Drugs have been a serious problem in the United States. Since everybody has their own personal reasons why they do such a thing as use and abuse drugs, it makes even more difficult to prevent such a crime. Preventing the drug use has been a major issue in the area of politics, schools, or within the families. This paper will examine aspects that how drugs effect society and the individual while applying Beccaria $BCT (J thoughts and beliefs to our problem. .
The term drug abuse often refers to the frequent use of a drug that cause physical or mental harm to the user. The term drug is often associated with substance that may be purchased at the counter with prescription, such as penicillin, which is almost never abused, and Valium, which is frequently abused, or illegal substances, such as angel dust, which are taken for the purpose of getting high, but no medical use. Other substances, such as alcohol and nicotine, may be purchased legally without prescription and are commonly abused. But in this paper, I would like to focus on psychoactive drugs. Psychoactive drugs influence or alter the working of the mind. They affect thinking processes, moods, and emotions. .
During the 19th century, there were no regulation on the sale, purchase, possession, or use of psychoactive drugs at all. Dangerous drugs such as opium, morphine, and cocaine could be purchased without prescription for any reason and were basic ingredients in patient medicines. These nostrums were used to cure any aches, depression, nervousness, alcoholism, menstrual cramps (Weil, p.83). .
As a result of the ready availability of these addicting drugs and as a result of heavy use for medical problems, many people became addicted to these drugs. In fact, in 1900, there were more narcotic addicts, proportionate to the population than these today, (Musto, p.112). At that time, most of the users who became addicts were medical addicts. Not many users took drugs for recreational use.