US vs. Europe: Drug Abuse
Drug abuse impacts society in many diverse ways. Homelessness, child welfare, worker productivity, crime, quality of life, health care utilization, prisons, and more are all greatly influenced by the amount and type of drug abuse in each country. The way each country goes about dealing with issues that arise from drug abuse also sway the outcomes of addiction and abuse. Between the US and Europe, there are varying policies and strategies used to attempt to decrease drug abuse.
For example, the War on Drugs has been waged for year in the US while Spain and Portugal decriminalized drug possession in their countries. But each country takes drug abuse very seriously and is putting measures into place to minimalize drug abuse and the effects on the daily lives of its citizens.
Comparing the US and Europe shows some interesting trends because there are various policies, demographics, and standards abounding. Just like in various states in the US, the various countries in Europe fight different drugs and struggle with different types of substance abuse, some more than others. Recovery services are also varied, but exist in some form in each area. A study conducted by the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) shows some interesting trends.
One of those trends, which is unfortunate, is the fact that the US is shown to be in the top five countries for almost every national measure of drug abuse, when compared with European countries. Further, even though some European countries show up in the top 5 in prevalence of drug abuse, no other country does so as consistently as the US. Hopefully, knowledge can be gleaned, shared, and compared from this data to aid in our own recovery from drug abuse here in the US.
The following measures were observed in regard to the US vs. Europe and drug abuse:
- Europe leads the US in alcohol abuse
- The US ranked 2nd in cannabis (marijuana) abuse, Iceland was 1st
- The US ranked 2nd in cocaine abuse, Spain was 1st
- The US ranked 1st in opioid abuse scoring 34% higher than the 2nd ranked Czech Republic
- The US ranked 1st in amphetamine use and was 9% higher than 2nd ranked Estonia
- The US ranked 1st in the number of drug overdose deaths
- The US ranked 1st in the number of people in treatment for drug abuse