Substance Abuse An Individual s Life - 1608 Words

Substance abuse can be very detrimental to an individual’s life. According to the World Health Organization, substance abuse is defined as, â€Å"the harmful or hazardous use of psychoactive substances, including alcohol and illicit drugs† (2015). It does not matter what type of substance a person abuses, any one of them can alter one’s perception, judgement, and physical control, which leads a person being destructive in the future. If a person is fully dependent on a substance, by the time they withdraw it can cause a lot of issues such as, vomiting, shakiness, constantly worrying, hallucinating, and much more. Abusing any type of substance can start at any age but it usually begins early in childhood. Many children who are placed in foster†¦show more content†¦Throughout the foster care system, substance abuse is a very common problem that many people are not aware of. There have been several studies over the years regarding the foster care system on substance abuse. Vaughn and colleagues (2007) stated that â€Å"Forty-five percent of foster care youth reported using alcohol or illicit drugs within the last six months; 49% had tried drugs sometime during their lifetime and 35% met criteria for a substance use disorder.† The statistics found show a large amount of drug use within the system. Children who enter the system seem to be abusing drugs more heavily compared to children who are not in the system. There was another study within the foster care system that conducted a study on 406 children and found that, â€Å"Marijuana was the most frequently used substance, with 46% of foster youth having tried it at some point in their lives with a mean age of 13.1 years for first use. There were no gender differences in terms of use of these substances, with the exception of marijuana, which females were slightly less likely to use. Overall, almost half of the sample (49%) had tried some sort of illicit substance in their life time† (Vaughn, Ollie, McMillen, Scott, Munson, 2007). The main reason children get placed into a foster care system is often due to substance abuse. A study on infants conducted by Clinician Mcnichol revealed that † the stated reason for placement was as follows: