Despite umpteen measures, the United States of America’s struggle to control drug overdose deaths continues. Not just deaths, drugs are a major reason behind the rising number of prisoners. During 1993 to 2011, there were 3 million admissions into federal and state prisons for drug offenses. Over the same period, there were 30 million arrests for drug crimes, 24 million of which were for possession.

What is a matter of greater concern is that 80 percent of the offenders in prison abused drugs or alcohol, nearly 50 percent inmates were clinically addicted and almost 60 percent tested positive for drugs at the time of arrest. These statistics are relevant because approximately 60 to 80 percent drug abusers commit a new crime as soon as they are released from prison and the post-incarceration crime is normally drug-driven. Continue reading →

The problem of underage drinking has become a scourge that is increasingly getting difficult to tackle. Today, the percentage of underage drinkers has reached epidemic proportions in the United States. While there are myriad factors contributing to the ever-growing drinking habit, the ease with which alcohol can be obtained is considered to be the primary factor resulting in an epidemic. Most people even forget that alcohol is a drug, and thus, its social acceptance has allowed people to ignore the harms caused by excessive drinking. Continue reading →