Addictive Substance Issues within Indigenous Australia - Coursework Example

Addictive substance issues within indigenous Australia Student’s name Institution Executive summary The use of addictive substances is a serious problem among indigenous Australians. Previous studies have shown that the remote indigenous people in the Northern Territory have the highest smoking rates in the country. Studies have revealed that the highest percentage of addictive substance users in Australia are the youths followed by those in the middle and upper income earners. The Australian government through the ministry of health has taken some health initiatives in an aim to reduce the problem. Some of the taken initiatives are; imposition of high taxes on the addictive substances, smoke free and drinking policies and the use of pictorial health warnings. Through these initiatives, the government has been able to reduce the high rate of addictive substance usage in the country and so it has come up with some other initiatives of maintaining the achieved rates of health. Table of contents Topic Page Executive summary………………………………………………………………………………..2 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..4 Health initiatives…………………………………………………………………………………..4 Issues surrounding improvements…………………………………………………………............6 Areas of concern…………………………………………………………………………………..7 Areas of proven progress…………………………………………………………………….........8 Maintenance of the achieved rates of health………………………………………………………9 More initiatives in which to engage in…………………………………………………….............9 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………….........10 References…………………………………………………………………………………..........12 Introduction Drug addiction is a serious problem. Ones one become addictive of consuming drugs, changing or stopping using drags becomes quit impossible. Drug use such as smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol has various negative effects towards the addict and also to other people around him or her. Drug use not only affects the health of the addict but also temper with other things such as social issues and even economic wise. For example, tobacco smoking affects the lungs while drinking alcohol mostly contributes to marriage break ups. The reason as to why most people decide to engage themselves in drugs is claimed to be stress (Webster, 2009). In Australia, smoking tobacco is more than double as normal among Indigenous people as non-Indigenous people. Remote indigenous people in the Northern Territory are reported to have the highest smoking rates in Australia. Owing to this high prevalence smoking tobacco is currently the major contributing factor for excess mortality and morbidity among Indigenous Australians. Apart from the tobacco use, indigenous Australian’s also use other drugs substances such as alcohol, marijuana among others which contributes to many health issues in the country (Rees, 2006). Health initiatives Present and future generations need to be protected from the devastating health, environmental, social, and economic consequences of drug use such as tobacco consumption and alcohol drinking. The Australian government through the ministry of health has taken some measures as a way of discouraging and reducing the excessive consumption of drug substances in the country. Some of those initiatives are; High taxation imposed on the drug substances The tax rate for addictive substance is very high in Australia. This initiative makes the price of the drug substance to be very high of which is intended to discourage drug consumption in the country. However, the health department faces a lot of challenges in implementing this initiative. Despite the high price, the addicted ones are ready to forgo basics things such as food and clothing in order to purchase things like alcohol and tobacco (Model, 1967). Due to this reason, the initiative tends to worsen the problem which is a challenge to the government. Smoke free and drinking policies Smoke free and drinking policies are also used by the Australian government as a way of minimizing the use of addictive substances in the country. In implementing this initiative, the ministry of health has made illegal to smoke of get drunk in some public places like work places, school and in special occasions. However, this initiative is not fully effectively implemented. Since so many Australians are addicted to drug substances, it is hard for them to fully stop using drugs. Some of the institution leaders at the work places or in school also consume these substances. Who will control the others to stop? This creates a challenge to the government making the problem to persist (Hirschfelder, 2010). Pictorial health warnings The ministry of health in Australia also uses pictorial health warning as another initiative to discourage consumption of addictive substances. This is done by posting some picture alongside the roads and streets where people pass by, in public places among other places. Such pictures comprise of the effects of drug substances both healthy and socially. This is done with an expectation of making people fear consuming addictive substances. Below is a sample of the used pictures. Effects of smoking tobacco Effects of drinking alcohol Issues surrounding improvements Despite the various challenges the Australian government is facing in discouraging addictive substance consumption in the country, the initiatives have worked in to some extent. The enough information concerning drug substances effects have been very helpful in reducing the problem. Currently, drug usage has reduced among Australian people. The mothers who used to drink while pregnant are now aware of the effects and don’t drink any more. Some regulations are also set in hospitals and a pregnant mother is not supposed to drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes or use tobacco (Heymann, 2001). The initiative of prohibiting smoking and consumption of other addictive substances at work places, school and other public places has really assisted in solving the problem. Despite the fact that it has been challenging to stop fully, the addictive don’ts use the substances excessively than in the beginning. The reduction on the quantity consumed is a way of rehabilitating the drug addictive and hence quit from drugs in the long run (Goldstein, 2001). Apart from the initiatives mentioned above, the Australian government through the ministry of health also came up with a program of counseling the addicted ones. Through counseling, people get to know the effects of drugs and so the addicted ones get discouraged to engage in drugs. The already affected are also counseled on how to quit from the addiction. Through this addiction, the number of drug addictives among indigenous Australian is quit reducing a symbol that if the government keeps on with program, there will be no drug addictives among the Australian indigenous people in the long-run (Dudley, 2002). Areas of concern The youths Among the drug addictive in Australian indigenous people, the most affected ones are the youths. Only a small percentage is from the adult. According to statistical records, 80% of drug users are the youths while only 20% is reported to be from the other groups. At the Youth stage is where people are trying to develop themselves. This people are mainly in college, dating, searching for employment among others. All this areas contributes to too much stress. For example, during dating, one may face relationship break down and so experience too much stress contributing to one use drugs. Youths also like copying from each other and so peer pressure also contributes to drug addiction among the youths (Conrad, 2007). This is an indication that the government should concentrate more on the youths as it tends to solve the issue. Middle and upper income earners Addictive substances are very costly. Due to the high taxation imposed on them, the cost tends to increase higher making it too expensive to consume such substances. This means that, most of the drug addictive comes from the middle and upper income earners. It is rare for a very poor individual to think of consuming drugs. The highest priority of this people is to get something to eat and thus all. With the middle and upper class people, they tend to misuse their excess income in consuming drugs. This is therefore another group of major concern the Australian government should concentrate at in setting some strategies to solve the issue. Areas of proven progress Despite the reported high percentage of drug addictive among indigenous Australia, there are some areas of proven progress as achieved through the various initiatives. A study was conducted in investigating about the effects of health initiatives towards addictive substances in Australia. According to the study, it was revealed that the health initiatives have been so helpful in solving the problem. The researcher found that the number of drug addictive had reduced by 10% by then. This symbolized that the health initiatives are helpful and so need to be implemented continuously so as to reduce this number further. In the study, the respondents indicated that, the publicly posted pictures make them fear to consume drugs such as tobacco and alcohol due to the effects they see in those pictures (Webster, 2009). The researcher concluded that this initiative is very effective in solving the issue. Another study by Bourne, 2010 was also conducted with an aim of investigating on the proportion of people who still use drugs. A primary research was conducted where primary data was collected through the use of questionnaires. From the obtained information, it was found that, this number has reduced compared to what had been reported in the previous year. The researcher also did more investigation concerning what makes drug addicts to quit. The interviewed respondents indicated that, they had received too much counseling concerning the effects of using addictive drugs and how to stop using them. This helped them to easily quit. Other respondents provided that they had witnessed people suffering from disease such as lung cancer which contributed to death. This made them to find for ways on how to quit from addictive drugs (Webster, 2009). The researcher then concluded that the health initiatives had contributed much in solving the issue in Australia. How to maintain the achieved rates of health The health initiatives are found to be effective in reducing the problem through the various areas of proven success. The government should therefore look for other ways of maintain the health improvement. Such ways can be; Free medical investigation to those who quit from addictive drugs Among those who quit from using addictive drug substances may have already been affected in their health. The government should therefore formulate strategies such as providing free medical investigation to those who quit from drugs. This is to find out whether those people already have health problems and so to provide early medication and so maintain good health (Rees, 2006). More activities on which to engage in Another strategy of maintaining the good health is by creating more activities in which people especially those who recently quitted from addictive substances can engage in. an idol mind is always a devil’s work shop. This people used to spend much of their free time consuming thins like alcohol or tobacco. Stopping consuming addictive substances means that these people will have a lot of free time. This may make one feel bored and so think of going back to the past. If some more activities such as playing football and other games or productive activities are created where this people can spend their leisure time, they will not think of going back to addictive drugs and hence maintaining the achieved rates of health (Heymann, P. B. (2001) Conclusion According to the above explanations, addictive substances issues within indigenous Australia are so many. The highest percentage of people who consume addictive substances in Australia is still very high especially among the youths as reported to be the most affected group. However, the Australian government through the ministry of health came up with some initiatives of solving the issue as it is affecting this people both towards their health and socially. Studies have revealed that the implemented initiatives are effective in that the number of addicted people in addictive substances is reducing. The government should therefore keep on in ensuring that these initiatives are implemented effectively as they are likely to resolve the issue in the long run. Some strategies of maintaining the improved health conditions should also be formulated and implemented effectively to discourage those who quit from returning back to addictive drugs and hence maintain the improved condition. Drug addiction is a serious problem as it has various negative effects which deteriorate countries economic conditions. Countries’ governments should therefore illegalize addictive drug usage in order to improve and maintain their economic conditions. References Bourne, P. G. (2010). Addiction. New York: Academic Press. Conrad, H. T. (2007). Drug addiction. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. Dudley, W. (2002). Drugs. San Diego, Calif.: Greenhaven Press. Goldstein, A. (2001). Addiction from biology to drug policy (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Heymann, P. B. (2001). Drug addiction and drug policy the struggle to control dependence. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Hirschfelder, A. B. (2010). Tobacco. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Greenwood. Modell, W. (1967). Drugs. New York: Time, Inc.. Rees, J. (2006). Drugs. North Mankato, MN: Smart Apple Media. Webster, M. (2009). Drugs. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press/Gage Cengage. Read More