"Drug action doesn't last forever, you either get clean or die." Before drug addiction permanently altered her trajectory in life, Victoria was just an ordinary teenage girl from a small town in Missouri. When a friend offered Victoria some crystal meth, Victoria reluctantly agreed, and so began her addiction. Victoria went on an extreme downward spiral, cutting off her family members, stealing money to make just enough to buy another dose, and giving up on school altogether. In a few short months, Victoria went from a promising high school student and one of the top students in her class to a street rat begging for drug money. Drug addiction has a catastrophically negative impact on society on a legal, economic, and familial level. 

     There is a definite correlation between the abuse of drugs and the rise of criminal activity in the United States, as those who abuse drugs are more likely to engage in illegal activity. In a research study conducted by the National Institute of Justice, a research branch of the United States Department of Justice, it was concluded that "more than half (58%) of state prisoners and two-thirds (63%) of sentenced jail inmates met the criteria for drug dependence or abuse" (Bronson I). This data indicates that there is a concrete connection between the abuse of drugs and the continuously growing crime rate in the United States. Why is it, however, that drugs are perpetuating the rise of crime in the United States?  According to the Foundations Recovery Network, drugs have a tendency to heavily impair one's critical thinking skills, leading to one making poor decisions, such as engaging in criminal activity. The Foundations Recovery Network conducted studies that show certain drugs such as marijuana, methamphetamines, and alcohol impair a person's ability to tap into their frontal lobe and utilize critical thinking skills that could potentially prohibit them from making poor decisions, such as driving while intoxicated or committing theft. When one considers the link between criminal activity in the United States and the abuse of illegal substances, one comes to the understanding that it is neither overly idealistic nor foolhardy to suggest that complete abstinence is a method by which the United States could effectively lower its crime rate.

     Not only does drug abuse contribute to the ever-growing crime rate in the United States, but it also has a palpable negative effect on the growth and development of the United States economy. Vertava Health conducted an investigation on the toll drugs take on the United States economy, and their findings yield that the selling and abuse of illegal drugs cost the United States a staggering $600 billion annually. The slippery slope that is the United States debt is getting continuously steeper, and drug addiction only perpetuates this increase as it causes the United States to waste its valuable dollars on rehabilitation centers, foster care systems, and on-the-job injuries. Furthermore, the drug industry costs the medical industry specifically, over $180 billion per year for healing drug-related injuries, conducting psychiatric evaluations, and rehabilitation centers for addicts. That is $180 billion annually that medical researchers and doctors could be using to find cures for various ailments and degenerative diseases, rather than fixing the problems drugs create. The longer society continues to abuse narcotics, the more we pay for it in government money and resources.

     Beyond hurting the United States economically, drug addiction also has the capability to strain family relationships and decrease children's chances of becoming functional members of society. The United Recovery Project examined many cases of drug addiction around the country, and their findings showed that 80% of all drug users had a strained relationship with their families as a result of the drugs they were abusing (United Recovery Project). One specific addict, named Victoria, recalls what her relationship with her mother was like after she began abusing drugs, "It was okay for a while, it destroyed my relationship with everyone my mom mostly. We are no longer close anymore." Because of Victoria's choice to continue misusing heroin and crystal meth, her relationship with her mother suffered as a result. Children who have parents prone to drug addiction are more likely to have a favorable attitude toward drugs and undertake an addiction to them that those whose parents do not abuse drugs. A study published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information yielded this conclusion: "compared to participants whose parents did not currently smoke, participants who reported one or both parents currently smoke had increased odds of ever smoking" (Wilkinson). When a parent decides to smoke, they are not only putting themselves at risk but also their children, as children are more likely to inherit a habit of smoking if their parents partake in tobacco abuse. Adding onto this is the fact that a parent that abuses drugs is more likely to neglect the physical and emotional need a child requires to survive. Drug addiction is a special kind of thief, it takes the hearts of the addict's loved ones, and rips them in two.

     When one considers the adverse economic effects, the strain it causes on families, and the strong correlation between drug addiction and criminal activity, it becomes clear that drug addiction has a devastating impact on society. For one, drug addiction and crime are clearly linked and so long as drug addiction continues to rise, so will crime. Furthermore, drug addiction costs the United States and the medical industry millions of dollars that could be used to cure diseases or decrease the national debt. Lastly, drug addiction causes the straining and breaking of family relationships, and can have a profound negative impact on today's youth. Like Victoria once wrote there are only two ways to end drug addiction: sobriety or death. If today's society fails to take a stand against drug abuse, then it will succumb to a terrible fate. 

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