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Change Your World Week Winter 2021 (Archived)

This is the CYWW site from Winter 2021
Cartoon headshots of various people. Caption reads This is a Student-Created webpage.

Drug addiction is a DISEASE.

Drug misuse and substance abuse disorders affect millions of people every year and the negative affects that addiction causes is a reduced quality of life, increasing motor vehicle crashes, crimes, injuries, impaired health, and far too many deaths.

However, drug addiction is misunderstood and view addicts as bad people making bad choices and that they should be able to just stop anytime and it will be okay when this is not the case at all.

Many addicts that have experienced this disease, will tell you that majority of the time, it started from a prescription from the doctor and they were hooked. These "bad people" are your loved ones, Lawyers, Doctors, Teachers, etc.

DRUG ADDICTION DOES NOT DISCRIMMATE and it isn't prejudice, It CAN and it WILL affect any person and it can happen to you. We must stop this stigma of drug addictions being a choice by lowlife bad people because most people that struggle with this disease are normal people, like myself. A straight A student in college, a sister, daughter, friend, athlete, honors student and it happened to me. 

This is a BAD DISEASE and we must be open-minded and willing to understand the problem at hand because unless you have been through or seen someone close to you experience this, you have no idea what it's like. Don't wait to find out because now more then ever before, drug addiction is one of the leading causes in deaths in Americans and if we don't educate, provide resources, and prevention programs this problem will only get worse.

https://addiction.surgeongeneral.gov/vision-future

It is time to change how we as a society address alcohol and drug misuse and substance use disorders.

  • Government formed to bring together a broad coalition of healthcare, government, business, and nonprofit organizations to fight substance abuse by developing realistic prevention plans, increase education and awareness of substance use disorders, and aid in making access to treatment more equitable
  • Another way for the government to get involved is to help educate the people that drug addiction is like any other health problem that people face. Once people get the proper education on this issue then the likelihood of changing the stigma that it has in society. 
  • Ongoing efforts to reform health care and criminal justice systems are creating new opportunities to increase access to prevention and treatment services. 
  • Continue to make changes to drug policies, ranging from mandating use of prescription drug monitoring programs.

​​​​​​​These changes represent new opportunities to create policies and practices that are more evidence-informed to address health and social problems related to substance misuse.

The Decision Makers and Stakeholders

 

Policy changes, particularly at the state level, are needed to better integrate care for substance use disorders with the rest of health care. States have substantial power to shape the nature of care within these programs.

  • State licensing and financing policies should be designed to better incentivize programs that offer the full continuum of care (residential, outpatient, continuing care, and recovery supports); offer a full range of evidence-based behavioral treatments and medications; and maintain working affiliations with general and mental health care professionals to integrate care.
  • Within general health care, federal and state grants and development programs should make eligibility contingent on integrating care for mental and substance use disorders or provide incentives for organizations that support this type of integration.

Some don't believe that drug addiction is a disease

Is substance abuse disorder a healthcare issue?

On one side, people believe addiction is an uncontrollable illness that requires medical treatment.

These disorders involve impaired control over substance use that results from disruption of specific brain circuits. 

Expanding access to effective, evidence-based treatments for those with addiction and also less severe substance" use disorders is critical, but broader prevention programs and policies are also essential to reduce substance misuse and the pervasive health and social problems caused by it.

Although they cannot address the chronic, severe impairments common among individuals with substance use disorders, education, regular monitoring, and even modest legal sanctions may significantly reduce substance misuse in the wider population. 

On the other side, people believe addiction is a result of poor choices – and those choices have created a state of dependency that could be easily broken. The people in opposition, do not think that drug addiction is a disease and do not think that it should be treated as a healthcare issue.

They believe that it is bad people making bad decisions and that the government shouldn't help fund prevention programs because people with addictions should be able to just "stop using" and be fine... until its them or someone they love that becomes addicted.

click on the link below & see MY success story

If you know someone that has struggled with drug addiction, a friend, family member, significant other, or yourself and want to see a change in then PLEASE CLICK ON THE LINK  AND SIGN MY PETITION BELOW to take action.

WE CAN AND DO RECOVER.

I AM LIVING PROOF THAT RECOVERY IS POSSIBLE IF GIVEN THE RESOURCES AND TREATMENT.

I ALSO AM FAR FROM A BAD PERSON, I JUST SUFFER FROM A BAD DISEASE.CALL NOW

If you need resources for help if you believe that you or a lovedone is addicted to drugs or alcohol-

PLEASE REACH OUT TO THIS NUMBER, YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

 

 

Reference 

Sacks, J. J., Gonzales, K. R., Bouchery, E. E., Tomedi, L. E., & Brewer, R. D. (2015). 2010 national and state costs of excessive alcohol consumption. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 49(5), e73-e79.