Ethical Approaches to Reducing Substance Abuse

Substance abuse regards excessive use of psychoactive substances such as alcohol and other illicit drugs. Its effects are contradicting since substance abuse may fuel dependence syndrome. Dependence syndrome includes a combination of changes in ones personality including physiological, cognitive and extensively behavioral change. Substance abuse habitual hence victims find it difficult to control its use regardless its harmful consequences.  For that reason, there exists the need to embrace ethical approaches viable to effectively reduce substance abuse. It is logical to illustrate that most of unethical approached mostly attached to ordinary ways of society fuel substance abuse rather than reducing its use. For instance, disorders related to substance receive much stigma in the ordinary society than other health conditions. Arguably, stigma cannot be regarded as an ethical approach of minimizing substance since it complicates philosophical efforts of instilling social acceptance of substance abuse.  Ethics refers to superior and potential philosophical discussions which go beyond ordinary methods of resolving social dilemmas. Ethical approaches examine the need to transform some of traditional perspectives critiquing that they in actuality fuel continuance of substance abuse. Therefore, this analysis objects to enumerate some of the ethical approaches that can equitably reduce substance abuse in the society.

The contemporary world necessitate innovative control measures hence the need to modify availed resources so as to generate new programs capable of limiting substance abuse.  Most of control strategies across the world have been majoring substance abuse as a matter of law enforcement which over long has not been able to effectively curb its abuse. For instance, variety of government resources have been used to make arrests, attack as well as demolish drugs and extensively putting drug criminals to jail but drug problems are still eminent across the world. Without doubt, law enforcement is one of the ethical and more powerful approaches of reducing substance abuse in the society. This approach critiques on drug abolition and communication of law punishments imposed for drug offenders. Nevertheless, this approach is known to finance interdiction campaigns in order to ethicality specify spread the need to avoid substance abuse. This approach is viable in regards to notions of ethics but it is important to recommend that the approach should basically integrate treatment, education and prevention as relevant mechanisms of modifying this approach to boost its purpose.

It is important to theorize that reliable treatment proposes much effect hence governments should accept substance abuse like any other health problem in the society. Public health includes differing approach of reducing substance abuse. Philosophical efforts accept public health as an ethical approach since it defines significant steps which sufficiently reduce substance abuse. In relation to performance ethicality, treatment of abuse disorder should be availed for effective reduction of substance abuse. It is easy to reduce harms of abuse disorders in a community with widespread and advanced health facilities specifying treatment services of substance abuse. Nevertheless, expansive treatment services for abuse disorders are capable to diminish drug market in view of the fact that treatment reduces the number of drug users in the society Fisher & Roget, 2009. P. 753). This approach is also responsible meant for to relate substance abuse as other psychological problems.  That's why substance abuse deserves special attention and immediate treatment like mental health. Additionally, it is important to specify that ethicality of health approach is usually linked to the idea that it provides a user friendly environment. For instance, it is evident that every health facility abides by this principle proved by the fact that health facilities are categorized in response to elements of social differentiation including gender and age.

Social environments take in the issue of substance abuse from different perspectives which in most cases impact efforts of reducing substance abuse. This is usually evidenced due to the fact that each individual in a social setting define specific beliefs which highly affect his or her judgment towards substance abuse. It is logical to indicate that some of the people turned to substance abuse as a result of unbearable pressures in their social environment.  Nevertheless, some attributes and beliefs possessed by society members may lead to substance abuse continuance among those using them.  Social related approach is a philosophical measure of curbing and controlling substance abuse.  Social approach can be used prevent instances of substance abuse ethically. Extensively, social approach is an effective prevention mechanism since it can be used to send requisite warnings to those intending to abuse psychoactive including alcohol. Requisite warnings can be done through social campaigns objected to speak out the negative impacts associated with substance from which effects can be demonstrated by referencing people who are already drug addicts and abusers. It is usually important to evaluate the social pressures that may influence an individual’s decision to involve substance abuse. Social approach can be regarded a valuable and immediate method of determining social causes that influences notions of drug abuse since it provides a basis for social interaction.  Therefore, information acquired from socialization can be used to control substance abuse by offering social encouragements. This approach can as well be used to discourage negative perspectives incorporated into societal members particularly to care givers by ordinary beliefs. Thus, social approach is among the valuable channels of instilling the importance of showing victims love rather than discriminating them, and so, reducing drug abuse.

Certain percentages of cases regarding substance abuse across the world perhaps define some of the economic allegations hence the need to reinforce economically disadvantage communities (Walters & Rotgers, 2012. P. 48).  For example, it is unsurprising to find out that substance abuse is more widespread within economically despaired backgrounds when compared to social backgrounds with valuable economic privileges. Logically, groups of individuals turn to substance abuse in economically disadvantaged scenarios as their method of diminishing economic pressures. The main objective of economic approach is to emphasize on developmental programs in order to enhance existence of supportive projects in the less privileged environments. This approach mostly depends on governmental agencies, Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other private practitioners with potential to place a transitional project from which societal members can acquire some income.  This approach can be used to bring about significant changes in various environments can highly reduce substance abuse. For example, governments across the world can apply this approach to develop innovative markets as a mechanism of controlling illicit sources of income such as drug markets. Development initiatives such as farming should always be implemented in areas with limited economic sources so as to provide alternative sources of money hence distorting drug markets. Therefore, economic approach demonstrates a coherent link between sustainable developments and reduction of substance abuse.

Public education can be founded as a great weapon of preventing and extensively reducing substance abuse particularly in youths.  This approach is usually meant to instill affluent life guiding skills into societal members in order to eliminate instincts of substance abuse. Education provides people with affluent choices in life thus the need to emphasize on the integration of more educational programs in social environments. In particular, information relating to substance use should not be taken partially thus it should be taught by respectable personnel such as health professions for the sake of building practicality of the information provided. However, it is important to emphasize that government for example, should not only provide educational programs but also should provide opportunities in order to keep people active in life. For instance, the primary objective surrounding education is provision of relevant skills which can be applied in real life to induce accommodative values into an individual for better living (Gerstein & Green, 1993. P.86). Hence, this approach emphasizes the need to provide affluent job opportunities to diminish life disappointments which bring on desires of substance abuse particularly among the unemployed.

Religions contain broad approaches of controlling various issues in the society and so, substance abuse has over long remained a topic of concern in various religions. Importantly, religious approach consider the issue a destruction to both the society critiquing that it leads to moral decay and at the same time hindering one’s potential towards success. Religious approach stands as a negotiating channel between moral legislation for the good of the society and individual groups fighting for their human rights. This can be related as the most ethical approach across the world since it focuses and leads for the good of all levels of ethics that is; micro ethics and macro ethics. Micro ethics in this issue represents individual distraction whereas macro ethics defines moral decay accumulated by substance abuse. Therefore, religious approach is used to offer special guidance which gradually reduces substance abuse in the society (Phelps, 2007. P.108).

Summary

Regulation of substance abuse necessitates integration of affluent approaches in order to accomplish definite purpose.  For instance, the foregoing analysis has enumerated that the issue inquires ethical approaches in order to minimize its persistence regardless the fact that substance abuse is a deviant issue in relation social expectations. This signifies that efforts meant to reduce its persistence must define ethicality or else they may enhance its continuance.  The analysis has strongly imposed a variety of approaches which can yield effective transformations if integrated appropriately. To start with, law enforcements accommodate differing methods with attributes of ethicality meaning the approach is an equitable approach of reducing substance abuse. For example, interdiction campaigns include ethical processes of spreading relevant awareness regarding abolition of illicit substances from the community. This is an ethical method of forbidding substance abuse since such campaigns exclude unethical issues such as discrimination and social biasness. Nevertheless, it is ethical to incarcerate drug criminals as a means of reducing substance abuse since incarceration of such individuals hinders possibilities of social influences. The above analysis has also illustrated that approaches of economic, education, religion, social and health as ethical strategies of reducing substance abuse.  It is important to note that economic, health and social welfare are usually integrated to transform the welfare of people in the society. Modification of people’s welfare is an appropriate weapon of diminishing substance abuse since its primary objective includes the need to withdraw negative pressures from the community which in most instances fuel desires of substance abuse. The primary objective of education approach is to instill sustainable skills in order to enhance self dependence. On the other hand, it is important to integrate desirable attributes and beliefs in the community hence the need to approach the issue of substance abuse with terms of religion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Work Cited

Fisher, Gary L, and Nancy A. Roget. Encyclopedia of Substance Abuse Prevention, Treatment,    & Recovery. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2009. Print.

Gerstein, Dean R, and Lawrence W. Green. Preventing Drug Abuse: What Do We             Know?Washington, D.C: National Academy Press, 1993. Print.

http://www.who.int/topics/substance_abuse/en/

Phelps, Kerryn. General Practice: The Integrative Approach. London: Elsevier, 2007. Print.

Walters, Scott T, and Frederick Rotgers. Treating Substance Abuse: Theory and Technique. New             York: Guilford Press, 2012. Print.