I don't know if reliable stats exist, but I am under the impression that in recent years, more and more people are consuming drugs and becoming addicted. Anyone with reliable info on this?
I was under the impression that there was simply more and more awareness, both in terms of people willing to admit to having a problem and how a problem is defined. I could be wrong, but I thought it was a similar gray area to what you see with crime statistics - it's all about the reporting.
I do not know either way but my initial thoughts lean toward onionman's. It seems like people are more aware of drugs and their harmful effects. When I was in high school none of my friends were interested in experimenting with hard drugs. They knew what could possibly happen.
It can be a matter of awareness true, more and more we speak about that, but I feel that more and more people are also consuming...
Seems like it is increasing based on statistics by the National Institute on Drug use. However, numbers have been derived from USA alone among high school students and from 1993-2013. Increase can be seen in the use of marijuana and illicit drugs. Uses of alcohol, cigarettes and synthetic drugs (with effects similar to that of illicit drugs) have declined. While prescription/over the counter drugs have been the most consumed drugs by 12th graders. This is the link http://www.drugabuse.gov/related-to...raphics/monitoring-future-2013-survey-results. Here is another link showing drug trends and statistics on a wider scope both in countries and ages (15-64 years old) only in the early 2000's and 2008 - http://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr/WDR_2010/2.0_Drug_statistics_and_Trends.pdf
I don't know of any such stats myself, but I'm sure that some are out there as there is so much information on so many things these days, but it would not surprise me at all to learn that more and more people are becoming addicted. Look at the state of this world we live in, the state of the home, the state of the family, wars, violence, so much going on. It would not surprise me if people are unfortunately trying to self-medicate themselves in today's world.
Drug statistics vary per continent, country, city or district. I know looking at statistics is important but I hope that the government - and not just academic and non-profit institutions - does its share in tracking the number of rehabilitated individuals since the initiation of rehab programs. This will help them assess their rehabilitation efforts and find ways to improve their services with the end goal of increasing recovery and sobriety statistics.
Tracking the number of rehabilitated people would definitely be a good thing. At the moment, we can only see how the world is falling to drug abuse, but there must be some who are escaping from it. It also gives public awareness to these services, and shows that they actually work.
I don't think its just a matter of awareness. More and more people are getting into such addictions from early ages. I think statistics from a year ago showed that the average age at which people started smoking and drinking was 13. A few decades ago the average age was 17. Add to this hereditary factors and worsening environmental aspects, and you can see where the increase comes from.
I also believe that more and more people are getting into drugs these days. I think it has to do with our world's current state and the fact that people are making more money and at the same time are getting really bored and so they go to drugs.
Thanks for sharing these documents notodrugs, I feel that these are extensive documents that can give us a better overview of what's going on, I'm going to take a look on them.
No, I don't have the stats, empirically I would say that your observation is valid. Drug use, especially marijuana, has been trivialized. It is now considered "what cool people do". Therefore, what else can we exspect.
It seems that way since there are more meds being advertised. It seems we're disabling ourselves by relying on medications rather than alternatives. What did we do before all these meds had their own commercials?
My grandma used herbal medicines and they were very effective. She used a lot of the greens, names of which she knew by heart and where to find them. She had a certain plant or sets of plants for certain illnesses. Thus, cannabis plant or marijuana is beneficial health-wise if taken at the right amount and for the right purpose.
I think it might seem that way, but the stigma of addiction was removed. Now it is considered a disability and a disease, rather than just some lazy, selfish drunk/junkie. When the labels changed, addiction became more socially acceptable as a problem to deal with rather than an evil trait someone possesses.
Herbal treatments are the best, I am all for natural and homeopathic treatments, the issue is that the powerful pharma and medical lobby doesn't allow this medicine to come forward in strength.
Yeah, when I was a teen marijuana was something the alternative people used, now it seems to be mainstream and cool, you're right.
It's very true. A simple way to know that the number is rising everyday is by simply thinking about the number of people you have known over the years who are addicted to a cettain drug. It could be your friends, your school mates, workmates or even family members or relatives. If you carefully analyze the numbers, you will see an increase each year. The biggest being among young people.
I don't think so. If ever the number has increased, I'd suspect it would only be due to it's relation to the increase in population. I suspect that addiction was way more rampant before when we weren't educated with these substances and people even believed them to be medically beneficial albeit without scientific basis.
75% of the people I grew up with ended up being drug addicts. Most of them drink. A lot. They have good jobs but most of the money they earn is spent in the bar so most of them, old as they are, still live with their parents. Basing my argument on that, I do believe that there are more addicts today than there were years back.