The Effects of Drugs on the Urban Gay Culture

Thesis: Over the last several decades, drug abuse has become a global problem especially in the urban environment and in turn posing adverse effects and a threat to the gay culture.

1. Introduction
2. Thesis: Over the last several decades, drug abuse has become a global problem especially in the urban environment and in turn posing adverse effects and threat to the gay culture.
3. Background
4. Substance use has caused multiple illnesses amongst youths in and out of the urban and these illnesses are bound to increase due to the increase in illicit drug marketing especially in the marketing centres.
5. The young, carefree and lively youths in the urban centres are bound to be enslaved in alcohol and substance use and hence exposed to addiction which in turn leads to loss of lives, family, friends and possessions.
6. In the United States, two million youths in approximation have been proved to be involved in alcoholism and drug use.
7. Drug abuse has been a consequence of unemployment, poor social conditions which are rampant in the urban areas due the large populations supported by the city walls. In this essence, drug use does not only affect the users but also the people surrounding them such as friends and family. In this essence, drug use does not only affect the users but also the people surrounding them such as friends, family and the entire country.
8. The drug effects are profoundly manifested through the user behaviour’s as well as their health.
9. Drug use varies from one user to the other as well as drug to drug.
10. Drugs such as heroin and cocaine addict the users after a few uses and in rare cases the first attempt.
11. Alcohol and codeine are addictive when used continuously.
12. Drug use is in the form of stimulants, sedatives, hallucinogens, alcohol as well as prescription drugs-just to mention a few. This includes legal and illegal drugs which cause adverse effects on the gay users. The drug use leads to addiction. These drugs are mostly used to relieve emotional pain stress and to induce pleasure
13. Medical professionals, researchers and scientists have argued that drug substances lead to dependence by changing the functionality of the brain. Additionally, they also believe that drug use causes the user adverse effects which one may not refrain from. Nevertheless, these drugs affect the users physically, emotionally and mentally.
14. There are early warning signs and personality changes that youths involved in drug use show which may be obvious to other people surrounding them. Being aware of these signs is vital in helping the user to adopt a drug-free life.
15. The people who are aware of the signs should intervene to avoid adverse cases of addiction and loss of lives. Interventions help in proving to the user about their addictions and ask them to seek medical treatment.
16. Most signs of drug use in the gay culture include involvement in erotic behaviours, loss of interest in friends and family, poor self-image constant lies and lame excuses as well as emotional and verbal abuse and insults.
17. After a long-term consumption of drugs, the psychological, physical and addiction state changes.
18. One change includes adapting and tolerating the amount of substance that the user has been consuming.
19. Another one is the increase in erotic behaviours and wild partying and drug use making the user wear off, become depressed and always dissatisfied.
20. Different types of treatments are available for different types of drug user situations.
21. They include residential rehabs
22. Detoxification
23. Ambulatory and out-patients services
24. 12 step program also termed as alcoholics and narcotics anonymous.
25. Conclusion

In conclusion, understanding and grasping the effects associated with drug use among the gay culture is significant in preventing treating and recovering. All types of people are negatively affected by the impact of drug abuse. Some people term drug users as evil, but through the ultimate understanding of the drugs, people can understand the physical, scientific and psychological reasons leading to drug use. Drug use and addiction is a disease but a preventable disease which everyone can refrain from. Therefore, it is worthwhile to conduct urban-based surveys on drug use to use the information gathered to raise awareness and facilitate community activities in preventing drug use. It is clear that data related to drug prevalence can be significant in preventing, treating and raising awareness on the effects of drug use on the urban gay culture.

Introduction

Drug abuse refers to the unregulated and excessive use of drugs in amounts which lead to emotional, physical and social harm to the user. Drug abuse is rampant in the urban centers which are the sole markets of the drugs. Drug abuse id practiced by many people from all walks of life, but it is common in the urban centers among the young and free people of the gay culture. Substance abuse not only affects the users but also affect the surrounding people such as neighbors, friends, family and relatives (Johnston, 2010, p. 20). Drug abuse has a lot of negative effects and consequences, especially to the addicts. Over the last several decades, drug abuse has become a global problem especially in the urban environment and in turn posing adverse effects and a threat to the gay culture.

Analysis

The main feature of drug substances is that they cause addiction. Addiction disrupts physical and mental mood and well- being.it also cause the user to depend on the drug dose entirely. The absence of the drug within the body system causes serious conditions and seizures as well as severe pain muscles in body muscles and body organs (McKirnan & Peterson, 1989, p. 546). The mental dependence is depicted by the fact that the user strives to achieve balance and normalcy. In relevance to speculation, drug abuse is widely increasing in the urban centres hence leading to a proportional number of addicts in the streets (Goode, 1989).

Substance use causes multiple injuries, deaths and illnesses among people in the gay culture which does not regulate drug use and behaviours that come along with the consumption of drug substances (Degenhardt & Hall, 2012, p. 57). Most youths within the urban environment are directly exposed to drug use as the urban centres are mostly the source of the drugs. For instance, in the gay culture which allows freedom for drug use among youths, the youths are with no doubt bound to succumb to alcoholism and substance use which is not regulated in the urban areas. Moreover, most of the drugs abused in the town centres are beneficial to the humankind but very harmful when consumed in large amounts. Drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, heroin and alcohol are mostly abused by the youths as they are in high supply within the cities. On the other hand, prescription drugs such as opioids are also commonly abused.

Drug abuse in the gay culture destroys professional, social and cultural ties. Drug dependence reduces the level of self-realisation hence negatively affecting and ruining relations among people. It also destroys a family budget, causes society conflicts as well as individual conflicts. Drugs deter critical and intellectual thinking among the users, forcing them to get involved in actions and behaviours without making critical judgments. Addicted or alcoholic people will find it hard to relate well to other people. It also causes the users to wear off both physically and hence appears as mentally unstable, and in turn, people turn them as mad and therefore hard to relate to them.

The factors involved in the increase in drug abuse in the urban centres include but not limited to: the increase in the rate of unemployment, peer pressure, personal stresses and desire for pleasure. The leading factor in causing drug use is the desire for pleasure. The youths in the town always want to attend parties and are involved in alcohol and drug use and view this as pleasurable and stress relieving. The lack of employment makes people to be idle and hence indulge in drugs to stay busy. Also, peer pressure is high in the urban centres due to a large number of youth habited by the towns making them influence each other into drug use. The drugs mostly consume include sedatives, hallucinogens and stimulants which are consumed. Over the counter, medics are also commonly abused.

Drug use induces changes to the user. This is in the form of psychological, physical and behavioural changes. These changes cause the youths to be involved in erotic behaviours which can cause sexually transmitted infections such as HIV/ AIDS (Newcomb, Maddahian & Bentler, 1986, p. 526). Mental changes expose the user to mental illness and memory loss. The behavioural changes cause the users to engage in bad behaviours which in turn ruin relationship ties and annoy the people around. For instance, drunken people engage in fights and insult people aimlessly. There is a common assumption in the United States that drug abuse is highly related to violence and crime. The association between ill behaviours, crime and violence, is more subtle and complex. Through the use of various urban contents, the rampant and ill behaviours among youths are due to the legality of alcohol and substance consumption in the urban environment.

The urban place should also set up measures to regulate substance use. This can be done for example through banning the use of hard drugs such as cocaine and heroin which in are highly addictive. Peddlers should also be arrested. Other measures include providing employment opportunities to the youths in the urban centres to avoid being idle. Adopting of regulative and caring cultures in the cities will also play a crucial part in preventing drug use. Drug prescribers should also be inspected to ensure that they are competent enough to prescribe the right quantity of medicine to their buyer. This would prevent cases of misuse of the over-the-counter drugs. Also, protective cultures which do not allow for drug use and immoral behaviours should be adopted instead to set values which regulate drug use.

Various desirable treatments are however available to counteract these drug effect on the urban gay culture (Wright, 2000, p. 665). Treatment centres such as rehabilitation centres, ambulatory out-patient services, and detoxification and non-alcoholic programs have been widely encouraged and set up in the cities to aid in preventing and treating drug-related problems. Additionally, these programs are also in the forefront in raising awareness against substance use. This is core in ensuring that youths refrain from drug use.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is evident that drug use has been rampant over the decades especially in the urban areas especially due to the permissive cultures which allow for drug use provide the users are having fun and enjoying. Drug abuse is also widespread in towns due to the high rates of unemployment as well as an increase in stress and personal problems. The effects of drug consumption are also major and include addiction, deaths, psychological, physical and emotional changes which hinder normalcy. However, treatment facilities can be set up in the urban areas to help in preventing and treating problems associated with drug use. The effects can also be reduced through setting up laws and regulations aimed at reducing or banning the supply of drugs to the cities.

Bibliography

Goode, E., 1989. Drugs in American society. New York: Knopf.

Degenhardt, L. and Hall, W., 2012. The extent of illicit drug use and dependence, and their contribution to the global burden of disease. The Lancet, 379(9810), pp.55-70.

Newcomb, M.D., Maddahian, E. and Bentler, P.M., 1986. Risk factors for drug use among adolescents: concurrent and longitudinal analyses. American journal of public health, 76(5), pp.525-531.

Johnston, L.D., 2010. Monitoring the future: National survey results on drug use, 1975-2008: Volume II: College students and adults ages 19-50. Diane Publishing.

McKirnan, D.J. and Peterson, P.L., 1989. Alcohol and drug use among homosexual men and women: Epidemiology and population characteristics. Addictive Behaviors, 14(5), pp.545-553.

Wright, N., 2000. Treatment of drug users. The British Journal of General Practice, 50(457), p.665.