Nothing+ecstatic+about+ecstasy


 * Bader Ayed M Alshammary **
 * n7232853 **
 * Abbey Diaz **

Nothing ecstatic about ecstasy: Faces of addiction =1 Cultural Artefact=

The artifact that has been recognized to be related to drug addiction is a blog created by renowned photographer Chris Arnade. The blog is called faces of addiction and explores the initiative of Chris Arnade who is a photojournalist. Chris Arnade documents “the destitution and addiction problems” of New York’s Hunts point neighborhood. The photographer has managed to send a powerful message to the public of the ill effects of drug addiction and helped in increasing awareness. This artifact closely resembles and depicts the kind of effects drugs have on people, and how it is rapidly becoming a major health issue in Australia, and even the world. More information and photos can be accessed in the following link. []

=2 drug addiction in Australia: a public health issue=

This artefact represents the ill effects of drug abuse. In particular the photographer identifies the factors that influence drug addiction such as poverty, social pressure, and family issues amongst other factors. This article will focus on the reasons that cause illicit drug use and drug addiction, and the problems associated with addiction such as health issues, economic issues and other dangers. It has been reported that in 2007 (Public Health Association Australia, 2010) 13.4% of those aged 14 years and over reported using illicit substance in the previous 12 months. It has been warned that illicit drug use and related harm results in a lot of economic, social and health costs to individuals, families, communities and the country. =3 what research reveals about drug addiction/abuse in Australia=

Drug addiction in Australia has been on an increase and causes economic and social problems. A number of issues arise from illicit substances use that affect the country, its economy and social lives as a whole. An extensive research has been carried out by David Collins, and Helen Lapsey (2008) of economic and social effects of drug use in Australia in 2004-2005. Use of illicit drugs has been termed abusive because Australian society summarized that use of these drugs is illegal and counts as abuse. Drug use causes loss of productivity in work, and there may be reduction in size of the available workforce if there are drug-attribute related deaths, increased absenteeism due to drug abuse, and reduced productivity due to morbidity from drug use. (Collins, Lapsey 2008, pg 24). Drug abuse is also said to cause problems in the household due to lack of income arising from drug related non-working situations. Drug abused victims may fall sick or even die from drug abuse, and causes burden to the nation’s economy by increased cost due to decrease in workforce. Drug abuse causes a lot of accidents which is also caused by morbidity from drug abuse, these include but not limited to human costs such as medical, ambulance, rehabilitation, legal, correctional services, vehicle costs such as repairs, and other costs such as travel delays, insurance administration, police, damages and emergency services. Therefore on a nationwide scale, use of illicit drugs hampers the economy and social lives of victims of drug abuse and others directly or indirectly affected by them (family, friends, and/or general public depending on circumstances). The figure below shows drug use by proportion of the population aged 14 and above. Other economic factors including disposal of litter caused by drugs as they pose a bio hazard and need to be treated and disposed of carefully. There are increased costs of disposing biomedical waste, as compared to normal waste which is also borne by the country’s economy in general. Chris Arnade through his passion of being a photojournalist has helped understand the lives of those affected by drug abuse. Many of them have been forced into prostitution, being homeless, severe mental health issues, criminal acts, jailed and even broken family ties. Drug addiction effects therefore have no limit to the amount of damage it can cause, as just through his blog and a particular suburb he has surveyed he has brought to light the severed lives of 213 different people. According to a study by Stanton, Peterson et al (2994), admissions to the Royal Albert hospital in Tasmania comprised of 8-9% being definitely drug relate4d, 38.2% of the drug related cases being due to adverse drug reaction, and 30.9% being due to drug overdose. Summarizing the study (Degenhardt, Hall, and Lynskey 2001) it has been revealed that 10% of hospital admissions are drug-related. In terms of health that is affected due to use of cannabis, research shows that both tobacco and cannabis use are associated with increased rate of all mental health problems that were observed. Drug abuse also causes death (Bartu, Freeman et al, 2004), unless proper treatment has been given. This study has shown that people who had not received treatment had 8.4 times increase in chances of death. The pressure of being homeless has also been found to contribute to abusive use of illicit drugs/materials. In Victoria based on research findings of Victorian Drug Policy Expert Committee, (Rayner, 2006) escalation was undertaken to highlight the illicit drug use and homelessness. As there was increase in awareness of the problem with this connection, the Victorian Drug Policy Expert Committee and the Victorian Homelessness Strategy agencies collaborated to address problematic drug use. Based on a survey which was cross-sectional in nature 95 in-depth surveys of Crisis Supported Accommodation’s (CSA) residents resulted in the following findings. At the time of the interview it has been revealed that all participants were using drugs and/or alcohol. The distribution in illicit drug use cannabis was 92% of participants, 65% used amphetamines and 64% used heroine. Because “injective” drugs were used, there were disturbing revelations that 42% of survey participants were also affected by Hepatitis C. Moreover 79% of the participants were also diagnosed with having clinical depressing owing to abusive illicit drugs/substances use. The participants also had history of criminal behavior. 68% of participants had high rate of prior criminal behavior and it has been claimed that two thirds of this, were because of drug related crime. Therefore there is a close connection between crime and drug use in the group that was surveyed, which further proves mentioned points in the previous section. However there has been intervention and using capacity building services, adopting a primary health-care approach to address health and welfare issues in combination has resulted in providing ways to address high-needs client group. Homeless people with drug abuse problems are identified to need a range of treatment, housing, health and vocational options to aid in overcoming the issue of drug addiction. Another serious issue with drug addiction is pregnant women who are addicted to illicit substances/drugs. As reported by Harper, 2011; Dr.Fuller reveals that babies exposed to opiates such as heroin, methadone, and some prescription medicine for chronic pain have suffered from withdrawal symptoms within a short period of birth. AS per statistics in this report, 70 babies in Geelong every year are born addicted to drugs. Four years prior to 2011 have had 295 babies born addicted to heroin, opiates, cannabis, sedatives and amphetamines. This results in projections of 3.6% of all births between 2005 and 2006. Babies are born addicted to these drugs as explained by Dr.Fuller that drugs cross from mother to baby, and also adds that development of the baby is crucial and dependent on home life, family relationship, education and there were chances of the child developing addiction towards the aforementioned illicit materials later during their lives. Babies that are born into addiction are treated by giving them morphine for three weeks, and if they are exposed to a variety of other substances and still display symptoms of withdrawal, they are given phenobarbitone for several months. Therefore it is clear from the above discussed factors that illicit substance/drug abuse is a serious public health issue and needs more intervention and resources to curb and eradicate this issue. =4 cultural and social analysis=

It is clear from the previous section that drug addiction and illicit substance use causes harm, economic and social perils. The direct costs associated with drug abuse and how it affects others is represented by analysis of Collins and Lapse (2008, pg 13).

Therefore it is evident from the above table that resources used for counteracting and repairing damages of drug addiction/abuse can be used by other sections of society, and aid in overall improvement of a country’s economy and well-being. It is important for intervention and discussion because drug abuse causes premature death, and in turn causing loss of productive capacity and psychological effects suffered by drug abuse victims and others. This has been evaluated using human capital approach. Drug abuse also creates increased dependence on welfare which may include physical support services, supported accommodation provisions, income support amongst others. Social groups most affected by drug abuse are as discussed homeless people, people affected by severe trauma or family issues, and people affected by social pressure or children/adults who have inherited drug addiction from their parents. Public health experts should form collaboration with police, welfare and other areas of the government that have evidence or observe people having a problem with drug addiction. As in the case of the homeless in Victoria state, and intervention from Victorian Drug Policy Expert Committee and Crisis Supported Accommodation divisions, there is a need for more collaborations and reaching as much of a population with awareness as possible. Recent ads from the government and also a dedicated website for information on drug abuse ensures information is updated and available for everyone. Public health experts need to approach more parents and drug abuse victims to inform them of the ill effects of alcohol abuse. The government website [] has in depth information of the consequences of consuming ecstasy, marijuana, Ice Speed, Cocaine and other dangerous drugs. Government has also provided tips for parents on how to save their children from drug addiction. Awareness and intervention is the key to resolving the public health issue of Drug Addiction. =5 Artefact analysis and self-reflection=

Chris Arnadde has provided an in-depth, powerful and meaningful insight into the lives of drug abuse victims. With additional impact from his photography any reader can feel the ill effects and dangers of drug abuse and how it affects their own lives, and lives of others. Some of the stories involve how drug addiction forced the victim into being homeless, prostitution, and unstable mental health amongst many other ill effects. This artefact represents the essence, origin, effects and after effects of drug abuse in the most impactful way as possible. Awareness can be generated through statistics but knowing about personal stories of others, in their own words and experiences reaches out as no statistics ever could. Through this assessment I have been able to critically evaluate and understand the importance of health, culture and society and how I can play an important role thorough research and through development by bringing the right message to people and help develop and improve well-being of people around me. Drug abuse is more serious than I could ever imagine and researching about this topic, helped me realize that. Therefore creating the scope of this analysis and outlining the importance of intervention of Public Health Experts to curb the menace of drug addiction and help drug abuse affected victims has helped me realize and move towards better research into this matter, and create awareness for the public.

=Reference LIST=

[] [] Stanton, L. A., Peterson, G. M., Rumble, R. H., Cooper, G. M. and Polack, A. E. (1994), Drug-related admissions to an Australian hospital. Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics, 19: 341–347. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2710.1994.tb00691.x [] (retrieved 25 October 2013)

Degenhardt, L., Hall, W. and Lynskey, M. (2001), Alcohol, cannabis and tobacco use among Australians: a comparison of their associations with other drug use and use disorders, affective and anxiety disorders, and psychosis. Addiction, 96: 1603–1614. doi: 10.1046/j.1360-0443.2001.961116037.x [] (retrieved 25 October, 2013)

Bartu, A., Freeman, N. C., Gawthorne, G. S., Codde, J. P. and Holman, C. D. J. (2004), Mortality in a cohort of opiate and amphetamine users in Perth, Western Australia. Addiction, 99: 53–60. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2004.00602.x [] (Retrieved on 25 October 2013)

Maggie Brady, Culture in treatment, culture as treatment. A critical appraisal of developments in addictions programs for indigenous North Americans and Australians, Social Science & Medicine, Volume 41, Issue 11, December 1995, Pages 1487-1498, ISSN 0277-9536, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0277-9536(95)00055-C. [] (retrieved on 25 October 2013) Rayner, Kim. Homelessness and Drug Addiction [online]. Just Policy: A Journal of Australian Social Policy, No. 40, June 2006: 35-43. Availability: ISSN: 1323-2266. [Retrieved 25 October 13]. Harper, J. (2011, Aug 09). Babies born into drug addiction.//Geelong Advertiser//. Retrieved from [] (Retrieved on 25 October, 2013) Collins, D. Lapsey, H.M. (2008) //The costs of tobacco, alcohol and illicit drug abuse to Australian Society in 2004/2005.// [] (Retrieved 25 October 2013).

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