1.3 Introduction
What is Substance Misuse?
The current research study will probe into the serious problems posed by substance misuse among young people in society. Substance misuse, since time immemorial, has been a curse to every nook and corner of the world. Reportedly, the United Kingdom is among the countries faced by the drug menace. An introduction to this research, the specific issues concentrating on the misuse of substances in relation to the National Health System (NHS) of UK will be evaluated. The NHS, specifically the North West Boroughs Healthcare NHS, defines substance misuse as the prolonged abuse or misuse of drugs which have the potential to cause alterations in the normal state of a person’s mind, leading on to severely affecting both mental and physical health of the person (NHS Foundation Trust, 2019).
Shockingly, it has been revealed through NHS that though there are only a small number of people victimized by substance abuse, this is expected to grow to a large number when those staying around these abusers too can be badly lured into the harmful practice. Substance dependence does include a wide range of drugs, both approved and non-approved by FDA (Food and drugs administration department) and other non-drug item substances including alcohol, cigarettes, heroin, marijuana, tobacco, cocaine etc. (Shand et al., 2011). Even beverages like coffee that contain high caffeine contents when taken in excess can contribute to substance abuse as it will affect the person’s mental state (James et al., 2011). Of all these substance abuses, alcohol abuse is known to hold the most prominent place in the list of substance misuses as it is the most commonly abused drug. The list contains other groups of drugs such as cocaine, marijuana, cannabis since they are also consumed at a high rate despite the ban in many places around the world. There has been a significant increase in the number of users of such drugs which has led to significant growth and other mushrooming of industries that manufacture the drug contents. Notably speaking, drug overdose for whatever reasons, even medically or otherwise, is an example of substance abuse (Paulozzi, 2012).
Since this research proposal focuses on the prevailing drug abuse within the UK, there is also a need to evaluate the effects of the neighboring countries in the fight against drug misuse. As per the NHS report, of the many drug abusers in the UK, there is only a handful of them who are treated so far, which is a worrying trend and clearly indicates the weight of the matter at hand.
It is identified that alcohol and drug misuse seriously affect the psychological and physical health and the general development of the individuals. Comparing with other age groups the studies portrays that the threat of substance misuse is higher in the young age group as they are mostly at risk of falling for the drugs. Segal et al. (2018) had noted that the adolescence is the period when the majority of the individuals started consuming drugs or alcohol and which later paved the way for drug addiction and serious health issues. Brain development effectively takes place during the adolescent period. The behavior and thinking process conducted by an individual at this brain development period greatly influence their actions in the later period or ages (Moffitt, 2017). It has to be noted that the introduction of mind-altering substances during this age period possess a threat to a person’s life.
The national reports state that the susceptibility towards alcohol is high among the adolescent. It is this susceptibility which easily makes the young adults addicted to alcohol. As per the opinion of Bachman et al. (2013), the intensity of the health risks in an individual is very high if he or she had started alcohol consumption at a very young age. The government chief medical officer in the UK strongly recommends avoiding alcohol consumption at a very young age especially less than 15 years old. The studies conducted by the NHS had revealed that the major misuses substances used by young adults in the nation are alcohol and cannabis (Conrod et al.,2011). In addition, it has been evident that one out of ten pupils consume alcohol. Dunn and Layard (2009) have stated that the peer pressure and the lack of proper guidance from the parents and households are the major reason which makes the young adults fall under the substance misuse.
The National Health Service outlined the serio