...Historical Events Affecting Addictions One big event that affected addictions treatment is the Vietnam War. In 1970, half of enlisted soldiers had experience with illicit drugs but only 30% of those had tried anything aside from marijuana. Barbituates and Amphetamines were the most commonly tried drugs. Only 11% had tried Opiates and cough syrup containing codeine was the most common Opiate that had been tried. The soldiers in Vietnam were either drafted by lottery or had enlisted voluntarily. Forty percent of those who had enlisted voluntarily were school dropouts who had limited job opportunities and considerably more drug experience. Heroin and opium was widely available, relatively cheap, and so pure that it could be smoked rather than injected for those who were reluctant to inject it. By 1971, half of soldiers had tried heroin and half had used enough to develop an addiction. In the spring of 1971 it was discovered that 15% of United State servicemen were returning from service already addicted to heroin. The Armed Forces was coping with the staggering numbers with military discipline and amnesty. Those who were found to be using or possessing drugs were court martialed and given a dishonorable discharge. Users that voluntarily sought help may be offered amnesty and brief treatment. This did not make much of a difference and usage increased dramatically over the next year and a half. While the US was trying to negotiate a settlement of the war, soldiers...
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...Mount Mercy University The New Era Justine Nurre HI 115 Edy Parsons March 13, 2015 In the 1920’s America economy grew greatly. The output from the nation’s manufacturing rose by greater than 60%, inflation was minor and the per capita income grew by a third. These happened because several things like technology. Technology was the most important development in which it helped develop the assembly line. This in turn led to automobiles becoming the most important industries in the nation. Automobiles made it possible for suburban housing and that led to a boom in the construction industry. Another technological gadget that contributed to the economic growth was the radio. The first radios could only send little broadcasts through pulses, but because of the discovery of the theory of modulation the radio was able to transmit music and speech. Many people started to build their own radios to save cost and it allowed owners to stay in contact with one another. Even though the economy was doing so well in 1929, more than two-thirds of Americans lived in conditions that were described as “minimum comfort level.” Half of those Americans were either at or below what was described as “subsistence and poverty.” During the 1920’s, Americans were able to experience successes and failures. Some workers started to see their standard of living begin to increase and others saw techniques that were known as “welfare capitalism.” Welfare capitalism workers still saw...
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...In the late 1800’s, the prolonged efforts to prohibiting alcohol began and extended into the 1920’s when the Eighteenth Amendment was established. Many religious groups and powerful figures loved the idea of discarding the drinking issue to make America a better place. America’s compulsion with alcohol lead to the creation of this amendment to forbid the production and distribution of alcohol worldwide. The task of enforcing Americans to give up alcohol was nearly impossible. Though the initiation of the Eighteenth Amendment had good intentions, it caused more problems that was intended to repair. The Eighteenth Amendment was created because people were alarmed of the excessive drinking and the fear of this problem spreading. “Around...
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...In today's society, the prisons of America appear to cause more problems than assistance. The country penal system is expensive, overcrowded, and some argue that it is ineffective as well as inefficient. The cost to build, staff, and support these facilities increases dramatically each year. Prisons, which were created to be humane correctional facilities, are currently filled with violence, hostility, and a communal fear. These institutions are meant to control crime by deterrence, incapacitating criminals. This may protect society from potentially dangerous individuals, but these institutions' level of accomplishment is askew. The financial burden attached to the building, maintaining, and staffing of prisons constantly plagues the penal system. During the late 1960s, New York built prisons at a price of $2 million each. Since then, prices have risen dramatically. In 1990, each prisoner required $15,496 to support (“Bureau of Justice Statistics”). A prison containing 2,000 inmates amounts to over $31 million to operate on an annual basis. The United States spends an estimated $60 billion each year on corrections (Prisons in the United States). The operation price is synonymous with the level of security, ranging from the supermax, containing serial killers, to the minimum security, containing drug offenders. Violence is not confined to outside prison walls. In 2005 alone, federal and state prisons reported 885 incidents of sexual violence. Of the aforementioned...
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...The prohibition era describes a moment in American history where the consumption of alcohol beverages was banned between the years 1913 and 1933. During this time the American congress dismissed all alcohol selling and consumption activities in various states in the U.S. following the requirements of the 18th amendment[footnoteRef:1]. The amendment was approved by the United States congress in the year 1917 and declared the manufacturing sale and transportation of alcoholic material in the country as illegal. The ramification of the amendment was approved by over two thirds of the American congress. Prohibition was to initiate one year later. The prohibition law was perceived as an act of social engineering that could spell out various implications to the American public. What was not understood was whether the governments and citizens were ready to deal with the prohibition. Before the prohibition many Americans labelled themselves as wet or dry. [1: Parramore, Thomas, et al Norfolk: The first four centuries (Charlottesville: University Press of...
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...It is a war which has taken many lives and will not cease in its toll. Both sides of the argument have strong points. In 1970, Gore Vidal wrote an essay supporting the legalization of all illegal drugs in the United States. I agree with Vidal, in legalizing drugs. They should be legalized and regulated by the government just as cigarettes are. In “Drugs,” Gore Vidal argues that all drugs should be legalized. The government should make all drugs available in markets and sell that at cost to the consumers. He states that the prohibition of these drugs is a violation of the constitutional right for the pursuit of happiness. He observes that legalizing drugs will take away its title of being a "forbidden fruit." People always want what they cannot have. Legalizing drugs enable people easier access to them, taking away the thrill of getting them. He argues that the prohibition of drugs, like that of alcohol in the 1920's, will be a failure. He believes that both the Bureau of Narcotics and Mafia are against legalizing drugs and selling them at cost because then there would be no profit for the Mafia to make anymore and the Bureau would diminish. He concludes by saying this situation will continue to get worse. Cigarettes are legal, and yet they are harmful to the health of a human and lead to diseases and cancers that can lead to death. They are also addicting. Drugs do more or the less the same, however they are illegal in the United States. In...
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...Ashley 09 October 2012 Essay 1 Today, we all know, or have learned something about the great depression and the effects it had on the United States. There are a list of issues the created the great depression, but have we actually thought about it, and tried to understand it before? In the 1920’s the American economy was going strong, for the most part, and the vast majority of Americans had witnessed economic growth, however, stock prices fell, more and more issues arose, and then came the great depression which created uneven distribution of wealth and an irrational behavior from the stock market. In the film, Matewan, it brought up how things were tough in response to effort by the miners to organize labor union, and they were receiving huge cuts in their pay, and some of the coal mine workers were being replaced, which I would assume were being paid substantially less than the original coal miners were. The new workers were African American from Alabama, but they did not make it far because the coal miners were on the attack. I would imagine this was not the only issue America was facing before or during the great depression. The crash of the stock market not only affected the poor, it affected the rich as well, but like I stated before, one of the biggest issues was the gap between the rich working class people and how it was enlarged. Also, production costs fell quickly and wages rose slowly and prices remained steady. Obviously, like most problems in America, the...
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...Prohibition was intended to rid the world of the vices of alcohol, by outlawing its consumption and access to the common man. Alcoholism is defined as “a preoccupation with alcohol and impaired control over alcohol intake. Alcoholism is a chronic, often progressive disease. Left untreated, alcoholism can be fatal (Mayo Clinic, 2007).” Prohibition was a thirteen year experiment by the government of the United States to control the behavior and actions of the people. The results of this experiment were flagrantly negative due to poor planning and underachieving efforts on the part of the government to properly compensate for the efficiency and effectiveness of organized crime and bootleggers. This essay will illustrate the highs and lows of the 18th Amendment of the Constitution prohibiting the sale, manufacturing, and transportation of alcohol was impossible to enforce wasting time, money and government manpower. Over the years alcohol has become a permanent fixture in the lives of American citizens. To each and every American, alcohol has a positive or negative impact based on the individuals unique life experiences. Alcohol has been perceived as a conveyer of bad habits and the pitfall to the very fabric of positive living in America. All individual lives are unique and full of positives and negatives; however alcohol is the original “substance of abuse” and has had a major impact on the better moral judgment of its users (Mayo Clinic, 2007). This is nothing new however...
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...member) when they met their boyfriend. How did the First World War change the lives of women? * During the war, women began to work in areas like heavy industry. They proved they could work as well as men. By 1929, there were 10 million women workers; a rise of 24% since 1920. * Working gave women independence and they began smoking and drinking in public. * Women were given the vote in August 1920 but few were chosen to be actual politicians. * Production of consumer goods such as vacuum cleaners and washing machines meant women had more time for leisure activities. * Flappers emerged in the 1920’s = women from middle and upper class families from the Northern States. They cut their hair in short bobs, wore make up, short skirts and bright clothes. They also smoked and drank in public, went to speakeasies, danced the Charleston with men and listened to Jazz and drove cars and motorbikes. * BUT many groups, particularly in rural areas thought the flappers were too outrageous. * Hollywood saw the emergence of female stars such as Mary Pickford and Gloria Swanson who * were female role models. * Advertising was aimed at women for the new consumer goods of the 1920s e.g in 1925 Ford introduced colours other than black for his Model T to appeal to women. * Divorce rate doubled between 1914-1929...
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...The Role of Prohibition and its Fluidity The American Dream during the 1920’s was truly wonderful to Americans, and to some, was only a dream. This “dream” had just about everything someone needed to live an exciting and happy life. Money would not always be a problem. However, there was one thing missing from their lives that caused uproar. That would be the absence of alcohol in the daily lives of Americans. Prohibition, or the Eighteenth Amendment in the Constitution, made the production and consumption of alcohol illegal. Those who added this Amendment believed that alcohol was entirely bad thing. All it did was create problems, and to get rid of the source of it (being alcohol) would solve and prevent them. Sadly, that did not happen. Widespread law breaking and violence were two of the handful of issues created by this deprivation of alcohol. It was a law that had good intention, but ceased to be successful due to Americans’ strong desire for “some” unnecessary drinks. Prohibition was hoped to be beneficial to all of the Americans. It was the idea of saving America from sadness and sin that ended up with the creation of the Eighteenth Amendment. Looking at it from this point of view can make many people nod their head in agreement when said that Prohibition was a beneficial and overall positive thing. If it was thought to aid America and save it from any kind of harm, then people would never think of it as a hindrance to their enjoyment of life. However, the result...
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...Beshears, Laura: Honorable Style in Dishonorable Times: American Gangsters of the 1920s and 1930s Journal of American Culture (33:3) [Sep 2010] , p.197-206. Honorable Style in Dishonorable Times: American Gangsters of the 1920s and 1930s Laura Beshears. The Journal of American Culture. Malden: Sep 2010. Vol. 33, Iss. 3; pg. 197, 10 pgs Abstract (Summary) Prohibition, which came into effect in July of 1920 with the passing of the Eighteenth Amendment, also illustrated the progressives' idealism, as many believed that the elimination of alcohol, because it allegedly created "poverty, marital distress, and negligence," would cleanse society (Mordden 141). [...] the birth of the radio and the movies as well as the development of flight induced excitement and fostered a vision of a society engaged in perpetual technological advancement (Mordden 47). [...] Horatio Alger, Jr. and his late nineteenth-century books- portraits of men who, born underprivileged, rose to wealth and success through hard work, honesty, self-confidence, commitment, and a bit of luck (Weiss 53-54) - characterized the progressive spirit, as it encouraged people to work hard for a better future and for the fulfillment of the American dream. Full Text (5892 words) Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Sep 2010 "You don't need to be ordering fancy duds," Frankie Rio advised his boss as a tailor took measurements of Capone's swollen physique at the Lexington Hotel. "You're going to prison. Why don't you...
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... English II 5 April 2016 Disillusionment and failure in The Great Gatsby In the book The Great Gatsby, author F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the theme of disillusionment, love, lust and failure in order to portray the “American dream”. The American dream is the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. Many believe that the American dream is “earned”, but what they don't know is that there is a lot of “behind the scenes” money making deals that occur. And these deals put you at the top without even asking. For example Gatsby wasn't the perfect man that he was imagined to be. Jay Gatsby's real name was, James Gatz and the change seemed right when he “reinvented” himself. Gatsby didn't like being the son of farmers and was embarrassed about where he was from. “His imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all.” He changed it at the age of 17 because of his transformation when he met Dan Cody. This one of the main reasons he hid his background from people. The other was that in reality Gatsby was indeed an unrepentant criminal, who bootlegged his way through the Prohibition to create his wealth and pursue his dream. The prohibition was a nationwide constitutional ban on the sale, production, importation, and transportation of alcoholic beverages that remained in place from 1920 to 1933. To make his way to the top and to pursue the ...
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...Drug prohibition awareness has struck people in many countries in the last decade of the 20th century. Not to mention, that some form of prohibition on drugs is incorporated in every country’s laws. However, the national drug prohibition was created as a subgroup of the alcohol prohibition in the 1920’s. Shortly after, during the 1930’s congress divided drugs and alcohol creating a new federal drug prohibition agency (Miron, 1995). Prohibition can be defined as a set of restrictions that focus on banning the production, distribution, and sale of drugs for anything other than medical use. A drug can be viewed as any substance that is consumed and is able to modify someone’s psychological functions as well as the structure of their organs. The...
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...obvious futility of the "drug war," resulting in massive criminalization of society, it is high time to examine the supposed justification for keeping certain substances illegal. Those who initiated those prohibitions and those who now so vigorously seek to enforce them have not made their objectives clear. Are they to protect us from evil, from addiction, or from poison? The concept of evil is derived from subjective values and is difficult to define. Why certain (illegal) substances are singularly more evil than legal substances like alcohol has not been explained. This complex subject of "right" and "wrong" has never been successfully addressed by legislation and is best left to the pulpit. Addiction is also a relative and ever-present phenomenon. It certainly cannot be applied only to a short arbitrary list of addictive substances while ignoring an overabundance of human cravings - from chocolate to coffee, from gum to gambling, from tea to tobacco, from snuggling to sex. Compulsive urges to fulfill a perceived need are everywhere. Some people are more susceptible to addiction than others and some "needs" are more addictive than others. Probably the most addictive substance in our civilization is tobacco - yet no one has suggested making it illegal. As for prohibition, it has been clearly demonstrated that when an addictive desire becomes inaccessible it provokes irresponsible behavior to fulfill that desire. Education and support at least have a chance of...
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...futility of the "drug war," resulting in massive criminalization of society, it is high time to examine the supposed justification for keeping certain substances illegal. Those who initiated those prohibitions and those who now so vigorously seek to enforce them have not made their objectives clear. Are they to protect us from evil, from addiction, or from poison? The concept of evil is derived from subjective values and is difficult to define. Why certain (illegal) substances are singularly more evil than legal substances like alcohol has not been explained. This complex subject of "right" and "wrong" has never been successfully addressed by legislation and is best left to the pulpit. Addiction is also a relative and ever-present phenomenon. It certainly cannot be applied only to a short arbitrary list of addictive substances while ignoring an overabundance of human cravings - from chocolate to coffee, from gum to gambling, from tea to tobacco, from snuggling to sex. Compulsive urges to fulfill a perceived need are everywhere. Some people are more susceptible to addiction than others and some "needs" are more addictive than others. Probably the most addictive substance in our civilization is tobacco - yet no one has suggested making it illegal. As for prohibition, it has been clearly demonstrated that when an addictive desire becomes inaccessible it provokes irresponsible behavior to fulfill that desire. Education and support at least have...
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