Untitled Essay, Research Paper

A major problem that exists within Canadian society is the abuse of mind-altering

substances. Such narcotics cause not only health problems, but also violent and

potentially criminal acts. A mind-altering narcotic can be defined as both the legal and

illegal type. The four main categories of drugs are: narcotics, CNS depressants, CNS

stimulants, and hallucinogens. Most of these drugs are highly addictive and are usually

obtained by prescription or are considered a banned substance and must be purchased

illegally.

Users of many of the "harder" drugs being abused today also face the possibility

of an eventual overdose. An overdose is the ingestion of a lethal or mind-damaging amount

of drugs. Once an full addiction of these drugs occur, the user faces withdrawal symptoms

when a discontinuation of a drug transpires. This is due to a reduction of the natural

pain-killers that exist in the body of non-drug users. These symptoms include chills,

sweating, cramps, headaches, diarrhea and excessive vomiting. The treatment of drug

addicts includes an extensive program of detoxification. Medical drugs, such as Naloxone,

are sometimes given to patients to aid in overcoming these addictions. These drugs occupy

opiate receptors in the brain to block all effects of the damaging drugs, however the

Naloxone is not an addictive drug, as the others are. The downfall to the medical drugs

being used to help addiction are that there effects are very short-term and cannot cure

the patient, but does assist in attaining the goal of substituting a more controllable,

less lethal drug as opposed to the original narcotic .

The key to preventing substance abuse in Canada is to educate the public, preferably at a

young age, never to experiment with potentially life-threating drugs. This education can

be attained within the pre-secondary schools. In 1988 prime minister Brian Mulroney

announced proposed Canada’s Drug Strategy. Laws were enacted, which prohibited the sale of

drug paraphernalia and increased the power of police to seize the assets of arrested drug

offenders. The Strategy allocated the sum of $210 million in its first five years (and an

additional $270 million in 1992) mainly to the prevention, education and treatment of drug

use, while 30 per cent of this money was intended for the traditional area of law

enforcement.

The goal of education within the school system should be to support those students who are

non-users with recognition and social activities that will encourage them to remain

non-users and to facilitate a belief and value system that incorporates concern for fellow

students and residents of the community. Drug education should emphasise the negative

aspects of drugs to give the student a fair understanding of the long-term effects of drug

use.

Building a program for long-term survival, which describes features of prevention programs

that can increase a program’s survival chances after the initial grant period should be

considered a priority. Educators cannot be at the student’s side at all times,

especially when the student is faced with pressuring situation affecting the

experimentation of drugs. Programs must focus one long-term education that will remain in

the students mind long after the program has terminated. One option for educators is to

use the tool of fear. If enough fear is put into the students mind in may deter them from

ever wanting to experiment with the drugs; or even from becoming curious of their effects.

The clear solution to winning to "war on drugs" is to establish a clear long

term program. Such a program should include government grants, a description of the health

risks associated with the use of alcohol and illicit drugs, standards of conduct that

clearly prohibit the unlawful possession, use, or distribution of alcohol and illicit, and

a description of the applicable legal sanctions under school, local, state, or federal law

for the unlawful possession, use, or distribution of alcohol and illicit drugs. These

examples, along with the use of fear, should provide a very effective method of deterring

students from ever wanting to, or becoming curious with experimentation of drugs.

Works CitedFischer, B. (1994) "’Maps and Moves’" The International Journal of Drug Policy.

1995.Sternberg, Robert J. In Search of the Human Mind. Harcourt Brace College:

Publishers:Toronto. 1995.