Addiction Essay

The paper mainly focuses on addiction to substances and alcohol. Thesis statement Being a brain disease or complex condition, addiction causes a person to have distorted thinking patterns, behaviors, along with body functions and can result in serious problems socially, at school, home, or work. Body Attention Today, over 40 million Americans aged between 12 years and above are addicted to alcohol, nicotine, and other drugs. This is approximately 1 in every 7 people. Need There is a need to combat the misuse of drugs as the effects of addiction extend beyond the individual to the family, personal health, employment, local communities, health care systems, and the entire society. Addiction prevalence has intensified in the past few decades. It is estimated that over 40 million people living in America and aged 12 and above are addicted to alcohol, nicotine, and other types of drugs (Center on Addiction).

This means that one in every seven people is struggling with addiction. This number is higher as compared to Americans suffering from cancer (about 19 million), heart-related conditions (around 27 million), and diabetes (about 26 million). Did you know that over 210 million globally consume illegal drugs every year and over 200,000 deaths are drug-related? This trend is worrying as it reveals how addiction has turned out to be a social and global epidemic. Although the road towards eradication of addiction may be much longer, the efforts would be worth the efforts. Various methods such as the war on drugs have been enacted to prevent addiction. Addressing this problem will not only save millions of dollars incurred every year due to drug addiction but will also create a healthy and productive society.