Transcript The Cost of Drugs in the US

Drug Use : An Overview
Page 7 notes
Page 7 Definitions and Overview
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Drug use affects:
Every age group
Every racial/ethnic group
Every SES (socio-economic status)
Every geographic division
http://www.samhsa.gov/data/NSDUH/2k11Results/NSDUHresults2
011.pdf
The Cost of Drugs in the U.S.
Americans spent $100 billion to $150 billion a year on illicit drugs
Americans consume greater than 60% of the world’s illicit drugs
Drug offenders account for over 50% of all inmates in federal
prisons
• College students spend over $4 billion annually for alcohol
• Tobacco & nicotine kill us at a rate of 300,000 a year…more than all
of the drugs combined!
Definitions and Overview
• Revolutionary Uses of Drugs
• Vaccines: (19th century):
– Small pox, diphtheria, polio, whooping cough, measles, chicken
pox, mumps, tetanus (preventable)
• Antibiotics: (1940’s)
• Sulfa drugs, penicillin (treat infections)
• Psychopharmacology: (1950’s)
– Anti-psychotic drugs
• Oral Contraceptives: (1950’s)
• Contributed to the sexual revolution
Definitions and Overview
Drug Use Risk Factors
• Early use
• Using alone
• Peer pressure
• Parental approval
• Perceived adult use
• Little religious commitment