An Analysis on the Proliferation of Drug Users

Hello and welcome to my blog!

This blog serves as a platform of my analysis about the proliferation of drug users amidst the Philippine drug war using the Human Ecological Theory.

Now, do you know what the Human Ecological theory is?

The Human Ecological theory is an approach that examines individuals’ relationships within communities and the wider society. In regards into how one’s environment can influence the behavior of a person. This blog is related to this theory for it discusses into why drug addicts still continue to sprout even though there is a great stigma and a bloody campaign against illegal drugs.

A girl grieving for his dead mother who was a drug suspect.

Ok, does anyone of you even have a sheer amount of doubt as to why drug users are still prevalent in the Philippines despite the Great War against drugs enforced by the Duterte administration?

Filipinos rallying against the drug war.

Yes, drug addiction can be induced by the physiological addicting chemicals of illegal drugs that leads to drug users to get hooked to it.

But did you know that society also plays a big role as to why drug addicts further lean to the ever comforting effects of these drugs that are prohibited by the law.

Based on an article from Spain’s National Institute on Drug Abuse, it is stated “Nearly all addicted individuals believe at the outset that they cannot stop using drugs on their own, and most try to stop without treatment.” Now let me ask you this, what is the common reaction of society to these drug addicts? Doesn’t society shun this individuals into further despair by deliberately confining them to the depths of the fear of law and shame.

This is where the problem lies. Remember that addiction, specifically drug addiction is a mind battle amongst drug addicts for they are fighting against their own self in terms of their physiological craving of the high induced by the consumption of illegal drugs. Don’t take my word for it but the article of the Harvard Medical School, “How addiction hijacks the brain”, that states “Addiction exerts a long and powerful influence on the brain.” With this in mind, we can interpret that a rehabilitating drug addict is suppressing one’s physiological yearning for illegal drugs.

Now going back to society’s role, why do we stigmatize drug addicts if they need the help of others more than ever? The reason is of course that society views this addicts as disgraceful people or someone of lesser worth. But this only further worsens the problem at hand, as addicts encounter stigma in society they side with the illegal drugs to temporarily comfort their grief and sorrow but this only pushes them further down in the abyss of drug addiction.

We must lend a helping hand to these drug addicts for they are only people who are in dire need for human empathy and sympathy. It is now or never for they, in the bottom of the hearts of these addicts, are asking for our favor.