Substance abuse trends in the United States
Not what you're looking for?
Please help me examine substance abuse trends in the United States. Include the following:
- Identify past and current trends of the use and abuse of substances in the United States.
- Analyze health and social problems in the United States that occur due to drug abuse and addiction (e.g., cocaine, ecstasy, prescription drugs).
Purchase this Solution
Solution Summary
The substance abuse trends in the United States is examined.
Solution Preview
Substance abuse has historically been regarding substances that are commonly used for various legitimate purposes. Heroin, for example, for many veterans of the Vietnam conflicts, was used by the military regularly to keep troops awake. Legitimate medications like surplus morphine post-WWII easily found another market besides troops in the States, and their hold on the addicted population remains today, albeit from different sources other than army surplus.
In recent years; however, substances synthesized by amateur chemists have increasingly permeated the illicit substance market. One only has to look towards the now infamous reports of "bath salts" to garner a sensationalized idea behind this. A prominent and increasingly popular class of stimulants has begun to seriously compete among other substances in terms of prominence in the market. These drugs namely include MDMA, otherwise known as "speed", and their derivatives. Unlike illicit drugs of the past, these are often synthesized in amateur operations with serious implications to health for both the chemists and the consumers. This trend that has been increasing for the past decade or two has statistically translated into an increase in chemical mishaps that have infamously caused a number of large explosions (who hasn't heard of a meth lab explosion) or even more commonly, side effects of impure samples of drugs, most infamously, the synthesis of MPTP. The story behind the Parkinsonian modelling drug MPTP illustrates perfectly the hazards of this trend in substance creation. Two graduate students hoping to use their vast knowledge of chemistry attempt to synthesize MDMA, but in the process create an impurity, known as ...
Purchase this Solution
Free BrainMass Quizzes
Erik Erikson's Psychosocial Stages
Erik Erikson researched eight stages of psychosocial development beginning at birth and ending at death. This quiz challenges your knowledge of each stage, the corresponding age range, and the conflicts present during each stage.
Motion Perception
This quiz will help students test their understanding of the differences between the types of motion perception, as well as the understanding of their underlying mechanisms.
Theories of Work Motivation
This quiz tests the student's understanding of the major theories of work motivation from an organizational behavior perspective.
Childhood Disorders (Axis 1)
This quiz is designed to test one's knowledge on childhood Principle Disorders found in the DSM-IV (1994). This is a good quiz for those who wish to pursue a career in child assessment or child development. Good luck.
Key Psychology Theories and their Developers
Match which psychologist developed and/or contributed to which theory.