Professor Mitch 520a

Running head: SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 1

SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 12

Title: SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Student’s name:

Institution:

Substance abuse within US has always been a major concern that costs the US over 600usd billion every year. This has forced the government to come up with various laws and regulations in order to ensure that this issue has been controlled. These efforts have however not been able to completely solve the issue as more cases result each year.

Public institutions have also been formed to take care of this issue but due to lack of centralized administration to improve the operations of these institutions that have been established. Nongovernmental organizations have also been seen to take charge of the situation but due to lack of good plan, the issue still remains a major concern. Public administration is a centralization that concerns government policies as well as programs and officials behavior formally responsible for their conduct.

There are so many challenges that organizations continue to face due to substance abuse, they range from injuries, poor decision making to lost productivity. This means that each and every organization is expected to try by all means to ensure that they have controlled the issue before it gets worse. Data provided by The National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information shows that companies go at losses approximated $100 billion each year resulting from alcohol and drug related issues.

This shows that the administrations have the responsibility to ensure that the issue is grounded so as to lower the losses that are witnessed. This alone is just the monetary value that is accounted for, there is pain and suffering that results from the substance abuse and this cannot be accounted for economically.

On the other hand there are so many resources that companies allocate to issues addressing the substance abuse cases in their environments, these are resources that could as well be allocated to other productive and important departments within the organizations. There are so many problems that substance use -workers create that equally affect both employees and employers equally.

Policies that are put to place in order to control this social problem however vary from community to community, state to state and nation to nation. Due to ignorance those that are affected remain at a risk of losing their jobs while the policies that are put to place only protect specific rights while leaving the root cause still strong.

To solve such problems then the government should not just look at the general problem but look beyond the unseen root cause that is underground. Uprooting the problem calls for close examination within those affected: getting experts to deal with the specific individuals so as to ensure that the issue is solved but not covered. (Abuse, 2016)

Substance use problems can occur at any age or stage in our lives and this happens when using drugs or alcohol causes harm to the victims that use them or to others around them. For instance, due to lack of knowledge and facts, so many people find themselves using marijuana claiming that it is relatively harmless as the plant is nature given therefore can be smoked or ingested.

This is simply ignorance and the government should be at the front line not to punish those that take part in the acts but educate them on the short term and long term effects of this drug. This means that the public policies that are put in to place should be aimed at creating awareness and based on knowledge impaction. In relation to Monitoring the Future study data has remained to prove that marijuana is the commonly abused drug followed by prescription drugs. (Martins, 2016)

Substance use disorder is another term that the federal government explained in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. They explained that people are considered to have substance use disorder if for instance they have strong urge for these substances that the issue gets out of hand and they can therefore not control themselves leading to impairment and unwanted behaviors.

This was as a result of a survey in 2015 that approximated those under illegal drug use to be about 27.1 million. This was a survey by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health and around 67,500 people were involved in the interviews that led to this revelation.

The Federal Drug-Free Workplace Program that was mandated by Executive Order 12564 and Public Law 100-71 was established to address illegal drug use by federal employees as well as identifying safety-sensitive positions that are subject to random drug testing. However, it has still not been able to gain control of this situation that affects the entire state. (Kerridge, 2017)

Substance use is prone to affect everyone in the society which in turn makes it difficult for the healthcare systems to work properly. This also affects the economy as the results are complex. More policies have still been met with difficulty as in relation to a statement made by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, every four minutes a person is send by the drug courts for medical attention rather than prison.

This situation therefore relates spending on health care as well as drug use related cases to approximately $6,120 per second. This is a threat to the economy though when compared to the past 30 years substance use in US has dropped significantly but the fact remains that it is still a major issue of concern.

About 67% of Americans however have shown concern on the basis in which the government comes up with its policies on drugs. They argue that the government should advocate for drug rehabilitation treatment rather than criminal penalties. To put more strength on this, the US government has been able to budget around $1.7billion to ensure preventive measures are taken before substance abuse begins for those who have not done it before; this involves education and funding outreach programs.

According to ONDCP, so many Americans abuse prescriptive drugs such as pain killers, stimulants as well as nervous system depressants. These drugs are important to the human body if taken in the right way, but can still cause a lot of harm to the body if wrongly taken as well as causing addiction. This occurs when they are taken for illicit for nonmedical reasons.

This is a major problem especially in the military and this committee felt that there are policies that are supposed o be reviewed. In the previous years the research mostly associated substance abuse to poverty due to low education that led to a higher risk for developing substance abuse disorder. With time the gap between this theory in relation to the rich and the poor, the gap has significantly reduced and the effects are severe in both ends. This proves that everyone is at a risk of getting affected by these drugs. (Rutkow, 2015)

Substance abuse leads to poor decision making. This affects the employee, coworkers and organization at large. This may also make the coworkers feel insecure as the decisions influenced by substance abuse at extreme cases pose a public safety threat as well as the victim’s safety. Accidents may also occur due to poor decision making some leading to even deaths. Working in such environment cannot lead an organization or a company to ensuring that they achieve their goals.

Workers that live in fear can also not give their best therefore the productivity is at a higher risk of dropping. This calls for companies to ensure that they try their level best to ensure that the environment they expose their workers to is safe. In 2015 one of the US leading providers of employee drug testing reported that the percentage of employees testing positive had reached a 10 year end. From the urine tests, heroin had increased by 146% from 2011. Oral drug tests also confirmed positive.

According to NCADI statistics, people with substance abuse disorders have low employee morale; they have more health insurance claims and they are also having high rates of absenteeism. These statistics further noted that the cost of substance abuse by organizations can be measured in that those affected are more likely to injure themselves as well as other coworkers; they also have greater probability of filing worker’s compensation claims which highly affects the business. These people are less productive as they also spend more days absent from work. The research shows that 9% of people with substance abuse disorder fail to attend their duties due to lack of morale, hangovers or even to go and enjoy the drugs.

Despite the fact that substance abuse is not discriminative on any ethnicity, age or geographical boundaries, it is important to understand that there are certain groups that are more likely to be affected. This therefore has forced the government to put some cautious measures to ensure that these groups are catered for before the effects sprouts. For instance, the government has targeted the members of military as trauma and combat are more likely to affect them leading to substance use and abuse. It has ensured that their psychological well being is catered for effectively. (Morin, 2017)

To enhance the efficiency within the military, the department of defense established that it would not hire civilian who proves to have such disorders. The department has also established policies under the Military and Civilian Drug Testing Program which requires screening to detect illicit drugs among the officers on duty. These policies are however based on covering the situation but not getting to its roots.

This is also common in most of other organizations forgetting that provision of education is the best way to ensure that personnel understand the effects of substance use as well as understanding implications of not adhering to the stipulated policies governing the organizations. Substance abuse within all working places creates more disadvantages and the cost of substance abuse can always be measured so as to understand to what extend it affects the organization operations and productivity. (Fuehrlein, 2016)

Research has also established that the type of different jobs can also determine to what extent the substance abuse problem may affect the workers. Working environment under which the workers undertake their duties is also a major issue. Workers that are harassed and not appreciated are more likely to find themselves under substance abuse. The same case applies to the workers who are verbally, sexually or physically mistreated. An environment that condones disrespect to the workers as well as conditions and products that are not controlled will still create higher chances of the workers to indulge in substance abuse so as to have some time out of reality.

Working environments that are boring will still have the same effect. It is therefore the responsibility of the government and the organizational institutions’ administration to ensure that they provide the best working experiences for their workers.

Surveys have established that low self esteem as well as depression is also more likely to force women or families to substance abuse leading to addiction. For such cases, the US government has established drug abuse policies with programs to ensure that women that suffer from substance abuse are catered for. Such programs mostly stress on maternal health and health during pregnancy. (Kamara, 2015)

Socially, substance abuse increases the chances of having trouble with co-workers, supervisors or tasks. Substance use impairs judgment and this plays a major role in distracting the strong relationship between the victim and the surrounding environment. This is a disadvantage to the organization as the success and attainment of any organizational goals depend on cooperation and unity among the workers.

Businesses and companies work as systems where by each organ and play a significant role in ensuring that everything works as expected. A good relationship within the organization is destroyed by the inability by some of the employee’s failure to control such situations. This reduces the motivation and therefore leads to reduced productivity.

The statistics show that deaths that result from drug overdose have highly increased from the year 1999. According to the National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and CDC WONDER, the number has increased from 16,849 in 1999 to 70,237 in 2017. Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral and Treatment (SBIRT) guidelines have been recommended to cater for substance abuse disorders as well for all those that are at risk.

The US Drug Enforcement Administration was able to also issue a regulation in 2010 whereby it intended to reduce cases of prescription barrier. This also ensured that errors that are caused by for example, the illegible handwritings are reduced. This is more effective as software if well used are less prone to unnecessary errors that human beings may make. This was a way to curb deaths resulting from prescriptive drug misuse. ( Babor, 2017)

There has also been a relationship between the substance abuse and HIV epidemic. Approximation in 2006 showed that 16% of Americans who were newly diagnosed with HIV, substance abuse was a major contributing factor. This resulted from drug injection through shared equipment by the affected victims as well as other risky behaviors that could contract the disease for example, unsafe sex.

Hangover or sleeping and loss of efficiency become another effect that substance abuse creates. There are so many times when workers to the work place intoxicated. Alcohol is a major drug that is wisely abused yet not taken with the weight that it deserves. Drowsiness is experienced and this reduces the workers’ ability to perform their duties at a very high rate.

Sometimes taking action is not enough at all, at times the organizations face greater challenges as they find it difficult to discontinue those affected as some of them are the best performing. However, these workers could be performing well but the fact remains that their efficiency goes down with time as they cannot keep time and at ties are not reliable as they are not always available when needed. They are at times not even able to meet the set deadlines and therefore this reduces the productivity ability of the organization

However apart from the policies that are set aside to take care of the issue, workplace culture can also determine to what extend this issue may affect its operations. Gender equality is part of organizational culture and can also be used to tell if drug abuse could be a threat or not. Mixed gender may reduce the cases of substance abuse while having a population that is male dominated creates higher chances of creating an environment that is substance abuse inhibited.

This is simply because men tend to drink for conformity or even to show unity among them. There are however industries that are more likely to get affected by substance abuse than others and therefore precautions and policies that are able to control the situation should be keenly observed to ensure that the situation does not get out of control leading to collapse of their operations.

Previously, researchers have found that almost 21% of employees claimed that their productivity had been affected by their co-workers. The managers are also most affected by the daytime substance abuse and therefore the executive should also be controlled to ensure that the working experiences are improved thus increasing the productivity.

Companies that have managed to control this situation have confirmed 91% decrease in absenteeism, 93% decrease in careless mistakes within the performed duties and 88% decrease in problems associated with co-worker day-to-day relationship. Adoption of workplace substance abuse policy should therefore be the aim of every company or organization so as to improve the productivity. (Shani, 2016)

US government remains determined in ensuring that substance abuse is effectively grounded in future. More policies that promote ideas and themes to those that are most affected and assist to create a strategy that involves treatment, prevention and law enforcement. There are so many negative effects that result from high rate of substance abuse; to both the individual and the society at large.

Drug court programs should be established and well utilized as well as early intervention to ensure that these cases do not get to the extremes. These approaches are supposed to get accompanied by education so as to ensure that strong bases are built in the society. Ignorance does not help at all therefore the government should also come up with policies that involve integration of substance abuse education to the curriculum at all study levels.

The future of substance abuse epidemic will however depend on the ability of the government as well as the other concerned organizations to successfully apply integrated approaches to study of complex human behavior. The integration will ensure that all aspects within social and cultural contexts are grounded.

The major challenge that could face this move is fixing these measures in the various disciplines. It is however the responsibility of the government to ensure that it utilizes all means within its power to ensure that it grounds this situation. The fact that substance abuse is a major challenge, the policy makers needs a comprehensive strategy that can be measured appropriately so as to understand whether a positive effect is evident. ( Hunt, 2017)

References

Abuse, S., & Administration, M. H. S. (2016). 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

Martins, S. S., Mauro, C. M., Santaella-Tenorio, J., Kim, J. H., Cerda, M., Keyes, K. M., ... & Wall, M. (2016). State-level medical marijuana laws, marijuana use and perceived availability of marijuana among the general US population. Drug and alcohol dependence, 169, 26-32.

Kerridge, B. T., Pickering, R. P., Saha, T. D., Ruan, W. J., Chou, S. P., Zhang, H., ... & Hasin, D. S. (2017). Prevalence, sociodemographic correlates and DSM-5 substance use disorders and other psychiatric disorders among sexual minorities in the United States. Drug and alcohol dependence, 170, 82-92.

Morin, K. A., Eibl, J. K., Franklyn, A. M., & Marsh, D. C. (2017). The opioid crisis: past, present and future policy climate in Ontario, Canada. Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy, 12(1), 45.

Rutkow, L., Chang, H. Y., Daubresse, M., Webster, D. W., Stuart, E. A., & Alexander, G. C. (2015). Effect of Florida’s prescription drug monitoring program and pill mill laws on opioid prescribing and use. JAMA internal medicine, 175(10), 1642-1649.

Kamara, J. W. (2015). Pregnancy, an opportunity for empowerment: a trauma and attachment informed approach to creating a corrective relationship for mothers with trauma histories and subsequent substance abuse.

Fuehrlein, B. S., Mota, N., Arias, A. J., Trevisan, L. A., Kachadourian, L. K., Krystal, J. H., ... & Pietrzak, R. H. (2016). The burden of alcohol use disorders in US military veterans: results from the National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study. Addiction, 111(10), 1786-1794.

Babor, T. F., Del Boca, F., & Bray, J. W. (2017). Screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment: implications of SAMHSA's SBIRT initiative for substance abuse policy and practice. Addiction, 112, 110-117.

Shani, A. (2016). Rethinking substance use and abuse among hospitality employees. Boston Hospitality Review, 4(2), 1-7.

Hunt, P., Hunter, S. B., & Levan, D. (2017). Continuous Quality Improvement in Substance Abuse Treatment Facilities.