The following document represents a comprehensive overview of one of the main societal problems in America today: youth substance abuse. Drug and substance abuse among teenagers is substantial. Among youth age 12 to 17, about 1.1 million meet the diagnostic criteria for dependence on drugs, and about 1 million are treated for alcohol dependency. Because of this epidemic we need to institute a more effective national school campaign along with a national health care campaign that will promote education, prevention, early detection, and rehabilitation. Youth substance abuse is a major epidemic currently plaguing the youth and needs to be immediately addressed to protect the future generations of our country. Without an immediate proposal to help eliminate substantial increases in substance abuse, we are setting ourselves up for a sharp decline in a solid civic foundation and substantial increases in health care costs.
[...] Subsidies for low income families, and government grants for a national school campaign for the prevention and early detection of substance abuse are some of the areas that national health care has attempted to bring about awareness in the area. The current state of health care in regard to substance abuse is a huge issue within healthcare today. In 2004, adults with a mental health and/or substance abuse diagnosis accounted for 1 out of 4 stays at U.S. community hospitals— 7.6 million hospital stays. [...]
[...] Attitudes toward alcohol use and abuse in a rural school. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Southwest Educational Research Association, Houston, TX (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 341 001). Lindenberg CS, Gendrop SC, Reiskin HK . Women and Children Division, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, GA. Mosby's Medical, Nursing, & Allied Health Dictionary. Edition 5. (1998)รง National Institute on Drug Abuse Newcomb, M.D., & Bentler, P.M. (1989). Substance use and abuse among children and teenagers. [...]
[...] Ethically, a national campaign on the dangers of substance abuse would have to move away from a values-based education in regard to drug use, focusing attention on the physical dangers and medical consequences. In this sense, ethics would not be as much of a problem here. No one would be arguing whether it is right or wrong to use drugs in an ethical sense, but would be focusing on the deleterious effects that drugs and alcohol have on the biological organism. [...]
[...] Conclusions In order to begin to lessen the negative outcomes of youth substance abuse, there needs to be a strong national school campaign that removes morals and values from substance abuse warnings and focus on the medical dangers posed to the individual. Furthermore, as stated in this document, health literacy among youth is one of the primary vehicles for this change to occur. Health literacy must be culturally and socially relevant, and distributed in a way that encourages youth participation, making them feel like they are a part of the process instead of the passive receptors of government messages. [...]
[...] Alcohol use and abuse in a rural school. Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the National Rural Education Association, Jackson, MS. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 339 580). Andrews, J., Smolkowski, K., Hops, H., Tildesley, E., Ary, D., & Harris, J. (1991). Adolescent substance use and academic achievement and motivation. Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, CA (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 337 733). Barrett, H. (1990). Drug use in rural Kansas fifth and sixth graders. [...]
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