Introduction
Drug use across the world has been increasingly accepted in society. The UK has seen a serious misuse of drugs, which has caused harm to its citizens. According to the United Nations World Drug Report, there were 269 million drug users in 2018, which is thirty percent more than in 2009. The increased use of drugs has significantly impacted other societal systems by affecting the education, health, and finance systems. Drugs have been used for centuries; however, they have been redefined within social, political, cultural, and economic systems to make them more appealing. There is an increase in drug consumption in the UK due to the redefinition of drugs in society.
Why People Take Drugs
Normalisation Theory
One of the main theories explaining why people take drugs is the normalisation theory. Parker and his colleagues developed the normalisation theory at the University of Manchester after conducting a longitudinal and cross-sectional survey from 1990 to 2000s (Karlsson et al., 2018). The drug use normalisation theory states that drugs are normalised when there is less stigma in society, and it becomes more acceptable as normal behaviour (Greer et al., 2020). Drug use in the UK has been normalised for young people at fifteen years as a way of life. There are five key dimensions of the normalisation theory, as outlined below.
The first one is the availability of drugs, which has made them readily accessible. Due to increased communications over the Internet and modern transportation systems, obtaining drugs has been relatively easy (Karlsson et al., 2018). Prescription medicines are being distributed on the streets, making them locally available (Greer et al., 2020). This implies that they can be easily obtained by friends, colleagues, and family members who have their own prescriptions. With the drugs available, many people are willing to try them; thus, this has led to high drug intake in the 21st century.
Another reason why there is a normalisation of drug intake, according to the normalisation theory, is due to high rates of trying. Many people are willing to try new drugs because of the societal attitude that has destigmatized drug intake (Laing et al., 2022). Most of the people who try various drugs end up using them, and this leads to addiction. Therefore, the more people are willing to try the drugs, the more they are likely to adopt and get addicted to them.
The other reason for the normalisation of drug intake is abuse rates. The high rates of drug abuse across the UK and the world have made people get used to them. With over 200 million people using drugs around the globe, it seems less dangerous than it was perceived before (Karlsson et al., 2018). Therefore, the more people continue using rugs, the more it seems normal to everyone. For instance, there have been massive parties that have been held across the world that involve drugs such as alcohol, which was not the norm in the past.
Drugs have received an accommodating attitude from the non-users. People who do not abuse drugs are more likely to accommodate and live with drug users (Karlsson et al., 2018). This makes the drugs look normal for users and non-users because they are free to interact with others in society (Laing et al., 2022). Unlike in the past, when most people in society would avoid alcoholics, nowadays, people have accepted them the way they are, which has brought the idea of normalisation of drug intake.
There have been large cultural accommodations of drug abuse in most parts of the world. This can be clearly seen through adverts, drinking events, films, and other cultural shows (Laing et al., 2022). This is whereby various cultures, especially the western culture, have normalised substance and drug intake (Sirdifield, Brooker, and Marples, 2020). For instance, the US and UK have normalised alcohol as part of their daily lives. That is why it is commonly displayed in their films and adverts and used in some events. This is an implication that Western culture has accommodated the abuse of alcohol as part of its culture.
More Reasons Why People Take Drugs
People may abuse drugs due to a lack of accurate information about the effects. The rise of the internet and other social media platforms considered a source of information, has increased fake news (Gunjan, 2020). There is a high interest in social media myths about drugs, partly driven by curiosity and the fear of the unknown (Garnett et al., 2021). Mainstream media, too, has been engraved in spreading fake news by picking the most popular and publishing them. For instance, there is a common myth about marijuana: if a person uses it, it can cure cancer (Gunjan, 2020). This is false information; thus, people with cancer or those afraid of cancer may use the drug to avoid the disease. This shows that misinformation can lead to drug abuse as people are made to believe the false effects of a certain drug.
Another reason why people abuse drugs is due to rejection. When others reject people in society, they may seek solace in drugs. Sometimes, people may be rejected due to mental health issues, certain failures or events, and sickness (Garnett et al., 2021). When this happens, drugs can be very comforting because they give a virtual company to that person (Earnshaw, 2020). For instance, the hallucination process can temporarily give solace to a person who has been rejected. That is why most street children who feel rejected by society are on drug abuse.
People may take drugs to fit into certain groups in society. Humans are social creatures who feel important when they fit in or have a sense of belonging (Garnett et al., 2021). Although this can affect people at any time, teenage and early adulthood are the most influential periods. Therefore, if the groups they want to fit into have drug users, they will likely use drugs, too. This will result in some peer pressure, which will lead to drug abuse.
Some people may start abusing drugs as a result of curiosity. Some people are born around drugs and have never used them but hear positive feedback about them (Earnshaw, 2020). They may become interested in finding out how the drugs taste and how the effects of the drugs affect the body and try them out (Garnett et al., 2021). This is not due to the pressure of fitting in but the desire to try something new. This curiosity, entangled with the positive community attitude against drugs, makes it easy for people to try new drugs.
Some people abuse drugs due to the enjoyment of getting high. Most people try drugs to get to know how they taste and feel; however, once they experience the euphoric sensation from these drugs, it becomes difficult to stop using them. When a drug is taken in the body, there is a chemical reaction between the drug and the brain to release dopamine, which is pleasurable to many people (Garnett et al., 2021). People who enjoy that feeling are likely to chase the same euphoric feeling because they like how they feel. This feeling helps them to feel more relaxed, confident, and in control of many other pleasurable effects.
Another reason why people abuse drugs is because of peer pressure. This is when a person identifies that other people with whom they have something in common such as those the same age, are using drugs (Saquib et al., 2020). They are, therefore, compelled to use the drugs, too, due to the influence of others. Experimentation in adolescence is very common for teens as they discover more about themselves and life (Garnett et al., 2021). Thus, in the process of experimentation, some teenagers may start using drugs to know how it feels. Other people take drugs because they are lonely, addicted, need to relax, and just bad.
Prevalence Rates
England and Wales have seen increasing drug users in the last two decades. According to the data and statistics on Drug Misuse in England and Wales in 2020, it is estimated that 1 in every 11 adults used at least one drug the last year between 16-59 years (UNODC, 2020). This is approximately 9.6% of the population, increasing from 8.6% in 2010 (UNODC, 2020). When the age bracket is narrowed down, 1 in every five individuals between the ages of 16-24 has taken at least one drug in the last year. This represents 21% of the population in that age bracket who had taken a drug which is just the same as the previous year, 2019, when the percentage was 20 (UNODC, 2020). This shows an increase in the number of people who use drugs in England and Wales.
In determining the prevalence of drug and substance use by checking to evaluate individual drugs, cannabis is the most abused. There is 7.8% cannabis use for adults between 16-59 years and 18.7% use for those between 126-24 years (Black, 2021). This rate is relatively higher than the second most used illegal drug, powder cocaine, with 2.6% use for adults between 16-59 years and 8.7% for those between 16-24 years (UNODC, 2020).
There has been a significant fall of 42% in amphetamine use compared to the previous year, a drop that has been consistent since 1995 (Lo, Yeung and Tam, 2020). Similarly, the anabolic steroid has significantly dropped from 62,000 users in 2019 to 31,000 in 2020 (UNODC, 2020). This shows that as the use of some drugs increases, there is a downtrend for others. This is mainly because of the attitude toward each drug and how they have been perceived in society. Another notable thing is that teenagers between the ages of 16-24 have a higher drug consumption rate than the older generation, 24-59 years.
There was no significant change in England and Wales overall illegal drug consumption rate for 2020 and 2019. However, there is a 15% increase for individuals between 16-59 years and 28% for persons between 16-24 years in the proportion of adults reporting drug abuse. This shows a relatively small increase in the number of people who use illicit drugs. This implies a general increase in illicit drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, heroin, anabolic steroids, and amphetamines.
Other than illicit drugs, there is still an increase in the number of people who consume other drugs, such as alcohol. According to a study conducted in 2021, over 500,000 dependent drinkers in England, and only 18%, are receiving treatments (Office for Health Improvement & Disparities, 2021). Similarly, 3.2 million in the UK used alcohol and other drugs in 2020, and 2.1% of the population is considered frequent users (Office for Health Improvement & Disparities, 2021).
The UK has adopted a drinking culture that has made it socially acceptable to discuss weekend drinking and drug use in general. During the COVID-19 period, the consumption of alcohol increased significantly across the UK as many people stated that they were adapting to a new way of life. It was found that alcohol sales had increased by 25% during the pandemic (Office for Health Improvement & Disparities, 2021). This shows that the pandemic has positively impacted alcohol consumption across the UK.
Looking at other metrics such as sex and location can help to find out why there is an increase in drug consumption culture in the UK. In 2021, 73% of the UK had taken a single drug, and alcohol is the most legally used drug in the country (Office for Health Improvement & Disparities, 2021). 49% of the UK population have been found to use alcohol, while 36% take other drugs. Alcohol use by sex was fair because the report stated that 50% of men and 49% of women had taken alcohol in the previous year (Office for Health Improvement & Disparities, 2021). However, it was found that men were more likely to take illegal drugs such as cocaine, heroin, and cannabis.
At the same time, women were more likely to consume prescription drugs such as Ritalin, Diazepam, and other over-the-counter. This shows that although there is no significant difference in alcohol consumption rated based on sex, there was a notable difference in using other drugs (Office for Health Improvement & Disparities, 2021). This may imply that alcohol has been accepted in the UK culture, which is why both men and women consume it freely. However, other drugs seem to have some masculinity issues whereby men are found to be taking hard drugs while women go for soft over-the-counter drugs.
About the location, substance use across the UK varies greatly. Considering the most used drugs across the UK, half of the drugs, including Ecstacy, Cannabis, “legal highs,” heroin, and OTC medication, had the highest rates of use in North England (Office for Health Improvement & Disparities, 2021). However, in the southern part of the country, Brighton was the main hotspot for drug abuse, including Ketamine, cocaine, and MDMA (Sirdifield, Brooker and Marples, 2020). The use of painkillers and other un-prescribed medication, such as Tramadol and Codeine, was high in Cardiff and Belfast. After alcohol, cannabis was the most used drug in England, which shows that it had started receiving positive cultural and social reception in the country.
Theories of Addiction
Social Learning Theory/ Psychological theory
One of the theories of addiction is the social learning theory by Albert Bandura. According to the social learning theory, humans usually learn by observing others. This is the most common way people learn, and it is called social learning. Social interactions with the most significant impact are with people who have the greatest influence or matter most to the individual (Cilliers, 2021). These may include celebrities, teachers, mentors, family members, or neighbours.
The social learning theory is characterised by reciprocal determinism, a central component of this theory, and is determined by the functional relationships between three factors: personal factors, the eternal environment, and the behaviour itself. From this perspective, drug addiction can result from having functional relationships with an individual’s personal characteristics, drug-centric behaviours, and social environment.
The main causes for different behaviours are external and internal to a person and are functionally related. Bandura states that behaviour is goal-directed from a teleological perspective, and the main goal is both the end purpose and consequence of behaviour. According to his model of reciprocal determinism, he states that personal factors, behaviour, and the environment are functionally related (Hogarth, 2020). Besides, an environmental event can affect behaviour through the traditional conditioning process; however, the event will change the personal factors internal to the person. The main social factors of addiction are group norms, economic factors, controlling price, social reinforcement, imitation, and availability. Childhood trauma, genetics, comorbid conditions, stress, and cognitive appraisals are personal characteristics.
Connecting through the social learning theory, it is evident that drug abuse can be influenced by the new redefined social, economic, political, and economic conditions. Since the social learning theory states that people learn through observation and interaction, adopting new positive perspectives about drugs is very dangerous in society (Hogarth, 2020). This is because some people will never know if there is something wrong with taking drugs because society has normalised it.
For instance, the new drinking culture of the UK will make growing children know that drinking is okay. Thus, learning from their parents will affect their social behaviour toward drinking. The same is true for other drugs like cannabis which have gained much popularity in the UK; the more society accepts them, the more people are likely to consume them because they will copy these behaviours from others in society.
The Disease Theory of Addiction
The disease control theory developed by E.M. Jellinek was published in the 1960s and is mainly focused on how drug and substance abuse leads to loss of control for the user. The main concepts of this theory are tolerance to alcohol, whereby the person needs to drink more alcohol to achieve the desired feeling (Heilig et al., 2021). If an individual stops using a drug, it leads to physical withdrawal symptoms, and they cannot control the alcohol consumed in one sitting. The fourth concept is that the drinker may have social or physical impairments related to the symptoms of the previous three concepts (Heilig et al., 2021). According to this theory, drug addiction is a compulsive drug-seeking behaviour rather than a conscious one due to chemical changes in the brain.
Addiction may be because of the genetic formation of an individual. Just like some people are prone to various diseases, some genes are prone to addiction. Therefore, if such p[eople indulge in drinking and other drug abuse, they are likely to get addicted. It was found that the relationship between genetics and addiction is 40% (Heilig et al., 2021). The other thing is environmental factors which have already been featured in the social learning theory. Thus, this shows that some people may have drug addiction easier than others due to their gene orientation.
Moral Theory of Addiction
Religious and political ideals mainly support the moral addiction theory. It does not include genetic and biological components of addiction to alcoholism in their study. However, according to moral perception, those addicted to drugs are seen as a product of poor choices, unwillingness to change their lives, and lack of willpower (Rise and Halkjelsvik, 2019). However, this is one of the most criticised theories because sometimes it has been proved that some people desperately want to get out of drugs but cannot. Addiction cannot be included in morally responsible things because they are different, and each requires a unique mechanism to solve.
Genetic theory/Neuro-pharmacological theory
According to the genetic theory of addiction, for a person to be addicted to a specific substance, they must have some exposure to an addictive agent. The agent does not only exist in consumed substances as it may include a wide variety of agents such as drugs, video games, food, gambling, and sex (LaMantia, 2018). These agents lead to addiction when the neurobiological pathways overlap with the ones involved in addiction to psychoactive substances (LaMantia, 2018).
Therefore, when people take drugs, they are exposed to the addictive agents of these drugs, and although some may not be addicted, for others, it becomes difficult to resist the urge. Some factors determining if a person will be addicted to various drugs are sex, age, genotype, mental illness, and pre-existing addictive disorder. Extrinsic factors that lead to addiction are socioeconomic status, peer influence support, parenting style, drug availability, and the nature of the addictive agent.
Free Will model
Davies started the free will model of addiction in 1997, addressing the free will of persons concerning addiction. According to the author, a belief in addiction is disbelief in free will (Ross, 2020). The common notion that people are sometimes not in full control of their behaviour is adopted from antique notions such as demonic possessions, having divine command, and supernatural powers. However, people have started to claim that their responsibility is due to other factors such as emotional distress, societal oppression, mental illness, external provocation, and other causes (Abdullah et al., 2020).
Other than these assumptions, science has demonstrated that people cannot choose or control their actions. Genetic determinism, chemical forces, brain mechanisms, and other scientific models show that sometimes people may behave in ways contrary to their wishes (Ross, 2020). Thus, according to this theory, people are addicted because they do not have the free will to consume certain drugs.
Biopsychosocial theory
This theory of addiction provides a multifaceted, holistic conceptualization of a disorder. Marlatt and Baer developed the model in 1988, whereby they believe instead of focusing on one thing as a cause of addiction; multiple factors contribute to a person being addicted. The meaning of the “bio” involves the biological model of addiction caused by genes (Wangensteen and Hystad, 2021). The word “psycho” defines the psychological composition which leads to addiction and may include personal; traits, mental; illness, the psychological impact of a person’s life experiences, and psychological constructs (Wangensteen and Hystad, 2021).
Finally, the meaning of “social” concerns the social environment that impacts drug consumption, such as legality, accessibility, expectancies, societal approval, modelling, and cultural beliefs. For instance, when a person is introduced to drugs at an early age, they may be addicted due to social modelling. Thus, with the new evolving economic, political, social, and cultural changes, there must be changes too in drug consumption habits.
Attitudes to Drug Taking in Different Arenas
Public
While some drugs may be positively accepted in society, others may have a negative image. One of the main attitudes is that the public blame lack of morals on people who use drugs. Though not all drugs, when the public sees a person taking illegal drugs such as marijuana, they blame it on the person’s morals. They are more likely to criminalise hard drugs than soft drugs in society (Rise and Halkjelsvik, 2019).
A person taking heroin will not have the same public image as another person who drinks beer. This is because the public has a more positive image of beer than illegal drugs such as cocaine. However, some drugs have still attracted a positive image in society, such as alcohol in the UK. It has been the culture of UK citizens to drink alcohol at most of their events, including football, weddings, parties, and even in family dinners. The positive reception of a drug like marijuana has increased the presence and intake of the drug across the UK. This shows that public perception has a significant contribution to the consumption of drugs.
Government
The government has both positive and negative attitudes toward drugs, and its actions can implicate this. While the government supports some drugs, others are strongly discouraged and even prohibited. For instance, some drugs, such as alcohol and tobacco, are legalised by the government because they can control their consumption (Rise and Halkjelsvik, 2019). For instance, if the government wants to reduce the consumption of alcohol, they impose more taxes on it to make it more expensive.
However, there are other drugs that the government significantly discourages including marijuana, heroine, and cocaine. This is because of the adverse effects that the drug can have on individuals. However, some drugs, such as marijuana, have received much controversy, and government officials are baking it up. For instance, the former public health minister Yvette Cooper was the first serving minister to confess that she smokes cannabis. Thus, the government generally has a positive attitude towards legal drugs because they help it raise revenue.
Media
The media nowadays has been supporting the consumption of drugs. From their advert to the lifestyles they display on their shows, they have given the public a positive attitude toward drug consumption (Rise and Halkjelsvik, 2019). Despite showing explicit documentaries which support various drugs such as cannabis, the media has been actively responsible for advertising shows that involve drinking and other drug use. Most media personalities have been inviting guests who advocate for specific drugs, which implies that the media perception towards drugs is significantly changing.
Conclusion
Although drugs have been used for millennia, their definition has changed to reflect shifting social, cultural, political, and economic circumstances. While in the past, drugs faced much resistance and rejection by the general public, nowadays, the culture is changing, and people are starting to have debates about them. One of the most controversial drugs which have been highly discussed is cannabis, and this has reflected on its consumption as the most consumed illegal drug in the UK. The public, government, and media have all contributed to changing the attitude and image toward drugs which is why their use has significantly increased.
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