Introduction: What is Substance Abuse?
Substance abuse is the excessive use of addictive substances such as drugs alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, over-the-counter drugs or prescription drugs. People who intoxicate their bodies on a daily routine are likely to have impairments in their occupational and social functioning. Excessive utilization of the substance causes addiction and the user can do anything to obtain the substance. Substance abuse causes intense harm to the individual, the family and the entire community. This paper discusses how substance abuse contributes to teen pregnancy, HIV, domestic violence and child abuse. The paper also discusses on how the epidemiological problem has affected the entire community.
Substance abuse in relation to teen pregnancy and HIV
Substance abuse impairs an individual’s judgment, where, substance abusers are at a high risk of engaging in immoral sexual behaviors. An approximated 25% of teenagers admit to having unprotected sex because of the influence of substance abuse. Unprotected sex exposes teens to pregnancy and HIV (Armstrong & Costello, 2002). Some substances are administered through injection. The individuals are likely to share needles and syringes if the resources are limited. The incident exposes the individuals to the risk of contracting and transmitting HIV.
Substance abuse in relation to domestic violence and child abuse
Substance abuse among the parents is likely to cause domestic violence. Excessive consumption of alcohol affects an individual’s ability to integrate, perceive and process information. A parent who is high in drugs is likely to molest the partner at the sight of the children (Adams, Gardiner, & Assefi, 2004). The parent can even give the children thorough beatings for no reason. The drunken parent mentally and physically tortures the children. Domestic violence between parents can even extend to abusing the child sexually. In fact, there are cases of child abuse through rape from drunken adults.
Effects of substance abuse on the community
The community suffers a great deal by losing a resourceful individual to substance abuse. Substance abuse can “steal” an educated and resourceful individual who holds a great position in an organization. The family loses the breadwinner while the community may lose a manager, a financial analyst, or a great professional. Substance abusers are likely to cause chaos wherever they go, be it in the workplace or at home. In the workplace, for example, substance abuse leads to the inefficiency of the workers and thus lowers the company output, whereby, the community suffers the consequences of lowered company output.
Substance abuse makes users go wild. They are likely to riot, create scenes of violence, steal and raise threats to the residents of the community. For instance, in1997, ONDCP reported that 32.6% of the state inmates and 22.4% of the federal inmates were involved in criminal activities because of the influence of substance abuse (Caetano, Clark, & Tam, 2008). The process of incarceration of prisoners is quite expensive, and this causes the community to stretch its budget. The government spends between $20,261 and $23,542 of taxpayer’s money to cater for inmates. The drunken individuals take no precautions, and they go ahead and drive, causing accidents. In fact, approximately 50% of road accidents in the United occur because of substance abuse.
Conclusion
The impacts of substance abuse on the community are enormous. As a professional nurse, I would encourage investment in guiding and counseling to prevent individuals from entering into the trap. Secondly, rehabilitating and treatment of substance abusers would be more effective than incarceration. This can save the community from incurring incarceration costs (Lundy & Janes, 2009). Society would also benefit from reduced crimes and healthcare expenditure.
References
Adams, K. M., Gardiner, L. D., & Assefi, N. (2004). Healthcare challenges from the developing world: Post-immigration refugee medicine. BMJ, 328 (1) 1548–1552.
Armstrong, T. D., & Costello, E. J. (2002). Community studies on adolescent substance use, abuse, or dependence and psychiatric co morbidity. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 70(6), 1224.
Caetano, R., Clark, C. L., & Tam, T. (2008). Alcohol consumption among racial/ethnic minorities: Theory and research. Journal of Alcohol, Health, and Research, 22(4), 233-241.
Lundy, K. S., & Janes, S. (2009). Community health nursing: Caring for the public’s health. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.