Research Outline

Impact of Drug Abuse

Goals

To understand the impact of drug abuse in order to educate others on the harmful effects of drugs.

Early Findings

  • This source provides information and insights surrounding drug addiction and the negative effects it can have. One in four deaths results from illicit drug use.
  • Substance use disorders are treatable.
  • The resources here cover a variety of drug related issues, including information on drug usage, emergency room data, prevention and treatment programs, and other research findings.
  • This source describes nationwide US trends in drug abuse and addiction, focusing on past-month use for illicit drugs (including marijuana and prescription drugs), alcohol, and tobacco.
  • According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 19.7 million American adults (aged 12 and older) battled a substance use disorder in 2017.
  • In 2017, approximately 4% of the American adolescent population age 12 to 17 suffered from a substance use disorder; this equals 992,000 teens or 1 in 25 people in this age group.
  • Heroin use among young adults between 18 and 25 years old has doubled in the past decade.
  • Drug abuse also has adverse effects on the addict’s immediate family.
  • Several studies have found that a large percentage of child abuse and domestic abuse cases involve the use of drugs or alcohol.
  • The connection between drug addiction, alcoholism, and violence crosses many thresholds (individual psychology, public health, and domestic violence, to name a few), and is vitally important in understanding the scope of how controlled substances can affect people.
  • Before seeking treatment for substance abuse, the rate of violent acts was as high as 72 percent among men and 50 percent among women.