Drug Abuse and Prevention

Our society’s idea of prevention is to limit the availability of drugs (Hart & Ksir, 2011, p. 400), but this is not essentially the best way. Addiction affects everyone. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), substance abuse cost our nation â€Å"more than $484 billion dollars (The National Institute on Drug Abuse ). † So although you might not be directly impacted by drug abuse, as a whole your tax dollars are spent on fighting the war on drugs. Currently there are several different types of substance prevention; however are they really our best option?First is primary prevention, which is aimed at mostly young children who have never tried a substance or those who may have tried tobacco or alcohol (Hart & Ksir, 2011, p. 401). Benefits from this type of early intervention include encouraging abstinence, and teaching people the effects of potential drug use on their lives, emotions, and social relationships (Hart & Ksir, 2011, p. 401). There are progr ams that go to schools, and speak to children as young as 8 about drugs and the effects of drug use.Secondary prevention is for those who have tried the drug in question or other types of drugs. This is supposed to prevent the use of more dangerous drugs, and also to prevent the use of the substances in a more dangerous way (Hart & Ksir, 2011, p. 401). This prevention is aimed more towards college students, who have tried drugs but have not suffered seriously from their drug use. This is not aimed at people who need obvious treatment (Hart & Ksir, 2011, p. 402). Let us look back on primary prevention. Most students have experienced a program called D.A. R. E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education). Studies have shown that here is no proof that D. A. R. E. reduced the use of alcohol or drugs; it was found that it is actually 3 counterproductive (Hanson, 2007). The U. S. Department of Education prohibits schools from spending funding on the D. A. R. E. program, because they believe â€Å" it’s completely ineffective in reducing alcohol and drug use (Hanson, 2007). What D. A. R. E. oes is exposes young elementary school children to drugs they might not have know about before. There should be a better approach to primary prevention. Changing the age group to sixth graders is a start because they are the ones who are most likely to be exposed to drugs and alcohol. The programs should continuously follow up and collect data on the students to find out what approach is most effective. Every person is different, and if we combine selective and primary prevention we can cater programs to specific types of children.Secondary prevention is designed for people who have tried the drug in question or a variety of other substances (Hart & Ksir, 2011, p. 401). The ultimate goal of these programs is to prevent the person who is using a certain drug from opening up to other, more dangerous drugs. The purpose is to stop them from endangering themselves more than they already h ave. The clientele in this case are usually people who are more experienced and have not had an extreme reaction to the drugs that they have used.Therefore, they are not â€Å"in too deep. † Many of the people that fall into this category are college students and programs aimed at encouraging responsible use of alcohol among college students are good examples of this stage of prevention (Hart & Ksir, 2011, p. 402). In order to attempt to prevent the transition from use to abuse in college students, they should think about starting these prevention programs at an earlier age. Nowadays, kids get started very early and by high school they are already exposed to alcohol and drug use.It would be wise to open their eyes to what they are going to encounter in their college years and give them the proper advice so that they are prepared when they get to college. College students have a lot of free time on their hands and it is very easy to make a habit out of recreational drug use. I feel that if students knew what to expect, they won’t be as naive and vulnerable as they would be if they hadn’t been properly advised. Students at that age get involved in different things because they are making new friends and adjusting to a new lifestyle.I think it would be a good idea for campuses to have clubs or programs run by students for students who are struggling with drug abuse, that way students know that they have someone to talk to who will help them if they need it. A prevention program that takes place at later stages of drug abuse is Tertiary prevention. Tertiary preventing is relapse prevention, or follow-up programs (Hart & Ksir, 2011, p. 402). This prevention refers to actions that can be taken to prevent a relapse from occurring and to help the person maintain a healthy status after therapy has lready been administered. For alcohol- or heroin-dependent individuals, treatment programs are the first order of priority (Hart & Ksir, 2011, p. 402). I f a person has already been treated or are able to stop using without the help of anyone else, they enter another stage of prevention. This could be improved by having people who have already been through the program follow up with the clientele who are currently going through the same experience that they did. It is much easier for people to talk to someone who has been in the same position as them.Having people who they can relate to and continue to guide them through their journey to stay sober is very encouraging. The universal drug prevention program is another kind of intervention which targets the whole community; its intention is to reach a large audience. This program focuses on the entire 5 group rather than the individual. These programs are implemented within the community, classrooms, and focus on prevention and life skills (Little, 2010).A kind of Universal prevention program is the Caring Community Program which consists of a family- plus approach to reduce the risk of drug use by children (Little, 2010). These kinds of programs are quite beneficial in that they target the young. By the end of elementary a child has already been exposed to some form of drugs. By providing the sense of community it reduces drug abuse, street violence and psychological problems among children (Little, 2010). These types of programs promote motivation in school and academic achievement.Another great benefit is that Potential benefits are expected to outweigh costs for everyone (Schaps, 2003). The downside to a program like this would be that because it’s made to focus on the group as a whole, individuals that are at a higher risk and constantly surrounded by drugs are getting the same attention as those that may have never seen drugs, These individuals may need more intervention to be able to stay away from drugs since access to them is abundant. A great way to better this program would be to intensify it in communities that drugs run ramped and easily acce ssed.While still keeping the prevention program universal and targeting the whole community, it would be more impactful if altered in high risk communities to strengthen the program and make it more intensive. The Selective prevention program on the other hand targets subgroups of the general population that are determined to be at risk for substance abuse. Those who participate in this kind or program are recruited because they are known to have specific risk to substance abuse.The groups targeted by these programs are both adults and children. Age, gender, family history, place of residence and victimization, or physical and/or sexual abuse may define the targeted 6 subgroups (Doyle, 2006). A benefit of this program would be that the selective prevention program is presented to the entire subgroup because the subgroup as a whole is at higher risk for substance abuse than the general population.It targets those people that are being exposed to drugs more frequently or that are pro ne to abusing drugs rather than targeting all communities. Not all communities have the same drug exposure and accessibility to drugs. So it’s important to target specific communities. The weakness of this program is that the individual’s personal risk is not exclusively assessed or recognized and is based solely on a presumption given in his or her membership in the at-risk subgroup (Doyle, 2006).There may be individuals in the subgroup that are at no risk for drug abuse whereas there may be someone in the group that is already using. If this is not known the one that is already using may not benefit at all from this program. Great ways to strengthen the selective prevention program is to go deeper, not only select at risk subgroups but asses individuals within the group to increase intervention with certain individuals that may be already using.

International entrepreneurship 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

International entrepreneurship 2 - Essay Example Provision of Managerial Advice Governments have often found it necessary to intervene in SME operations as they play a crucial role in economic development. If the SMEs are of strategic importance to the nation; therefore, the government cannot risk them collapsing due to the competitiveness of the international free markets (Carter and Evans 2012, p.50). Governments can intervene by use of the financial systems put in place in order to ensure that the small businesses’ managers are properly trained on financial and managerial operations. This would have the effect of increasing small businesses in the nation due to increase in expertise available and improved quality of service. In Germany after the destruction of the economy during World War II, small businesses were almost non-existent and the erection of the Berlin wall resulted in Eastern Germany lagging behind the West. As the two sides united in 1991, Eastern Germany’s small businesses stood at 80000 private craf tsmanship firms with the largest employers having up to 1000 (Welter and Smallbone 2002, p.23). Due to the risks of lending money to such clients, German banks were instructed by the federal government to take an active role in the operations of clients businesses. This included offering the clients advice this was to prevent the loss of their loans but also led to better security for the bank, as they were sure of how their investments were spent. Cross Border Entrepreneurship Cross border entrepreneurship can occur through partnership agreements between neighbouring countries. Cross border entrepreneurship (CBE) is when two or more countries will initiate business activities to meet the needs of the trading country. Therefore, with cross border trade, specialisation occurs on a national scale as SMEs begin to produce goods tailor made for the trading partner. Cross border entrepreneurship requires good regional relationships to take place and governments to initiate the activities before small businesses can start producing subsidiary goods. The governments of the trading countries will have to have lower custom standards for goods from the selected countries. It has been observed that one unplanned advantage that does result from CBE is an increase in tourism from the trading countries (Welter, Smallbone and Xheneti 2012, p.203). These includes Greece, Macedonia and Bulgaria, which have implemented a cross border entrepreneurial policy that has seen Greece invest over 1.5 billion dollars in Bulgaria between 1995 and 2005 (Welter Smallbone and Xheneti 2012, p.90), which has led to an exponential increase in trade volumes. Albania was recently included and combined its agricultural resources with Bulgaria for Albania and Greece. The governments of the four countries have offered subsidies to their partnering countries while removing the trade barriers and protectionist policies other countries receive when trading. The unemployment problem in Greece has been a barrier to effective trading and until it is resolved, cross border trading will not be fully implemented. Subsidies Subsidies are incentives given by governments to various industries in order to promote growth and development in various fields. Small businesses do not enjoy economies of scale and during the formative years, they will find themselves lacking in many facilities that larger

The affirmative action policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The affirmative action policy - Essay Example In the year 1961 however, President John F. Kennedy signed an important executive order which established what was called the President's Commission on Equal employment opportunities. The order therefore charged all contractors who were working for the government or on government projects, to ensure all those who apply to be employed by them are given equal treatment and that they should try as much as possible to eradicate any form of discrimination against any one belonging to any minority during their hiring procedures. The order did not,however,task the contractors to give those applicants belonging to the minority group any special preferences but rather to just eliminate discriminatory practices from their procedures.The Affirmative action became legally backed when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed. The act however did not state any criminal penalties to be given to any employer found guilty of practising any form of discriminatory practice but rather helped established a condition were the affected person will be given what he/she would have been given or would have acquired in the absence of discrimination. For the past decades discrimination against minority groups like women in certain communities, minority races and immigrants from other countries have caused a lot of problems in the society as a whole and has called for proper attention mostly from human rights activists. Unfortunately, this canker of discrimination although been practised in the present is being propagated into the future also since the younger generations who witness these acts of discrimination from the elderly get influenced by it and see it to be some thing worth doing. In the area of business however this act of discrimination especially during recruitment and even when one is on the job has caused a lot of havoc either in the productivity, efficiency and proper running of a particular business where this is practiced. These problems will be highlighted upon later in th e paper. The main motive behind the this policy of affirmative action however is to manifest the creation of equal opportunities for all , that is to say all persons have the right to equal access and treatment. It is therefore important to note that all persons with equal abilities , should be given equal opportunities and a fair play ground or field when it comes to their self development and in the field of work. Affirmative actions however differ in distinct ways depending on the methods or procedures it employs in the elimination of discrimination in the business and general society. Some affirmative actions principles have a priority of only reviewing existing or old hiring or recruitment procedures being practised by some organisations and make the necessary recommendations and corrections on this old procedures in order to ensure no form of discriminatory condition is involved during the hiring of employees most especially when it comes to persons found in any of the minority groups either due to their sex, race, religious believe e.t.c. Other affirmative actions aside these also try to rather give some sort of preference to persons found in these minority groups. In the public sector however, affirmative action plays very important roles in the elimination of discriminatory practices in their recruitment processes. These discriminatory procedures are rarely seen or practised in the public sector due to the strictly laid down rules in the procedures involved in recruitment of employees. These rules are very effective since they are made with very high priority given to the constitution of the country. This is because the public sector is

Have the welfare reforms enacted since the 1980s been successful in Essay

Have the welfare reforms enacted since the 1980s been successful in achieving their goals - Essay Example However, some decades later, the program was blamed for creating a dependent culture. This encouraged the government to institute reforms on the welfare sector. This paper will look at major achievements and challenges of welfare reforms since the 1980s. The Need for Reforms in Welfare Sector To the beneficiaries, the financial benefits derived from public welfare programs were better than most low paying jobs. Hence, most people preferred to remain covered by the welfare program than be employed. On the contrary, many people felt that there was a need for the government to continue providing welfare assistance since most of the beneficiaries were children under the Aid to Families with Dependant Children (AFDC) (Wax 2009). Under this program, families were living under comfort of assured of federal support. However, the new reforms on welfare have changed this situation by eliminating the guarantee. The choice of who to benefit from the welfare program in most countries depends on t he intended goal of a specific program. In basic terms, the main aim of major welfare programs is to get the target individuals out of poverty by making them self-reliant and thereby lead a better life. ... ility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PROWRA) of 1996 takes credit for helping reduce the number of people who are dependent on welfare (Grogger & Karoly 2005). Second, the reform removed the control of the welfare system from the hands of federal government and passed it to state governments. Third, the reform set some minimal requirements that a state has to meet in order to benefit from welfare services. The reforms saw the federal government give out welfare support in a flat rate on the basis of the population in the state. This succeeded in encouraging people to look for work as a way of lessening dependence on state welfare. The achievements of Personal Responsibility and Work opportunity Act reform were strengthened by the Temporary Reward for Needy Families (TANF) program. TANF replaced the AFDC which gave support to all needy families with needy children (Martin 2011). TANF required state governments to encourage the people to search for employment while receiving welfare assistance. This was the first time in the history of the welfare approach for the government to impose requirements to states and beneficiaries. The assistance was also limited to five years of a family’s lifetime. As a result, there has been a 60 percent reduction in welfare dependency due to rise in employment levels. However, the perceived reduction in caseload in 1990s due to the reforms is challenged to be as a result of strong economic growth in the economy of United States. Strong economy meant people were able to find better paying jobs, and hence become less reliant on welfare funds. Increase in Employment and Income of Single Mothers Even though the critics of early reforms had predicted dire consequences primarily to the single unemployed mothers, they stood to witness

Tokyo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Tokyo - Essay Example It described the future of Tokyo by predicting that Tokyo will make further strides as a big city with a population of over 12 million, a lively city characterized by mutual contacts and support for transcending generations, a comfortable city with a combination of abundant greenery and charming waterfront, and a city which will maintain a balance between residence and work place while functioning both as a domestic and international information junction and as a major base for the international economy. This is the very image of Tokyo as an attractive international city-that is, a world city-which will lead the world both in name and reality (TMG, 1987, p. 50). When examining the nature of urban policy and planning, it is impossible to ignore the context of global economic change. Many of these policies are formulated as a response to global economic pressures. The priority of urban policy in many cities is to attract inward investment and increase economic competitiveness in relation to other world cities, or similar cities in their region (Short and Kim, 214-235)-although the manner in which this is pursued can vary according to local circumstances (Hall and Hubbard, 85-99). Often these entrepreneurial approaches are adopted to stimulate revitalization after the loss of earlier economic vitality. Thus, as a hypothesis, it is reasonable to ask whether such an entrepreneurial policy emphasis has developed in Tokyo in the context of the Japanese economic crisis. Although Tokyo is nearly always bracketed with London and New York as the top three world cities, there is considerable debate over the degree of similarity between them. One criticism of the global city debate is its Anglo-American ethnocentrism and its tendency to "exaggerate... Although Tokyo is widely regarded as one of the top three ‘world cities’, the argument is supported that it retained many national characteristics, partly based on its location in a ‘developmental state’. As national fortunes have changed, so has Tokyo’s relationship with its global environment. Twenty years ago Japan was experiencing economic boom and this was reflected in dramatic development projects in Tokyo. The concept of ‘world city’ was used at this time to legitimize such development. The 1990s were viewed in Japan as ‘the lost decade’ with great uncertainty over policy direction as the boom collapsed and urban policy in Tokyo entered a phase of inertia. It is argued that the city is now entering a third phase in which a new competitive attitude is emerging regarding the role of Tokyo and this is leading to changes in strategic urban policy. However, this new approach is still embedded in old structures and conceptio ns and hence there are tensions in developing future policy. Attitudes to the role of Tokyo have been changing in national government. After a period in which the concept of world city was unfashionable, the national administration of Hashimoto announced the Japanese version of the Big Bang policy in 2003. This proposed that Tokyo should be revived as one of the world’s economic centers and be made into a free, fair and global financial market. This was the context for the election for Governor of Tokyo in 1999, which was won by Ishihara. His election manifesto was based on the idea that national recovery should start in Tokyo. He presented himself as a strong political leader who could stop the decline of both Tokyo and Japan. His dynamic approach, in which he proposed to revitalize Tokyo again as Japan’s leading city and an important world player, contrasted with the sluggish approach under Hiroshima.

KU library Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

KU library - Essay Example This paper seeks to pinpoint how the practices of variance control and setting of high-performance standards may result in ethical issues given that both have served as sources of accounting information and tools for management control systems. Fluctuations in variances such as cost, production and price need to be controlled since these have a direct effect on the product or service quality attained. Cost control entails the identification of the standard cost of output attained (Malmi & Brown, 2008). Ethical issues arise when cost control is not achieved through the comparison of the total standard cost with total actual cost; hence, needs to be traced to the responsible managers and tasked for the outcome of the failed cost controls. Whenever there are huge deviations between the costs aspects, quality of products or services offered will be affected since the management may tend to vary the prices charged too (Kaynak, 2003). Maintenance of high-performance standards may result in ethical issues in that it would result in the production of high-quality goods and services. However, this may be at a high cost, which in return may result in raising of prices that may subject the management to ethical wars by quality control bodies and consumer confederations. In the process, managers will be required to provide accurate representations of the production and quality processes. This will be in consideration of the application of variances as accounting information for the management control tool (Malmi & Brown,

Immunology Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Immunology - Coursework Example Innate immunity is usually immediate and non-specific response. The Adaptive immune response is only activated when the pathogen evades the innate immunity. Adaptive immune response acts by recognition of the pathogen and retained after the pathogenic infection has been eliminated (Doan, 2008). The Humoral immune response is a branch of adaptive immune response. Humoral immune response act on pathogens that are outside the bed such as toxins and bacterias, during the response antibodies which are protein bodies present in the body are produced and secreted into the blood stream and other body fluids to help in fighting with the intruding agents by binding to them and destroying them (Doan, 2008). In the case of the student who was first exposed to the avian flu the humoral system retained the response given first hence when the student was infected again by the flu the immune response had the memory and hence acted on it faster than the first time (Doan, 2008). The T helper cells are responsible for suppressing and regulation of the innate responses. Low helper T cells results in hypersensitivity reactions to the patient because the body will view the host’s antigen presenting the antibody as foreign and go on to destroy all the host antigens. They include chemical, mechanical, and biological barriers. Chemically the skin produces an antimicrobial agent that protects against pathogens. Mechanically, sneezing helps to expel foreign bodies present in the respiratory tract. This response comes first after an infection. Cytokines are produced and they communicate with the white blood cells to recruit immune cells to the infection site hence healing takes place after removal of the pathogens (Doan,