If you or a loved one are considering seeking out help for addiction, it is important to know that you are not alone. Many people, just like you, are going through something very similar. Over the recent years, the rates of addiction have seen a massive increase. It isn’t cause for panic, but it is cause for concern. However, while looking at the rising rates statistically, it is important to understand why they are on the rise.
Rising Rates of Drug Use
Since the 90s, the rates of drug use and addiction have been increasing. For example, since 1990, the deaths caused by overdosing on drugs have tripled. 700,000 lives have been lost to drug overdose since 2000, and since 1999, opioid painkillers have been sold 300% more than before, reveals a USA-based research facility.
In 2020 alone, the federal budget for drug control was $35 billion. Despite that, the usage of drugs has risen. Listed below are some of the reasons why. In the UK, although precise data is not available, we observe similar trends.
COVID-19 Pandemic and Drugs
In the past three years since 2019, it is quite obvious that one of the reasons for rising rates of addiction is the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a report published by the UN, approximately 275 million people resorted to the usage of drugs during the turbulence caused by the coronavirus pandemic. This could likely be because of the socioeconomic impact that COVID-19 had, leading 100 million people into extreme poverty, where they had no jobs and no coping mechanism but to turn to drugs and addiction.
Legalisation of Recreational Marijuana
One of the main reasons that the usage of drugs is so rampant throughout the world is thanks to many countries legalising the use of cannabis and lowering the control over prescription medications. According to the UNODC, adolescents don’t see marijuana as unhealthy or harmful anymore.
Marijuana as a Gateway Drug
The legalisation doesn’t stop at cannabis. Marijuana often acts as a gateway drug, meaning it opens the doors to trying out more drugs that aren’t marijuana but far more dangerous, such as alcohol, and cocaine. There is research that supports this claim, stating that using marijuana can likely set the precedence for using other drugs. These drugs may be licit or illicit, but it can definitely be said that the rising rates of addiction can be attributed to cannabis being legalised thus leading to people, especially younger teenagers, being more prone to trying and being addicted to other new drugs.
Glorifying Drugs in the Media
Media excerpts such as movies, music videos, and other social media have been increasingly normalising the usage of drugs. Moreover, many celebrities are seen openly discussing their drug use, and their young and impressionable audience often ends up following in their footsteps. Teenagers are, unfortunately, the largest demographic to use drugs, and they also have a huge presence on social media.
In recent years, due to loosened laws of media regulation, children are influenced into unhealthy habits of using drugs and alcohol in order to be seen as socially acceptable. This leads to unmonitored and illegal substance use, often turning into substance abuse. Substancerehabilitation.com, a website dedicated to helpful addiction resource guides, explains, “Substance abuse has the potential to become an addiction.”
Using Drugs to Cope with Stress
It’s no surprise that drugs are sold to young teenagers with the promise of their worries being flown away. Adults, along with young people, who do not have strong and healthy coping mechanisms in place for their daily stresses of life, often turn to drugs to help them with the amount of stress they are under. Furthermore, veterans who served in the military may also feel that using drugs can help them with their PTSD, but using these drugs without the prescription of a doctor often leads to addiction due to misuse.
Summary
Rising rates of addiction are definitely a cause for concern, but it is important to understand why this is happening.
#1 The COVID-19 pandemic led to 275 million people using drugs.
#2 Marijuana is legal in 18 states, leading to fewer people thinking it is dangerous than before.
#3 Cannabis often acts as a gateway drug to harder drugs such as cocaine and heroin.
#4 Social media has increasingly glorified substance abuse, leading to normalisation and higher consumption.
#5 Drugs have been used to cope with the increasing stressors of life as a teenager in today’s world.
In conclusion, if we want to decrease the rate of addiction, we must nip the problem in the bud and begin to decrease the normalisation of drugs.
