THE FUTURE

Will substance use and abuse ever change? In ways, I believe. I think that humans will always use substance and I think the motivating factors for their use will always be similar such as genetics, coping, and positive reinforcements. However, I am sure we will see major changes in they types of drugs use such as the use of tobacco had changed over the past 20 years. Also, I am quite positive we will see changes in the best practices used in treating or approaching substance use and abuse. This, again can be seem when we look at the ‘scare tactic’ method which used to be used to create enough fear in an individual to make them want to quit using.

Addiction is essentially the compulsion to consume a substance or participate in a behavior for some form of reward may it be the physical high, the alleviating of stress, to fit in with peers or whatever it may be. This, unfortunately, I predict will forever be prevalent within society. There are also a wide variety of terms or classifications of addictions including substance use, substance dependence, misuse, harmful involvement, abuse and so on; these may stay relevant or be subjected to change depending upon how the general population continues to view addiction related behavior.  I have used this terminology so far as it was is relevant within the field. The field of addictions is ever changing so I can foresee changes to be made in the future.

It is my hopes that our greater community continues its advancement in the overall view of addictions and what is means to have substance related issues. There have been major strides taken over our history in how we perceive addictions which have come far from the moral theory; progressions have been made to include biology, psychology and sociology in the theory development of addictions. I would like to see a more extensive knowledge of substance abuse in the general population and to move towards harm reduction and away from trying to hide or remove these individuals from society. I believe it will be difficult to move away from the stereotypes we have place on addictions that make certain assumptions  about drug users (i.e. drug users are: dirty, scary, criminals, crazy, violent etc.) but I hope it is possible.

The field of addictions has grown substantially over the years and I can only hope it continues to progress and new research is being conducted and current best practices are being implemented.