruin their future. Substance abuse is the excessive use of psychoactive drugs such as alcohol, medications, and illegal drugs. These types of drugs, if used improperly, can entirely lead an individual to considerable pain from physical harm, social relationships, or emotional harm. When it comes to public health, substance abuse is one of the top topics that need to be solved to have a safer and healthier community. In

Alcohol in general can have an addictive property that does not allow the individual to quit drinking. Not only is it bad for your health, but it can also lead to serious accidents from careless driving, loss of body function, and the ability to speak cohesively. According to the CDC, the prevalence of binge drinking varies within the United States from 11.7% to 23.5%, and the mortality rate for binge drinking has skyrocketed to 140,000 people annually (CDC, 2022). With the rapid popularity of substance abuse, the economy has been greatly impacted, costing them $249 billion for alcohol misuse and $193 billion for illicit drug use (SAMHSA, 2023). Looking at all the statistics, it is very depressing to visualize how many people are suffering emotionally and physically and having to take the consequences for their

All these substances affect people of different races, genders, ethnicities, economic statuses, etc. In a recent study, they found that men are more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol than women. Around 9.4% of men and 5.2% of women older than 12 have suffered from disorders related to substance use (drugabusestatistics.org, 2023). As you can see, there is about a 4% difference in usage gender-wise. This seems like a small percentage, but if you compare it to a population, that includes thousands of people yearly. Furthermore, it is surprising to find out that the highest rate of substance abuse relating to race goes to American Indians and Alaska Natives with a rate of 12.8%. Following that would be the whites with 7.7%, then 6.8% for African Americans, 6.6% for Hispanics or Latinos, 4.6% for Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, and with the lowest percentages of substance use, Asian Americans with 3.8% (drugabusestatistic.org, 2023). Moreover, when it comes to education, high school students are prone to using drugs and alcohol. Around two-thirds of students have tried substances by 12th grade, accounting for 90% of the alcohol consumed by high school students. In addition, 1 in 6 unemployed people with less than a high school diploma has struggled with substance abuse, which is a considerable amount (drugabusestatistics.org,