Drug and substance abuse has become a common trend, especially among the youth, giving healthcare professionals a hard time in trying to stop the widespread menace. The impact of this substance abuse is felt by the community as witnessed by the numerous cases reported at hospital emergency centers and the increased influx of individuals accused of substance abuse in correctional facilities. As such, immediate intervention needs to be undertaken to mitigate the effects of drug and substance abuse and to reduce incidences of indulgence by youngsters in such destructive activities. The commonest areas that need to be addressed are injection drug use, tobacco use, and alcohol misuse (Reyes, 2009). As such, the department of correctional services needs to liaise with other government agencies as well as community outreach organizations so as to eradicate the menace.
Innovative rehabilitation programs and addressing socio-economic disparities will work towards reducing criminal activities and drug and substance abuse. The section of correctional services in partnership with other agencies such as the police department and the health department can come up with appropriate strategies aimed at curbing injection drug use, tobacco use, and alcoholism. The police department will enforce existing laws and regulations that seek to regulate substance use whereas the health department will try to rehabilitate patients who are already hooked to substance use. The police department can enforce laws that prohibit the sale of alcohol to underage citizens and prevent the entry of illegal substances entering the country. Benchmarking with other agencies that work towards controlling drug and substance abuse should be promoted where staff at the correctional services department are send to learn from other countries on the best practices (Sugarman, Rose and Metzger, 2013). Community programs such as rehabilitated addicts opening up to youngsters of their experiences should be encouraged where would-be substance abusers can be warned of the dangers of indulging in it. Collaboration between different agencies will go a long way in reducing cases of injection drug use, alcoholism, and tobacco smoking in the society.
References
Reyes, C. (2009). Corrections-Based Drug Treatment Programs and Crime Prevention: An International Approach. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 48(7), pp.620-634.
Sugarman, J., Rose, S. and Metzger, D. (2013). Ethical issues in HIV prevention research with people who inject drugs. Clinical Trials, 11(2), pp.239-245.
