How drugs affect society

¶ … Drugs Affect Society

Drugs have always had a negative effect on society and this issue is presently more visible than ever. While society prefers to employ most of its forces in fighting drugs in first world countries, the masses generally ignore the effects that drugs have on underprivileged groups. With South America being one of the main locations where drugs are produced, it is important for this paper to focus on the effects that drugs have on South American communities that deal with drug producers and traffickers on a daily basis. These respective drug producers and traffickers develop a relationship of interdependence with people living in the communities that they live in. The media falsely influences the general public in employing discriminatory attitudes in regard to particular groups as a consequence of associating them with drug production, use, and trafficking. Many addicts have successfully overcome their problem through adopting alternative treatment methods that made it possible for them to focus on more important aspects of their lives. This essay is meant to discuss how contemporary society experiences great trouble in fighting drugs because of the series of elements that are related to illegal substances and how underprivileged individuals suffer the most as a result of this warfare.

The effects of the use and sale of drugs on communities that initially seemed thriving

It would be absurd for someone to consider that drugs have little to no effect on society, especially considering individuals who die every die as a consequence of being involved in the business. Keith Dannemiller's article presents readers with insight regarding conditions in Cuidad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, a location that came to be shaped by a drug industry that experienced constant growth in the recent years (2010:136). The presence of drugs in a community brings along a series of other problems related to the production and sale of these substances. Drug dealers have difficulty finding markets for their products and come to be extremely competitive regarding their territory and their targeted public. In contrast to typical firms trying to employ marketing techniques to promote their manufactured goods, however, they come to employ violence as a means to guarantee the well-being of their business. The streets represent little more than a warzone for them and honest individuals are unfortunate enough to stand in the line of fire with virtually no alternative.

Dannemiller emphasizes the fact that it is very difficult for an outsider to understand matters from the perspective of someone living in Ciudad Juarez (2010:137). Most people fail to observe that society has only experienced progress in some areas while it endured significant regress in others. Drugs affect a wide assortment of environments, ranging from local street shops to photographers wanting to create a story regarding critical conditions in the city. It is very difficult and almost impossible for an ordinary individual to live in Ciudad Juarez, considering that he or she is likely to be "assaulted, beaten, and robbed" by the violent individuals dominating the scenery (Dannemiller 2010:139).

In their attempt to find individuals who could establish a form of control in their communities, some people came to respect and encourage drug dealers who assumed positions of leadership. Ben Penglase's article proves more information regarding how these people take on neutral and even supportive positions in regard to drug lords because they have no alternative and because they generally consider that their condition is likely to improve as a result of employing this attitude (2010:318). Penglase demonstrates that they practically choose the lesser evil and use their survival instinct in trying to make it in conditions that threaten their way of life and their families (2010:322). Individuals who are not involved in the drug business are influenced to believe that as long as they act in accordance with legislations imposed by drug lords they will experience lesser problems as a result of being located in an area where drugs dominate people's lifestyles.

Penglase relates to how by taking on positions as masculine figures leading communities located in Brazilian favelas, drug dealers manage to exercise influence over these groups and are presented with lesser resistance from people living in their areas (2010:320). The fact that communities in favelas have gotten accustomed to respecting men because of their superior strength and because they are provided with authoritarian roles over their families contributed to having people in these groups feel less hesitant about supporting drug leaders who used power as a means to control individuals in their communities. Violence is typically a principal means of ensuring that power stays with particular persons and that no one dares to challenge their position. Although this strengthens groups involved in the drug business, it also has a harmful effect on men who are not engaged in drug trafficking. As they are left with virtually no opportunity to exercise their roles as leaders of their groups, these men come to abuse their families or to get involved in the drug businesses with the purpose of regaining their self-esteem.

The lack of official powers that can impose justice over their communities makes it difficult for individuals to stay honest. They are thus vulnerable to entering the drug business in an attempt to strengthen their position in their community. This is especially worrying, as more and more individuals fall victim to temptation and go from being honest to being unhesitant about performing criminal acts in a matter of days. It appears that this system is responsible for gradually turning the majority of individuals in a community into drug dealers.

Addicts are generally neutral in drug communities, as they fuel the drug business but have no influence on how it operates. Even with that, officials need to focus on reducing the number of addicts within a community in order for their efforts to have a negative effect on the drug business. Society has used a series of diverse methods meant to assist addicts in overcoming their problems, but most of them failed. International centers that have the mission of treating addiction have recently turned their attention to traditional healing methods as an alternative to modern means of treating addiction, given that the latter have proved to be ineffective in most cases. Techniques such as "biofeedback, meditation, faith healing, and other traditional and folk addiction treatment methods are being evaluated" (H. K. Heggenhougen 1984:3).

The general public needs to accept that the world is currently experiencing a crisis as a result of the fact that the number of addicts is constantly growing and treatment methods are in most cases inefficient. According to Heggenhougen, alternative addiction treatment methods operate by causing physiological changes in people's bodies and diminishing their craving for drugs (H. K. Heggenhougen 1984:5). Although most experiments using alternative treatment techniques are still in their incipient phases, it is only safe to assume that investing money that are currently being wasted on standard treatment methods (that generate little to no positive results) into perfecting alternative techniques is likely to help a great deal of addicts in overcoming their addiction.

Perspectives concerning drug users and dealers

It is generally accepted that mass media devices presently hold great power over people's opinions concerning popular matters. Feelings in the U.S. regarding illegal substances are especially intriguing when considering the way that people are influenced to adopt attitudes that they would not normally employ if they were not persuaded to do so. The media portrays certain minorities (such as African-Americans) as being predisposed to committing crimes and as playing a negative role in U.S. affairs as a whole. Mainly because of the way that the mass media portrays African-Americans and Hispanics as being vulnerable to getting involved in drug-related matters, the general public has come to consider that people belonging to these two groups are actually more likely to use drugs than their white counterparts. Angela Gilliam's article focuses on this issue and presents readers with more information. Modern countries apparently share feelings when it comes to discriminating particular communities as a result of having access to media devices expressing similar points-of-view (1992: 19).

Gilliam shows how people's thinking is shaped by media devices and how many are normally unable to filter information they receive through the media (1992: 19). While people are bombarded with false information coming from questionable sources, actual studies are obscured by the media because of the tension that they would generate and because companies are reluctant to present the public with news that would directly attack a dominant white public. According to Gilliam, "a Michigan research report demonstrated that nationally 40% of White male high school seniors smoked marijuana, while 12% of them used cocaine, as compared with Black males, 30% of whom had smoked, and 6% had used cocaine" (1992: 19).

When considering strong drugs such as heroin and crack cocaine, it appears that White people are more likely to fall victim to addiction. Moreover, these individuals typically come from middle class environments, virtually contrasting lower class African-American addicts pictured by the media. It appears that the media is simply following a national trend in this situation, as it is just acting in accordance with a government that seems to support the idea of having African-Americans and Hispanics fill the country's prisons while white people handle the largest part of the drug business (Gilliam 1992: 19).

Angela Garcia goes at providing more information regarding Hispanic addicts in the U.S. And their personal experiences. She relates to how New Mexico treatment facilities deal with numerous cases of addicts who experience overdose several times in their lives, are unable to defeat addiction, and eventually experience death. These individuals are in a condition where they accept their situation and believe that there is nothing that can be done for them. To a certain degree, however, it appears that Hispanics reacted differently to heroin when compared to other racial groups in the U.S. Many Hispanics in New Mexico apparently use heroin as a means to compensate for how they feel as a result of "then recurring pains associated with the ongoing history of loss and displacement that had come to characterize Hispano life" (Garcia 2008:720). Such patients are considered to suffer from a chronic addiction and they are generally believed to have little to no chances of recovery (Garcia 2008:720).

When considering Heggenhougen's assessment of alternative treatment techniques for addicts, one is likely to reach the conclusion that treatment centers in New Mexico fail in their attempt to heal patients because individuals are provided with standard treatment methods. Accepting the fact that an individual has no chances to recover from his or her addiction makes it less problematic for a treatment facility to be hesitant about trying alternative treatment techniques, especially considering that it is generally accepted that conventional treatment methods cannot possibly generate positive results in healing patients.

The effects of socio-economic conditions on drug-related affairs

The transition that Ciudad Juarez experienced from being a successful city to being a drug trafficking center certainly seems surprising at a first glance. However, if one were to address the complexity of this matter, it would be less shocking to learn that the city's economic problems significantly contributed to it being provided with less attention by the authorities and to people leaving it in large numbers. Ciudad Juarez almost turned into a favela as people within its borders became poorer and as drug lords expanded their businesses on its streets.

The fact that people were initially drawn to Ciudad Juarez in hope that they would increase their finances was very important in having the city experience notable problems in managing itself. Its rapid growth had become problematic by the time that the maquiladora industries present there started to close their facilities and leave people with virtually no chances of surviving. With the economy experiencing an all-time low, drug dealers were provided with the perfect opportunity to impose their power over the people of Ciudad Juarez. The authorities started to express lesser interest in investing in the area and conditions generally worsened as drugs became one of the principal means of sustenance that the city had to offer. Individuals who had nowhere to return to had no solution other than to join the drug business, especially given that drug lords created a whole new industry meant to replace the old one.