drug addiction and drug abuse: Effects on Society

Drug abuse affects society in many ways. In the workplace it is costly in terms of lost work time and inefficiency. Drug users are more likely than nonusers to have occupational accidents, endangering themselves and those around them. Over half of the highway deaths in the United States involve alcohol. Drug-related crime can disrupt neighborhoods due to violence among drug dealers, threats to residents, and the crimes of the addicts themselves. In some neighborhoods, younger children are recruited as lookouts and helpers because of the lighter sentences given to juvenile offenders, and guns have become commonplace among children and adolescents. The great majority of homeless people have either a drug or alcohol problem or a mental illness—many have all three. The cost to U.S. society for health care, in lost work productivity, in crime, and due to other factors related to drug and alcohol addiction and abuse is estimated to be several hundred billion dollars.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• History
• Legalization and Decriminalization
• Reduction of Demand for Drugs
• Supply Reduction
• Fighting Substance Abuse
• Treatment
• Effects on Society
• Effects on the Family
• On the Individual
• Effects of Substance Abuse
• Motivations for Drug Use
• Illegal Substances
• Legal Substances
• Types of Abused Substances
• Bibliography

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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