This critical analysis explores the impact of substance abuse in America at both a global and local level. Topics of societal stigma, personal bias and drug decriminalization are among the topics explored.

1. Running head: FINAL PROJECT 1
(7-1) Final Project Submission:
Department of Health and Human Services Proposal
Southern New Hampshire University

2. FINAL PROJECT 2
Drug use is disguised as a euphoric escape from the stress of reality while only leading
the addict down a path of sickness and pain. Drug abuse is defined as the continued use of
psychoactive substances that violates approved social practices (Sullivan, 2016). The epidemic
of drug use implores ameliorations within the community to combat the lives being lost and torn
apart. One of such ameliorations is the decriminalization of substances throughout the United
States. Drug decriminalization is an effort to shift the substance abuse problem from a law
enforcement battle to a health and social issue. While marijuana has been legalized in several
states, drug classifications of opiates (Oxycontin, heroin), depressants (benzodiazepines,
Valium), stimulants (methamphetamine, cocaine), and hallucinogens (LSD, MDMA) remain
criminalized and hold felony charges for possession of substances or paraphernalia. Additionally,
substance abuse remains a prominent issue, claiming 130 American lives a day (Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, 2018). Benefits to decriminalization of illegal substances
include reducing prison cost and population, allocating law enforcement resources to other
concerns, prioritizing health and safety over criminal charges, encouraging help for those who
struggle with substance addiction and removing barriers to "evidence-based harm reduction
practices" such as needle exchanges, drug checking, and safe injection sites (Drug Policy
Alliance, 2019).
On a local level, the United States has a drug classification system that categorizes
substances into five schedules. Schedule I includes heroin, LSD, and marijuana; Schedule II
includes cocaine, Vicodin, methamphetamine, etc. Schedule I substances “are defined as drugs
with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse” (DEA, 2010). According
to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the addictive quality diminishes
and the medicinal quality raises as the schedules move from I to V. Federally, marijuana remains

3. FINAL PROJECT 3
a Schedule I drug despite the efforts of multiple state legislatures to legalize. However, other
Schedule I drugs, such as opioids like heroin, are wreaking havoc on U.S. communities
(specifically low-income communities) claiming lives via overdose in mass.
Globally, the epidemic of drug abuse and overdoses is also a major threat to public
health. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), “opioids
[caused] the most harm and [accounted] for 76 per cent of deaths where drug use disorders were
implicated” (UNODC, 2018). Not only are the death tolls rising for drug users globally, but
manufacturing of illicit substances has reached its highest level ever reported. A surplus of drugs
is making their way to the market and a surplus of drug users are dying from overdose or
complications of drug abuse. The commonality between local and global drug use includes an
unregulated, illegal market with a highly addictive product. This product, without regulations,
could be tainted with other drugs. In recent years, synthetic production of fentanyl has made a
rise both globally and locally. This synthetic opioid can be found in cocaine or heroin and
roughly 28,400 died in the U.S. alone from fentanyl related overdoses in 2017 (CDC, 2018).
The public opinion of drug abuse is negative due to its close relation to drug culture and
crime. Many addicts are subjected to self-stigmatization as a result of the public stigmatization
that they encounter. Absorbing the negative attitudes of the public leads to isolation for the
addict and a further descent into drug life or drug culture. Dr. Steve Matthews from Australian
Catholic University elucidates, “Our claim is that for a significant subset of those who
experience public stigma, the process of self-stigmatization does indeed take place and this
process is an element in the social construction of the addiction condition itself” (Dwyer,
Matthews, & Snoek, 2017). Frequently, the means to attain drugs is closely tied to criminal
activity in the forms of prostitution, larceny, laundering, drug trafficking and robbery. It is a

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truism that members of a community judge one another, interpreting the behavior of others and
finding ways to classify other social persons into categories based on their behaviors. Drug abuse
and addiction is a category that many social beings place onto others based on their behavior
related to drug use, behavior that has a reputation for its criminality.
My personal biases are at play when analyzing this social issue. My mother has suffered
from addiction for twenty years. It tore apart my family when I was just three years old and
drugs have kept my mother from being a parent for most of my life. New to her sobriety, I have
had many conversations about the influence of drugs and what firsthand experience in drug
culture looks like. Additionally, my grandmother died of a life-long alcohol addiction, my uncle
was just released from a seven-year prison sentence due to his addiction to crack and I have
dabbled in the disease of addiction myself. The level of empathy I hold for addicts, but more
specifically drug addicts, is extreme. Therefore, I am choosing to avoid conflict theory as a main
sociological perspective when analyzing the social issue of drug decriminalization. Looking into
the interactionist perspectives will maximize my objectivity. As an advocate for
decriminalization, in addition to the impact drugs have had on my personal life, conflict theory
and its ties to the injustices of a social group will allow me to incorporate my biases, even
without realization of such. Therefore, using the social construct of normalized behavior will
encourage my research to maintain maximum objectivity and guide the research to include all
aspects of the social issue.
Drug abuse is both a local and global crisis. Much like the tactics used by Purdue Pharma
in the U.S, other companies like Mundipharma in Europe have started lobbying to open the
prescription of opioids. In Poland, “this has produced new legislation allowing any doctor, not
merely specialty pain doctors, to write opioid prescriptions” (Caulkins, Falbab-Brown &

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Humphreys, 2020). Additionally, Mundipharma has also sponsored doctors to promote
prescription opioids and deny their potential for addiction. These tactics resemble the behavior of
Purdue Pharma when promoting OxyContin during the early stages of the U.S opioid crisis.
Mundipharma is not only working out of Europe but has branched to India, Brazil, Middle East
and Africa. Pervasive corruptions and poor law enforcement allow for this large company to sell
opioids to an undermedicated population without the threat of legal consequence. While
Mundipharma is emerging on the world stage and finding its place in the global drug trade, the
consequences of such marketing will follow the history of the outbreak of opioids in the U.S.
during the early 2000s.
Furthermore, the opioid crisis continues to affect the United States. While new legislature
and mindful prescribing has led to stricter precautions around prescription opioids, a multitude of
individuals are overdosing at alarming rates. Without access to addictive prescription
medication, individuals are turning to other illegal substances to achieve the same benefit.
Heroin has become a substitute for prescription opioids due to its cheaper prices and reliable
effect. From the interactionist perspective, “Social problems arise when a condition is defined by
an influential group as stigmatizing or threatening to its values and disruptive of normal social
expectation” (Sullivan, 2016). Generally, the normal social expectation on a global scale is that
using illicit substances is taboo. Hard drugs like methamphetamine, cocaine, crack and heroin are
available throughout the globe yet remain classified as a violation of normal behavior. Engaging
in drug abuse presents maladaptive symptoms that affect functioning in families, work, social
atmospheres, etc. Drugs are affecting the lives of addicts on a global scale and these individuals
remain ostracized by society due to its violation of the normal social expectation.

6. FINAL PROJECT 6
The war on drugs in the United States was a massive failure to eliminate drug abuse. The
effects of the war, started under the Nixon administration, filled prisons, shunned drug users and
cost the government millions. The war’s purpose was to eliminate the supply of drugs coming
into the country, “But even as restricting supply has failed to curb abuse, aggressive policing has
led to thousands of young drug users filling American prisons, where they learn how to become
real criminals” (Aspe & Shultz, 2017). Rather than attempting to tackle this epidemic as a health
crisis, law enforcement became the major policer of drug activity. Addicts fear prosecution and
this deters many from receiving the treatment they desperately need. The negative opinions
surrounding drugs and drug culture perpetrate the epidemic claiming thousands of lives a year.
However, in recent years, efforts have been made to provide aid to addicts to control the
spread of diseases from engaging in intravenous drugs and resources for committing to sobriety.
Currently, 35 U.S states and the District of Columbia, Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico have
needle exchange programs (NEPs). These programs allow for needle users to exchange their
contaminated needles for clean syringes which helps keep needles off the street and reduces the
risk of hepatitis and HIV (Hatcher, 2016). NEPs also offer counseling services and health care
screenings to intravenous drug users. These programs are cost effective and reduce the cost of
treatment for HIV infections by $3,000 to $50,000 per averted infection (Hatcher, 2016).
The most effective strategy for combating drug use and the opioid epidemic is drug
decriminalization. The decriminalization of illicit substances will allow for harm reduction
centers such as NEPs, drug consumption rooms and treatment facilities to become more available
to the public without fear of persecution. In Europe, Switzerland and France implemented drug
policies that have drastically diminished opioid overdoses and related infections. The policies for
combating drug use contrast from the zero-tolerance policies in the United States. Safe

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consumption facilities are available to help drive down rates of disease transmission, overdose
and consumption. In Switzerland, Heroin Assisted Treatment is available to addicts with a long
history of heroin dependence who remain unresponsive to other treatments. Under this treatment,
patients are required to attend psychological services and use intravenous drugs under medical
supervision; “The idea was to combine the benefits of prescribed supply (heroin of known
strength and purity, free from contaminants and adulterants, and used with clean injecting
equipment) with the benefits of regular access to services and supervised use in a safe and
hygienic venue” (Drug Policy Foundation, 2018). Decriminalization is necessary to adopt these
harm reduction tactics. Without the threat of felony or misdemeanor charges, addicts would have
the liberty to visit NEPs and safe injection sites, talk to their employers and families about
rehabilitation opportunities, and engage in s productive society without the hindrance of legal
issues. Considering, “More than 85% of these arrests are for possession only, and many more are
for minor selling and distribution violations” (Drug Policy Foundation, 2018), eliminating the
legal burden for minor drug offenses and persecuting drug traffickers promotes a safe and
attainable solution to drug abuse.
Decriminalizing drugs would provide a plethora of opportunities to individuals. Needle
exchange programs, safe injection sites and prescription heroin are some of the methods that are
used globally to help support the community struggling with addiction. Previous attempts to
mediate the drug crisis have been unsuccessful and as both a global and local epidemic,
decriminalization is key. In 2001, Portugal decriminalized drugs and since HIV rates have
diminished, “in 2000 of 104.2 new cases per million to 4.2 cases per million in 2015” (Ferreira,
2017), overdose deaths have plummeted as well as drug related crime and incarceration rates.
This is the solution that is needed in the United States to combat the drug abuse epidemic.

8. FINAL PROJECT 8
References
Aspe, P., & Shultz, G. P. (2017) The failed war on drugs. The New York Times. Retrieved from
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/31/opinion/failed-war-on-drugs.html?auth=login-
google
Caulkins, J. P., Felbab-Brown, V., & Humphreys, K. (2020). What the US and Canada can learn
from other countries to combat the opioid crisis. Retrieved from
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2020/01/13/what-the-us-and-canada-
can-learn-from-other-countries-to-combat-the-opioid-crisis/
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018). Understanding the epidemic: Opioid
overdose. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/epidemic/index.html
Drug Policy Alliance. (2019). Drug decriminalization. Retrieved from
http://www.drugpolicy.org/issues/drug-decriminalization
Drug Policy Foundation. (2018). Heroin-assisted treatment in Switzerland. Retrieved from
https://transformdrugs.org/heroin-assisted-treatment-in-switzerland-successfully-
regulating-the-supply-and-use-of-a-high-risk-injectable-drug/
Dwyer, R., Matthews, S., & Snoek, A. (2017). Stigma and Self-Stigma in Addiction. Journal of
bioethical inquiry, 14(2), 275–286. doi:10.1007/s11673-017-9784-y
Ferreira, S. (2017). Portugal’s radical drugs policy is working: Why hasn’t the world copied it?
Guardian News. Retrieved from
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/dec/05/portugals-radical-drugs-policy-is-
working-why-hasnt-the-world-copied-it
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (2018). World Drug Report 2018: opioid crisis,
prescription drug abuse expands; cocaine and opium hit record highs. Retrieved from

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https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2018/June/world-drug-report-2018_-opioid-
crisis--prescription-drug-abuse-expands-cocaine-and-opium-hit-record-highs.html
United States Drug Enforcement Administration. (2010). Drug scheduling. Retrieved from
https://www.dea.gov/drug-scheduling
Sullivan, T. J. (2016). Introduction to social problems (10th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.