1. Addiction
Much of the material is credited to
Lauer and Lauer, 2008, Social
Problems and the Quality of Life
unless otherwise noted
1
2. Definition
Repeated use of a drug or alcohol to the
point of periodic or chronic intoxication that
is detrimental to the user or society.
2
3. Alcohol
Conditions of the alcoholic:
• A craving or compulsion to drink.
• Loss of control to limit drinking.
• Physical dependence/withdrawal.
• Tolerance: The need to drink more and
more.
3
4. Patterns
• About 63 percent of Americans identify
themselves as drinkers.
• 25 percent say they sometimes drink more
than they should.
• 37 percent say that drinking has been a
source of trouble in their family.
4
5. Patterns
• Whites drink more than African Americans
or Hispanics.
• Alcohol abuse is also more common among
the young.
5
6. Patterns
• A substantial proportion of children and
young adolescents also drink.
• 75.1 young people consumed alcohol by the
end of high school.
• 41 percent of children have consumed
alcohol by the 8th grade.
(Lauer and Lauer, 2008)
6
8. Alcohol and the Quality of Life
• Physical Health
– Cirrhosis of the liver
– Muscle diseases and tremors
– Impotence and sterility in men
– Early death
• Psychological Health
– Dementia
– Alcohol abuse is associated with a substantial
proportion of suicides
– Inhibits sexual performance
8
9. More scary stuff:
• Fetal alcohol syndrome.
• In the alcoholic may be
1 Short term memory loss (alcohol amnestic
disorder)
2 Dementia
3 Difficulty problem solving
9
10. A list of caveats to drinking
• Increased risk of injury and violent death
(suicide)
• About 35 percent of violent victimizations
involve an offender who had been drinking.
• Two-thirds of intimate violence report that
alcohol was a factor in the attack.
• Nearly a third of fatal accidents involve an
intoxicated driver or pedestrian.
10
11. • Alcohol is a disinhibitor. It relaxes normal
inhibitions making social deviance all the
more possible.
• Alcohol increases aggression for males but
not for females.
11
12. Economic Costs
In one year, underage drinking resulted in
3,170 deaths and 2.6 million other harmful
events, costing around $61.9 billion in
medical expenses, work loss, and the lost
quality of life.
12
13. Many people use alcohol without
these deleterious effects or
becoming addicted.
13
14. Examples are:
• Alcohol use in early life in context of strong
family life.
• Low-alcohol-content beverages (wine and
beer).
• Alcohol is consumed at meals.
• Parents are an example of moderate
drinking.
• Drinking is not a moral question, merely
one of custom.
14
15. More examples are:
• Drinking is not defined as a symbol of
manhood or adulthood.
• Abstinence is as acceptable as drinking.
• Drunkenness is not socially acceptable.
• Alcohol is not the center of activities
(cocktail parties)
• There is a general agreement about what is
proper and improper in drinking.
15
16. Structural Influences
• Role conflict can contribute to the use of
alcohol.
• The family (broken homes and homes with
other members who are alcohol abusers).
• The media (an examination of 601 movies
found that 92 percent depicted drinking.)
• Ideology: the aggressive assertion that
alcoholism is a personal problem, resulting
in stigma.
16
17. Treatment
• Meds
• Psychiatric or psychological
• Group
• Consider AA
• The 28 day recovery industry
17
21. The previous slide showed the proportion of
current users. The following represent the
proportions of those who have ever used the
drugs.
• any illicit drug: 46.4%
• marijuana & hashish: 40.6%
• cocaine: 14.7%
• crack: 3.3%
• inhalants: 9.7%
• hallucinogens: 14.5%
• methamphetamine: 5.2%
• Drug use is higher in the lower than in the middle
or upper social classes.
21
22. • Drug abuse is currently the main
preventable cause of illness and premature
death in the United States.
• Drug abuse contradicts the American value
of physical well-being.
22
23. Economic Costs
• Criminal justice expenditures.
• Health care costs of drug related injuries.
• Costs of low productivity due to
absenteeism and errors in the workplace.
• Property damage.
• Toxins introduced into public air and water
supplies by drug production.
• Emotional damage to family, friends and
co-workers.
23
24. Methamphetamine
• Amp
• Blue belly
• Crank
• Crystal
• La Glass (pure meth with no cuts)
• Speed
• White cross
• White crunch
24
25. Effects of Methamphetamine
Short term
• Rashes or sores
• Dilated pupils
• Shrinkage of vessels
in gum tissue
• Tooth decay
• Bone loss
• High blood pressure
• Irregular heartbeat
• Nausea
• Diarrhea
Long term
• Fatal kidney/lung
damage
• Loss of pleasure center
of brain
• Memory impairment
• Organ failure
• Liver damage
• Stroke
• Schizophrenia/psychosis
• Death
25
31. Contributing Factors
• Group Norms
• Role Problems
• Family Experiences
• Government
• Economy
• Supply
31
32. Social Structural Factors
• Group Norms
1 Peer Pressure
2 Cultural Transmission Theory
• Role strain
Role of physician versus patients needs (such
as abortion) or personal problem affecting life.
• Role Conflict
Two or more roles that are contradictory.
32
33. Family Experiences
• Families that eat together have strong bonds
that keep them together.
• Family members who come from homes
where there is drug abuse are most likely to
become abusers themselves.
• Children who grow up in broken or single-parent
homes are more likely to abuse.
• Alienation of the child from the family can
contribute to drug abuse.
33
34. Government
• The government’s definition of drug use as
illegal.
• Illegality raises the cost of maintaining the
drug habit.
• Illegality also relegates user to a dangerous
environment.
• It strains the criminal justice system.
34
35. The Economy
• Those impoverished are most tempted by
the lure of sale and use of drugs.
• Contrary to that is the fact that the legal
drugs—alcohol and tobacco—are marketed
freely and at such a great profit to producers
that it is unlikely that they will be
eliminated altogether.
35
36. Supply
• The organization of supply.
1 Drug cartels
2 Proximity to the US borders
3 Demand
36
37. Social Psychological Factors
• Positive attitudes lead to use.
• The quest for psychic effects
1 Self esteem issues
2 Low self-confidence
• Popularity of drugs and alcohol during
school years.
• Ideology
37
38. Ideology
• Enjoyment without harm to others
• Consciousness raising
• As moral a product as alcohol
• Resistance to the domination of older adults
38
39. Enforcement Programs
• Focusing on reducing demand
• Making certain areas “drug free”
• Street enforcement (looking for “hot spots”)
• Citizen policing
39
40. Treatment
• Detoxification (supervised withdrawal)
• Substitute drug maintenance (methadone)
• Brief intervention therapy (with a
therapist—few sessions)
• Family therapy
• Drug treatment center (spin dry)
• Religious type experience
• AA and NA (spiritual without being
religious) 40
41. Education and Prevention
• Anti-drug advertising
• Reduced medial exposure to alcohol and
tobacco
• Decriminalization (of some or all drugs)
(What would happen?)
41
42. National Institute on Drug Abuse 2007
Percentage of 8th-Graders Who Have Used Marijuana:
Monitoring the Future Study, 2007
1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Lifetime 16.7% 19.9% 23.1% 22.6% 22.2% 22.0% 20.3%
Past Year 13.0 15.8 18.3 17.7 16.9 16.5 15.6
Past Month 7.8 9.1 11.3 10.2 9.7 9.7 9.1
Daily 0.7 0.8 1.5 1.1 1.1 1.4 1.3
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Lifetime 20.4% 19.2% 17.5% 16.3% 16.5% 15.7 14.2
Past Year 15.4 14.6 12.8 11.8 12.2 11.7 10.3
Past Month 9.2 8.3 7.5 6.4 6.6 6.5 5.7
Daily 1.3 1.2 1.0 0.8 1.0 1.0 0.8
Percentage of 10th-Graders Who Have Used Marijuana:
Monitoring the Future Study, 2007
1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Lifetime 30.4% 34.1% 39.8% 42.3% 39.6% 40.9% 40.3%
Past Year 25.2 28.7 33.6 34.8 31.1 32.1 32.2
Past Month 15.8 17.2 20.4 20.5 18.7 19.4 19.7
Daily 2.2 2.8 3.5 3.7 3.6 3.8 3.8
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Lifetime 40.1% 38.7% 36.4% 35.1% 34.1% 31.8% 31.0%
Past Year 32.7 30.3 28.2 27.5 26.6 25.2 24.6
Past Month 19.8 17.8 17.0 15.9 15.2 14.2 14.2
Daily 4.5 3.9 3.6 3.2 3.1 2.8 2.8
Percentage of 12th-Graders Who Have Used Marijuana
Monitoring the Future Study, 2007
1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Lifetime 38.2% 41.7% 44.9% 49.6% 49.1% 49.7% 48.8%
Past Year 30.7 34.7 35.8 38.5 37.5 37.8 36.5
Past Month 19.0 21.2 21.9 23.7 22.8 23.1 21.6
Daily 3.6 4.6 4.9 5.8 5.6 6.0 6.0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Lifetime 49.0% 47.8% 46.1% 45.7% 44.8% 42.3% 41.8%
Past Year 37.0 36.2 34.9 34.3 33.6 31.5 31.7
Past Month 22.4 21.5 21.2 19.9 19.8 18.3 18.8
Daily 5.8 6.0 6.0 5.6 5.0 5.0 5.1
