In 2007, Dr.

Nora Volkow stated that the Economic costs [of drug abuse] are estimated to exceed half a trillion dollars annually in the United States. This fact would support the statement that there exists a problem with drug abuse in America. Society has an extremely ambiguous relationship with drugs. In movies and T.V. shows, drugs are shown to be involved with the crowds that were originally the in-crowd. This is perceived as whats popular and what people with obscene amounts of money do. Thus, drugs are associated with good times and acceptance in this context. In another situation, commercials are aired during the breaks between these programs that reveal the truth about what paths drugs can lead down. A woman with a hole in her neck disturbingly describes her day as she gets ready to be seen publicly after having trachea cancer, while Mad Men shows the rich and famous asking their peers for cigarettes. These associations of what drugs are create a sporadic depiction of what an individual should believe, so it is difficult to describe exactly why certain societies abuse drugs. However, there do exist unquestionable truths to this matter. Drugs create a feeling that is described by many to be pure euphoria. While high, they feel unstoppable, energetic, awareness, and clarity that made sobriety seem like a joke. For many drug users, this high is the reason they seek out drugs. However, in study by Erin Calipari, the high experienced by certain drugs is shown to have diminishing returns. In this article, cocaine is the drug of choice of the participants, and it shown to decrease the neurons ability to react to dopamine over a period of abuse (Calipari, 2014). The more cocaine used, the less the individuals felt after abusing the drug. This tolerance buildup causes an even more insatiable thirst for drugs than before. The climb for the high gets impossibly steeper the further down the path of drug abuse the individual follows. This encapsulates why some circles continue to do drugs after the initial puff, snort, or injection; to obtain the experience once more. Another reason a group might abuse drugs could be to fit a certain image. As I discussed earlier, T.V. and cinema portray drugs in a romantic light compared to reality. Nave or young individuals who

have an idea placed in their head of what they are expected to do in order to be perceived as cool or accepted will go through with it unless otherwise informed. This idea will not only be pressed upon to the individual by media, but also by peers or him/herself. All of these avenues build up to form a powerful influence that often dictates ones actions into trying a drug that might trap the individual in the cycle of addiction. Peer pressure is the push down the slope of addiction. While the exact definition of society differs between every person, there exists fundamental truths that govern drug use and abuse universally. Drugs, in all their shapes and forms, are psychologically or physically addictive. One puff, one sniff, one shot of the wrong substance will hook a person to the lifestyle of pain and pleasure for what may be an indefinite amount of time.

Resources Volkow, N. (2007). The science of addiction: Drugs, brains, and behavior. NIH MedLinePlus. 2(2). 14-17. Calipari, E. S., Ferris, M. J., & Jones, S. R. (2014). Extended access of cocaine self-administration results in tolerance to the dopamine-elevating and locomotor-stimulating effects of cocaine. Journal Of Neurochemistry, 128(2), 224-232. doi:10.1111/jnc.12452