Unit 8: Social Problems in the United States

Drug Abuse

Drug Abuse in the United States

Drug abuse in the United States has come to be regarded as one of the most challenging social problems facing the nation. Indeed, the very word "drug" excites strong emotions, and opinion polls since the late 1960s have shown that the "drug problem" is perceived by most Americans as a major threat to our society, particularly to its younger members.

Drug abuse in the United States is a social problem because it has a wide range of social costs, or dysfunctions—some obvious and measurable, some hidden and difficult to quantify.

Drug Use and Crime

Crime. There is a strong association between some forms of drug use and crime. The use of alcohol, for example, is highly correlated with violent crime; more than half of those committing murder and other violent assaults have consumed alcohol immediately before the crime. Heroin addiction, too, is related to crime, although not so directly to violence. Heroin addicts may need as much as $100 a day to support their habit, and most addicts find that they must steal in order to raise these sums. In addition, users of illegal drugs have indirectly on criminal networks that manufacture, smuggle, and distribute these drugs. The profits from this illicit commerce are vast and the Mafia and other criminal syndicates have become deeply involved in the supply of heroin and, more recently, of cocaine.

A Play about the Mafia

Automobile accidents. Alcohol use is directly responsible for tens of thousands of highway accidents and injuries; the drug is blamed for half of the annual total of road traffic fatalities. Some 60% of all drivers fatally injured in auto accidents have a blood-alcohol concentration of over .05%, a level that the National Safety Council considers sufficient to impair driving ability, and over 35% have a concentration of over .15%, a level high enough to cause intoxication. The cost of property damage and medical expenses due to alcohol-related automobile accidents totals about $1 billion each year.

Effects on individuals. Drug dependence takes a significant toll in terms of personal health and safety. The heavy user of drugs is much more likely than a member of the general population to be killed or to commit suicide, either deliberately or accidentally. Alcoholics, for example, have a death rate nearly three times higher than that of the general population; they represent a third of all suicides and are seven times more likely than non-alcoholics to suffer fatal accidents. Use of heroin increases one's chances of premature death through overdose, infectious diseases such as hepatitis and Aids or suicide. Many drugs have severe and sometimes irreversible effects on mental as well as physical health. Drug dependence, too, may affect other areas of the individual's life, ranging from the home to the work place to personal relationships with friends.

Economic losses. The cost of alcohol abuse alone totals over $43 billion a year in accidents, medical bill, lost production, and so on. It is difficult, however, to estimate the total economic costs of drug use. One reason is that there are many indirect costs society must pay to support drug-dependent persons. Treatment and control of drug abuse constitute a major drain on law-enforcement and other public resources. Chronic drug abusers, for example, may become unemployable and end up on the welfare rolls. By the mid-1970s, federal and state governments were spending over $1 billion per year on the treatment of various drug abusers. Another half billion dollars annually goes into processing drug users through the criminal justice system.

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