Pros of Alcohol and Drug Abuse?
Question by Angel: Pros of alcohol and drug abuse?
I’m having a debate on alcohol and drug abuse for my sociology class and my half of the debate are the pros. I certainly know that the functionalists would say that drug and alcohol abuse is good because it provides jobs for AA employees and provides greater economic flow. I’d actually like to know, are there any other pros besides the mentioned for the abuse of alcohol and drugs? Can the word “abuse” be used in a different context for alcohol and drugs? Please give me something to debate on the pros, thank you!
Okay, let me clarify my point of the debate: I was assigned the half of the debate that is pro drug and alcohol abuse, I had no say. I didn’t just ask for the pros of health, I’m also asking for benefits it causes. Functionalists, Conflict theorists, anything really. It wasn’t my choice to be the pro party. Sorry if I didn’t clarify enough.
Best answer:
Answer by Johnny
If you really had to argue for the pros of alcohol and drug use (not abuse), you could mention the possibility of self-medicating preexisting psychological issues. For instance, say one suffered greatly from anxiety. Normally, this would cripple a workers ability to provide consistent or worthwhile labor in the work place. However, perhaps drinking alcohol before going to work or during the week helps the worker deal with anxiety and thus benefits both the worker and the employer. Of course, in order for this to work, it must be done in moderation.
I know I self-medicate because I struggle with depression and anxiety. Without this immediate relief, there would be times when I wouldn’t be able to completely function academically or socially. There is a fine line between use and abuse and as long as one knows how to tread this line carefully, one can definitely benefit from it.
Best of luck! And a very interesting question, thanks for asking, it definitely got me thinking.
What do you think? Answer below!
Substance abuse validates link between impulsive behavior, food addiction
Filed under: alcohol and drug abuse
The research, which was published in the journal Appetite, found some of the same impulsive behaviors that lead people to abuse drugs or alcohol could also be an important contributor to food addiction. “Based on some of the studies we have on …
Read more on Red and Black
Wisconsin and Minnesota lead on-campus drug & alcohol arrests
Filed under: alcohol and drug abuse
Northland's News Center is one of many midwestern news outlets reporting on the region's top spots in a newly published study of on-campus arrests for alcohol and drug abuse. University of Minnesota-Duluth ranked seventh on a national list of arrests …
Read more on Rick Kupchella’s BringMeTheNews
Busted – Drug abuse council finds parties breaching underage drinking stipulations
Filed under: alcohol and drug abuse
The National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA) is issuing a strong warning to promoters and sponsors of adult and teenage parties to exercise greater vigilance over the sale of adult party tickets to minors and the service of alcoholic drinks to young people.
Read more on Jamaica Gleaner
Tags: drug use, alcohol and drug abuse, substance abuse
Angel if this is a college course and this professor gave u this assignment drop this class now.
There are no pros to ‘abuse’. Abuse is the deliberate mis-use of a substance, to achieve an effect not intended in the original prescription, or socially acceptable use of the substance. Abuse is, by very definition, not good. There are no benefits to abuse, barring a temporary high. To suggest that drunken gambling, or purchasing street drugs at an inflated price, or providing jobs to AA group leaders is any benefit is utter nonsense.
Purely for the sake of debate, one might take the position that by allowing those with addiction problems (drugs, alcohol, and other excesses) to indulge their illness without restraint would lead them to an early death, thus removing them and their problem from society. On the extreme it could be argued that by doing this, it is conceivable that eventually this problem would be a self-limiting one. Possibly even to the point that eventually (I use this term lightly) the genes that lead to addictive behaviors might be eradicated via natural selection – if one is extremely ill or dead one can’t breed.