Drug Use in the Contemporary World: Surveys and Trends - Essay Sample

Introduction

The use of drugs has been prevalent, particularly to teenagers and young adults in the contemporary world. The use of drugs has increased over the years. To be precise, marijuana, tobacco, and alcohol are abused extensively today. For this reason, new trends of using marijuana, tobacco, and alcohol have emerged, making the population of drug addicts to increase. This paper explores the recent surveys taken for the use of marijuana, alcohol and tobacco and the current trends around the use of these drugs.

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According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), illicit drug use has been on the rise in the United States (Azofeifa, 2016). In 2017, approximately 2.5 million young adults aged 12 and above abused illicit drugs. This survey registered 7.3% population of young adults who abused alcohol in the same year. In 2013, 24.6 million Americans aged 12 and older used illicit drugs. This survey shows 9.4% of the number of people aged 12 and above. The rate of today's illegal drug use among young adults in 2013, 9.4% matched the survey in 2010, 8.9%, and in 2012, 9.2% (Grant et al., 2016). However, this marked higher rates as compared to the study from 2002 to 2011, which ranged from 7.9% to 8.7% (Azofeifa, 2016). These surveys provide useful data for assessing the youth risks because the youths cover the large percentage of the population that uses drugs.

The current trend around marijuana is that the drug received legalization measures in some of the states in America. Legalization of marijuana allows many cannabis industries to avail the drug. Also, the current trend around the use of tobacco is the emergence of e-cigarette. An e-cigarette is a battery controlled form of smoking but does not burn tobacco. Clear studies have received a conclusion about the alternative measure of the use of tobacco. However, there is an indefinite proof that states that the use of e-cigarette helps smokers to quit smoking (Jensen et al., 2015). Alcohol's current trend is that alcohol is readily available. Many brewery industries have today emerged, leading to high consumption of alcohol.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the intake of drugs, particularly marijuana, alcohol, and tobacco, have been on the rise in these recent times. The current trends of these drugs have attributed to the high increase in the abuse. Smoking today has an alternative which is the e-cigarettes, making tobacco smokers to consider it as an alternative to tobacco. Alcohol is readily available, and marijuana has received legalization policies in many states in America. For this reason, the survey of drug abuse has increased as compared to the past years.

References

Azofeifa, A. (2016). National estimates of marijuana use and related indicators-National Survey on Drug Use and Health, United States, 2002-2014. MMWR. Surveillance Summaries, 65. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/ss/ss6511a1.htm?mbid=synd_yahoohealth

Grant, B. F., Saha, T. D., Ruan, W. J., Goldstein, R. B., Chou, S. P., Jung, J., ... & Hasin, D. S. (2016). Epidemiology of DSM-5 drug use disorder: results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions-III. JAMA psychiatry, 73(1), 39-47.Retrieved from https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2470680

Jensen, R. P., Luo, W., Pankow, J. F., Strongin, R. M., & Peyton, D. H. (2015). Hidden formaldehyde in e-cigarette aerosols. New England Journal of Medicine, 372(4), 392-394. Retrieved from https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc1413069