Breaking the Taboo

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Breaking the Taboo The current U.S. Government policies regarding substance regulations have no impact on substance abuse rates in the U.S. Numerous regulations that have been implemented have not turned the graph on substance abuse in the country downwards (Kleiman, Caulkins, & Hawken, 2011). The Narcotics Treatment Administration, the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) are part of policies, regulations, and institutions that are in place to help in fighting substance abuse. However, despite the regulations, the problem of substance abuse remains, and the numbers keep going up.

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Furthermore, substance regulation in the U.S. has not lowered the effect of drug abuse in the country, underlining government policies' failure to combat drugs. Each passing year, the number of persons who suffer from the effects of abusing substances such as opioids and marijuana keeps rising (Kleiman, Caulkins, & Hawken, 2011). If any, the success of regulations has been to slow down substance abuse growth in the U.S. In Switzerland, the government decided to take a different approach to substance regulation (Knopf, 2019). The U.S. of opioids and drugs such as marijuana is no longer illegal; anyone who wants to use these substances is free to choose what to consume. In the U.S., the regulations hold that it is illegal to abuse any of these substances, leading to the growth of trade peddling.

Switzerland has been able to reduce the effects of drugs and substance abuse on the community by legalizing the use of substances restricted in the U.S. For instance, in the last two decades of implementing new strategies to deal with substances, Switzerland has recorded a 64 percent decline in the number of opioid-related deaths (Knopf, 2019). This cannot be said about the U.S., which continues to suffer growing consequences of substance abuse. Substance users can freely seek medication in hospitals and other health centers. The government of Switzerland has made it its priority to ensure that substance abusers can easily access health services. At the same time, the government ensures that the opioids sold in the market are quality, pure. This has helped reduce the negative effects of substances by ensuring that their purity is observed (Knopf, 2019). The same cannot be said of the regulation of substance in the U.S. Moreover, in Switzerland, crime related to substance abuse and the spread of diseases such as HIV has declined drastically with the implementation of the new strategy to manage substance abuse. In the U.S., substance abuse still uses the same needle and falls into crime because substance consumption is illegal and without proper regulation to ensure the safety of

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the users. On this ground, regulations of substance in the U.S. have failed to achieve much in lowering the harm of substance abuse on the community (Kleiman, Caulkins, & Hawken, 2011).

The rates of substance abuse remain high and untamed.

In conclusion, the current policies by the U.S. government for managing substance abuse have failed to lower the rates of substance abuse and the accompanying effects in the country.

Compared to Switzerland, the approach by the U.S. to deal with substances is overwhelmingly a failure. Switzerland allowed its citizens to use drugs in a regulated environment, ensuring that the users can access medication, get quality drugs, and are not treated as criminals. The U.S. can try a new strategy to manage drugs, including legalizing the use of marijuana and opioids to ensure that the industry is well managed to protect the nation's health and security.

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References Kleiman, M., Caulkins, J. P., & Hawken, A. (2011). Drugs and drug policy: What everyone needs to know. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Knopf, T. (2019). Switzerland couldn’t stop drug users. So it started supporting them. - North Carolina Health News. North Carolina Health News. https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2019/01/21/switzerland-couldnt-stop-drugusers-so-it-started-supporting-them/.