Drugs, Society and Human Behavior

Factors hindering determination of drug use extent

It is challenging to assess the level of drug use due to personal, facilitatory, environmental, and societal factors, including early drug usage, as this can alter the brain’s development and raise the probability that drug addiction will develop later in life. Using a substance that is very addictive is also another factor (Hart et al., 2013). Drugs, including cocaine, narcotic medications, and stimulants, may hasten the onset of addiction. Moreover, lack of family participation, including possible parental neglect. Having mental health conditions such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder makes it challenging to assess the level of drug usage (Lisdahl et al., 2018).

Information absent in surveys and how to get it

Information about drug abusers of prescribed medications may not be included in surveys. This is because prescription drug addicts may often refuse to acknowledge their condition (Hart et al., 2013). Hence, in a survey, these individuals might not be included as drug abusers. I will access this information from drug rehabilitation centres, the police, healthcare facilities, television updates, newspapers, magazines, and mental health institutes. This might be the beginning of my data collection. To gather information, I will interview students in colleges and high schools.

Dishonesty and how to improve the accuracy of drug use information

Some individuals may be reluctant to disclose their drug usage due to concerns for their work, families, religion, or friends to avoid confrontation. Besides, they might fear great shame, humiliation, and regret (Hart et al., 2013). Observe prescription drug usage by listing all the prescription and non-prescription drugs you have in your house to enhance accurate drug use information. Additionally, by fostering a close relationship with the family and keeping an eye on their actions, one can assist them and possibly discourage them from using drugs (McCance-Katz, 2019). Moreover, guidelines and consequences for suspects and liars were established.

1982 Tylenol poisoning crisis reports

Johnson & Johnson took prompt and decisive action to address the Tylenol poisoning problem in 1982. The items were taken off the shelves, and free refunds and safe tablets were provided in their place (Shidler & Fink, 2022). Together with FDA representatives, they launched innovative, secure-proof packages with foil sealing and other characteristics that made it clear to a customer if fraud had occurred. These packaging safeguards quickly became the norm for all over-the-counter (OTC) medicines. The FDA’s new standards mandate that all OTC painkillers produce packaging that is both tinker-proof and interferes. The modern standard has a three-pronged strategy: the flaps of the outside box are bonded shut, a foil sealing is in place beneath the cap, and a plastic sealing encapsulates the bottle cap (Shidler & Fink, 2022). These modifications are coupled with language highlighting the tamper-valid outer packaging

References

Hart, C. L., Ksir, C., & Ray, O. S. (2013). Drugs, society & human behaviour (p. 496). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Lisdahl, K. M., Sher, K. J., Conway, K. P., Gonzalez, R., Ewing, S. W. F., Nixon, S. J., … & Heitzeg, M. (2018). Adolescent brain cognitive development (ABCD) study: Overview of substance use assessment methods. Developmental cognitive neuroscience, 32, 80-96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2018.02.007

McCance-Katz, E. F. (2019). The national survey on drug use and health: 2017. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/nsduh-ppt-09-2018. pdf. Accessed May, 7.

Shidler, G. J., & Fink, J. L. (2022). Changes in the Law Result From OTC Drug Product Tampering. Pharmacy Times, 88(5).

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE

We’ll write everything from scratch

Question

Drugs, Society and Human Behavior

For the discussion, answer the following:

What factors make it difficult to determine the extent of drug use?
What information might be missing in surveys? How would you try to get information?
Why might people not be honest? What can be done to improve the accuracy of information about drug use?

Find reports on the 1982 Tylenol poisoning crisis. Discuss how Johnson & Johnson responded, as well as the new regulations regarding the safeguarding of containers and packages of OTC pain-relievers.