Final Paper

Vast studies report a significant relationship between age and alcohol and substance abuse. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (2014), individuals are likely to start abusing drugs including alcohol, tobacco and narcotics between adolescence and young adulthood. It is indicated that by the time they are seniors , virtually 70 percent of high school students will have taken alcohol , 50 percent will have taken a prohibited drug , almost 40 percent will have smoked cigarette while more than 20 percent will have abused a prescription drug( National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2014). There are many reasons adolescents and young adults turn to alcohol and substance abuse including the craving for new experiences , an effort to cope with problems to perform better in school and pressure from peers (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2014). Therefore, age can increase the risk of use of alcohol and substances among individuals.

The magnitude of the impacts of alcohol and drug abuse on public health can be examined from multiple levels, individual, family and the community. Consequences include illnesses, injuries and deaths. It is estimated that 40 million debilitating illnesses or injuries occur among the U.S. population due to use of alcohol, tobacco and other addictive drugs (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2014). A study by Bagget and Rigotti (2015) on deaths among 28 033 adults recorded at the Boston Health Care for the Homeless during the period 2003 and 2008 found that 1302 of the deaths were associated with alcohol and substance abuse. 236 of these deaths were attributed to tobacco, 215 deaths were attributed to alcohol while 286 deaths were attributed to other drugs. In brief, alcohol and substance abuse culminates in dire health effects that cut across individuals and the society. Accordingly, intervention programs should focus on combating the problem in order to protect health, safety and quality of life for the vulnerable groups.

I propose a community based program to address the factors that contribute to the initiation and use of alcohol and substances among the vulnerable groups. According to Griffin m& Potvin (2010), such program should aim at delivering a coordinated and comprehensive message about preventing alcohol and drug abuse. With regard to alcohol, the program would entail five prevention components. The first component would center on reducing alcohol access which can be achieved through assisting communities to use zoning and municipal laws and regulations to curb the density of bars, liquor stores and the like (Griffin& Botvin, 2010). The second component would be ensuring responsible beverage service which involves training alcohol beverage servers and retailers to establish policies and procedures to mitigate drunkenness and engaging in dangerous activities such as driving while drunk (Griffin& Botvin ,2010).

The third component would aim at leveraging law enforcement in order to reduce drinking and driving, for example, use of sobriety checkpoints. This would decrease the number of deaths that occur through accidents (Griffin& Botvin, 2010). The fourth element of the program would target reducing access of alcohol by minors. This should involve providing training to retailers to refrain from selling alcohol to underage individuals and those who provide alcohol to them , and through intensified enforcement of laws appertaining to alcohol sales to minors (Griffin& Botvin, 2010). The last component would focus on providing communities with the tools needed to form coalitions necessary in the implementation and support of the interventions geared towards addressing alcohol and substance abuse problem (Griffin& Botvin, 2010).

In summary, income level or socioeconomic status and age can increase the risk of individuals resorting to use of alcohol and other drugs. Research shows that multiple illnesses, injuries and deaths are associated with alcohol and substance abuse. An effective community program to address the problems created by alcohol and drugs should be preventive in nature and should bring together inputs from law enforcement and all stakeholders in the community.

References

Baggett, T. & Rigotti, N. (2015). Tobacco-, Alcohol-, and Drug-Attributable Deaths and Their Contribution to Mortality Disparities in a Cohort of Homeless Adults in Boston. American Journal of Public Health, 105(6), 1189. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4431083/

Botvin, G. & Griffin, K. (2010). Evidence-Based Interventions for Preventing Substance Use Disorders in Adolescents. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 19(3), 505. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2916744/

National Institute on Drug Abuse,. (2014). Principles of Adolescent Substance Use Disorder Treatment: A Research-Based Guide. Drugabuse.gov. Retrieved 22 August 2016, from https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/principles-adolescent-substance-use-disorder-treatment-research-based-guide/introduction

Schulenberg, J., Wightman, P., Patrick, M., & Schoeni, R. (2012). Socioeconomic Status and Substance Use among Young Adults: A Comparison across Constructs and Drugs. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 73(5), 772. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3410945/

Valdez, A., Kaplan, C., & Curtis, R. (2007). Aggressive Crime, Alcohol and Drug Use, and Concentrated Poverty in 24 U.S. Urban Areas. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 33(4), 595. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3015237/