Drug Abuse In The United States - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1209 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2019/03/22 Category Health Essay Level High school Tags: Drug Abuse Essay Did you like this example? Abstract People dont realize the severity of prescription drug abuse in the United States. While most people turn a blind eye to the issue, 28.6 million Americans age 12 and over struggle with substance abuse (2018 Prescription Drug Abuse Statistics You Need To Know). Prescription drug abuse is an epidemic that is rapidly growing in the U.S.. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Drug Abuse In The United States" essay for you Create order Its caused a great deal of struggle between, doctors, patients, and the law. People are genetically prone to addiction. Such phenomenon was simply unavoidable. Abuse and addiction takes a heavy toll on families of victims. Because of the growing numbers of addicts and consequences, laws and limitations had to be put into play. However even these laws had a negative effect on the innocent that truly are in need of such drugs and treatments. Prescription drug abuse has reached very large numbers and a very wide-spread area in the U.S.. Not many people understand just how large this epidemic has become. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 2.1 million Americans are addicted to legal narcotics, and more than 30,000 opioid-related deaths occurred in 2015 (Prescription Medication Abuse). This means that about 1 in every 100 Americans are addicted to opioid drugs. Innocent lives that once had a bright future are disappearing because of these highly addictive prescriptions. However, the doctors prescribing medications are not the only scapegoat. Humans naturally have the tendency to keep going back to something that gives them pleasure or at least helps them forget about negativity. All people have a genetic disposition for addiction, due to an evolutionary advantage to identifying foods and substances that provide pleasure(Prescription Medication Abuse). No one ever wants to become an addict, but for many Americans, one dose of a prescription for an injury leads to a whole road of destruction. Its an epidemic that couldve been avoided if the research had presented such results sooner or in a more obvious manner, for these genes are not very prominent. Although it is difficult to locate and identify addiction genes, researchers believe that genetics may nonetheless play a role, since a person with an immediate family member who struggles with addiction is at a statistically higher risk for substance abuse themselves (Prescription Medication Abuse). Another catalyst to addiction is surrounding environmental factors. Unfortunately, not everyone in America comes from a comfortable and happy childhood. Not every American is living happily and comfortably as an adult either. Environmental issues can also add to the likelihood of abuse, as children who grow up in a family culture of addiction or who are introduced to substances at an early age are more likely to become addicts (Prescription Medication Abuse). With the addiction gene and harsh environmental factors, it makes the perfect conditions for a serious drug addiction, taking a toll on both the addict and their loved ones. The number of drug addicts in America is high, but not nearly as high as those affected by a family member or loved one that is addicted to prescription drugs. Families that were once happy have gone separate ways or have suffered elongated periods of mental suffering and exhaustion all because one person succumbed to addiction to a prescribed opioid drug. The consequences of an adult who abuses substances and lives alone or with a partner are likely to be economic and psychological. Money may be spent for drug use; the partner who is not using substances often assumes the provider role. Psychological consequences may include denial or protection of the person with the substance abuse problem, chronic anger, stress, anxiety, hopelessness, inappropriate sexual behavior, neglected health, shame, stigma, and isolation (Treatment, Center). Such consequences of being around an addict put these people through just about the same level of misery as the individual consuming the drugs as well. Laws and limitations had to join the story to decrease the numbers of addicts and to help secondhand sufferers. There have been many attempts to control and end the prescription drug addiction epidemic such as prescription limits and pill counts. Major acts have also been passed to aid those recovering from addiction. In July of the same year (2016), President Barack Obama signed the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) into law(Prescription Medication Abuse). This act and many organizations with a similar cause have helped make the arduous road to sobriety easier and more accessible to victims of addiction. The Controlled Substances Act (CSA) has put heavy restrictions on addictive drugs prescribed by doctors. Patients picking up their prescriptions have to give extensive information confirming that they are the person it was prescribed to and that they are not surpassing the limit of refills on the controlled substance. Doctors with regular consumers of these substances conduct pill counts so they make sure their patient is not taking any extra or picking up extra from the pharmacist. While these laws have helped somewhat control prescription drug addiction, innocent patients sometimes end up getting caught in the crossfire. Doctors are doing their best to enforce limit laws and keeping their patients safe but innocent patients are getting booted by their doctors and all doctors in their area due to honest mistakes. Then one day last May, Craigs pain clinic called him in for a pill count, a precaution designed to detect abuse of narcotics or diversion to nonpatients. The count was off by a weeks worth of pills because Craig had just returned from a business trip and forgot that he had packed some medication in his briefcase. He tried to explain the discrepancy and offered to bring in the missing pills, to no avail. Because the pill count came up short, Craigs doctor would no longer prescribe opioids for him, and neither would any other pain specialist in town (Sullum, Jacob ). Many people have encountered a similar situation as Craig. Innocent and honest patients deprived of their medication because of little mistakes. Craig and many others like him wake up every morning in pain and have to struggle through their daily activities. They simply want to do simple tasks with pain and that right is taken away from them because of laws meant for addicts. It isnt fair that these peoples quality of life is compromised because of addicts that abuse their privilege of having pain pills. In brief, millions of Americans suffer from prescription drug addiction. Its an easy addiction to succumb to due to human nature to gravitate towards things that make them feel happy or relaxed. Family, friends, and loved ones are almost always dragged along on the dreadful journey of addiction, and suffer just as much as the addicted individual does. The road to recovery from addiction is difficult but federal acts and organizations have helped make it easier. Prescription limits and controlled substances have also been put into play to lower addiction rates, but innocent people also get deprived of necessary care due to these bans and limitations. Addiction has become a nearly undefeatable epidemic that is dragging addicts down and taking their loved ones and innocent patients with them. Our country is continuing to work towards a solution that society hopes for and needs to have soon. The people want relief. The people want an end to this horrible monster we call addiction.

Pursuit Of The American Dream - 881 Words

The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream Many human resource departments do not acknowledge resumes anymore. In fact, many of the companies offer survival jobs instead of the jobs applicants actually apply to, therefore causing downsizing. I know many may think what is a survival job? A survival job is any job an applicant can obtain in order to put food on their tables. Housekeeping, taxi driving or car detailing, to name a few, are survival jobs that offer minimum wage or tips and no source of benefits. In They Say I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing Barbara Ehrenreich author of â€Å"The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream claims that: Stories of white-collar downward mobility cannot be brushed off as easily as accounts of blue-collar economic woes, which the hard-hearted traditionally blame on â€Å"bad choices†: failing to get a college degree, for example, failing to postpone child-bearing until acquiring a nest egg, or failing to choose affluent parents in the first place. But distressed white-collar people cannot be accused of fecklessness of any kind; they are the ones who â€Å"did everything right.†(261) Ehrenreich makes a great point in saying that although many white-collared employees are looked upon as the so called â€Å"over achievers† in the corporate world, there is no need to pity the blue-collared employees for not obtaining the same status. Middle class employees are just as important as the C.E.Os. that own the company. They are the people who do theShow MoreRelatedThe Pursuit Of The American Dream889 Words   |  4 Pageseverything they will need to succeed and thrive in college. Which is why the US attracts people from all over the world who are in pursuit of the American Dream. The American Dream, an idea, which states that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination and initiative. The conceptual idea behind the American dream is not what it was 80 years ago. Although street smarts are important set of skills to have, academic and communicationRead MoreThe Pursuit Of The American Dream1545 Words   |  7 Pages The American dream is defined as â€Å"The belief that everyone in the U.S. has the chance to be successful, rich, and happy if they work hard.† (Cambridge). The Pursuit of Happyness is a movie in which the main character, Chri s Gardner, illustrates the true happenings of an inspirational rags-to-riches feel good persona. 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However, there are several interpretations of the American Dream because the idea explores the personal values of individuals. The differentiation between priorities and contrasting views of success amongst individuals can often effect how one defines the American Dream. In A Raisin in the Sun, written by Lorraine HansberryRead MoreThe ( Futile ) Pursuit Of The American Dream1331 Words   |  6 PagesThe (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream Essay How would you feel if your perception of the american dream did live up to its own standards? In Barbara Ehrenreich’s book The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream, she argues that white collar workers are limited to their capability by the harsh reality. People assume being part of the middle class in america will be the answer to a better lifestyle but it just hasn’t been case over the past decades. Teachers tell their students the key to successRead MoreThe American Dream : The Dream, Liberty, And The Pursuit Of Happiness1161 Words   |  5 PagesThe American dream has been changing over the years. However, the reason it’s been changing may be more that the change of the times. At its core, the American dream is all about attitude. With the right outlook, it can be whatever it is desired to be. Not only Americans can have the dream, but everyone can obtain this beautiful concept of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Joy Luck Club spends an enormous amount of time comparing the differences of the American dream with theRead MoreAmerican Dream: How To Pursuit This Dream?958 Words   |  4 PagesThe Pursuit of the American Dream What is the American Dream and how does one obtain it? That question can be answered in a multitude of ways. For some achieving the American Dream means living a better, richer and happier life. Others believe it has more emphasis on just living simply and having a fulfilling life; also having the opportunity to become anything one desires with little determination and hard work. In Watson’s Bread and Roses: Mills, Migrants, and the Struggle for the American DreamRead MoreGatsbys Pursuit of the American Dream Essay827 Words   |  4 Pages Gatsbys Pursuit of the American Dream The American Dream means that by persistently working hard, one can achieve success; this is in contrast to other countries where the immigrants came from, in which one was either born into money and privilege or not, and if you werent, there was no way of achieving this success. The American Dream eliminated the barriers between people that social class had held for centuries in Europe. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, shows the corruption of theRead MoreAmerican Dream in the Film, The Pursuit of Happyness Essay1267 Words   |  6 Pages The American dream is not fully represented in the same way as the ideas were initially raised. The ideas were primarily fabricated in the very beginning of our country. The propagandist role of any medium has changed just as much as the times have since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In contemporary America, film is the leading component of the propagation and detraction of the American dream. The film The Pursuit of Happyness (2005) supports the idea of the American dreamRead MoreThe Pursuit Of The American Dream By F. Scott Fitzgerald1653 Words   |  7 PagesKristin Liu Research Paper Date due: June 10, 2015 Date turned in: June 15, 2015 Self Demise in the Pursuit of the American Dream The 1920s was a time when parties and prosperity were abundant. This created the view that everything was possible and eventually led to the idea of the American Dream. The American Dream was the thought that if one lives in America, then they are living in a land of opportunity. The perception was that an individual, through hard work, can be successful when in America

Analyzing Supply Chain Management System of Adidas

Question: Discuss about the Analyzing Supply Chain Management System of Adidas. Answer: Introduction The report aims to discuss about the supply chain management system of Adidas by analyzing its internal operations. The key flows in supply chain would be discussed to understand the product flow, cash, flow, information flow and return flow of Adidas shoes. The report would evaluate the existing processes of the company to assess their effectiveness of operations. Further, production process would be studies to understand the scheduling process and material requirement planning process of the company. This would helps to understand how effectively the company has incorporated the production process to reduce the cost of the products and services. Lastly, different supply chain forecasting methods would be analyzed in order to identify a suitable model for supply chain of Adidas. After performing the complete analysis of companys supply chain management system and different forecasting methods, appropriate recommendations would be provided to improve the supply chain management process of the company. The reason for selecting the suitable forecasting model would also be justified with the appropriate explanation. Adidas AG is a German based multinational corporation that manufacturers shoes, clothes and accessories. The company is the second largest manufacturer in the world after Nike Inc. The company is known for the production of sports and athletes wear. The company designs and produces sports shoes, running shoes, apparels and accessories for men women (Adidas Group, 2017). Adidas has established its global sales and distribution network through strategic supplier relationship. The company has suppliers on more than sixty three countries spread all over the world (Adidas Group, 2017). Key Flows in Supply Chain Adidas has developed an effective product flow within its supply chain management process. Demand planning and production planning ensures that an optimum number of shoes are being produced within the factories. Adidas has its factories all over the world but most of its products are outsourced from 1200 factories located in different parts of the world (Adidas Group, 2017). The major outsourcing countries are China, Indonesia, India and Vietnam. Thus, the shoes are firstly developed within one of these production factories. The finished goods are stored for sometime within the inventory of production houses. Once the consignment is complete, the shoes get transported to the large warehouses of the company. The product then moves to wholesalers warehouses as an inventory hold. From wholesalers warehouse, the product moves to the retailers warehouse and then gets distributed among the retail outlets of Adidas. The cross docking reduces time in retailers warehouse. The time interval be tween transportation of goods from retailers warehouse to retail outlets increases the sales and turnover of the company (Adidas Group, 2017). The demand planning process of supply chain management does statistical forecasts by collecting customer specific information from the order history. The results obtained from demand planning process helps in supply planning process that comprises of production planning. Once the production planning process complete, the information moves to manufacturing process in which detailed production schedule is laid out to start the production process (Adidas Group, 2017). The information moves from manufacturing department to distribution department for inventory deployment, inventory storage and customer order fulfillment. The information flow system of supply chain management of Adidas ensures that every department receives the required information on time and the sequence of information is also being maintained. Since Adidas operates globally and has huge sales and distribution network, therefore, any single loss of information would affect the entire supply chain management (Adidas Grou p, 2017). The cash flow takes place from the hands of consumer to the retailer through invoicing system that could be electronic or cash. The retailer receives an invoice from the distributor of the company and cash flows from the hands of retailer to distributor (Adidas Group, 2017). From the distributor, the cash flows to the manufacturer who has an agreement with the suppliers. The returned products travel from the hands of consumers to retailers and are received by the company in case of any defects. Adidas has very effective return policies to ensure consumer rights are not being violated. Sustainability is essential for a companys supply chain process to protect environmental, social and economic laws of a country. The process of manufacturing shoes makes use of toxic chemical that pollutes the environment. Further, water is an essential component of manufacturing of shoes and if used in greater quantity could lead to scarcity of drinking water. Thus, Adidas must introduce a mechanism to reduce the carbon emission in the air and minimize the use of water in the process. Develop products that can be recycled: The company could produce products that do not require chemicals and adhesives, thus, no waste would be liberated. (Kaye, 2013) The shoes could also be recycled repeatedly and thus, would not create threat to product disposal (Jervell, 2015). Production Process Adidas has vertically integrated model to manufacture its footwear. There are two stages of production named as primary and transformation stage. In primary process, the raw material is sourced from the different places such as organic cotton, recycled polyester, rubber, PVC, phthalates and leather (SGS, 2014). The procured raw material is received by the factories to start the transformation process. Firstly, the machine crushes and cuts the leather into different shapes of shoes like cookie cutters. The middle portion of shoes and shoe holder of shoe is built through cutting machine that is attached to the bottom part of shoe. After that, the sole and bottom shoe portion is attached to the upper sole portion and then it is heated using a plastic mold. Adidas has implemented cold cement construction process to develop high quality shoes. Thus, the overall process includes coupling toe-puff, back part molding, insole tacking, roughing up, toe lasting, heel/side lasting, ironing scour ing/roughing, gluing, attaching and finishing (Eryilmaz, 2012). The manufacturing process involves various stages including demand estimation, aggregated capacity planning, master operations schedule, short term re-scheduling, rough cut capacity planning and prioritizing and control (Eryilmaz, 2012). The process also involves capacity requirement and availability planning to comply with the market demands. The raw material must also arrive at an appropriate time and in appropriate quantities to meet the demand of production (Eryilmaz, 2012). Further, optimized utilization of capital, equipments and facilities is also equally important to minimize the cost of product. Adidas also maintains the inventory, work in progress along with finished goods at every location. There are four main processes in planning and control includes scheduling, loading, sequencing, monitoring and control. This is established through an effective value chain and Enterprise Resource Planning (Roscoe Baker, 2013). In order to achieve low cost production process, Adidas would have to invest large amount of money into research and development to develop fully automated production process. With the emerging technology, Speedfactory has become the need of the hour through which shoes can be produced within fraction of the traditional production time of shoes (Henkel, 2016). The increasing digitalization process compiled with research and development would make the fully automatic production possible. In order to implement automated production process, the company would have to check the availability of raw materials in the market. The process would reduce production and transportation time of products. Since with the changing market demands, the consumer do not have the patience to wait for the arrival of new products and Speedfactory would be a digitalized solution for it. Further, the process would also make the production process more flexible as the shoes would be produced at the locations that are nearby to the consumers. Supply Chain Forecasting Demand forecasting is a process to estimate the sales demand for a particular product using scientific methods. There are around seven methods of demand forecasting that could be applied depending upon the circumstances such as forecasting purpose, availability of data, time frame and other exterior factors. The different methods are illustrated below: This method involves estimating the demand of product in future by directly asking the customer about their purchase intentions in the future (Lambert, 2008). This could be done through polls, survey, group interview and some other methods of data collection. The method fails to forecast the demand in many situations because the customers are unable to foretell the future demands. This method is deployed by the salesmen of a company. The salesman interacts with the customers on day to day basis and has a better understanding of their needs and requirement (Lambert, 2008). Thus, estimates from all the salesmen are collected to forecast the future demand of consumers. The method helps to collect the data related to consumer behavior with the changing product prices and design, income distribution, purchasing power and population. The method helps to analyze the time series and projects the trend based on time series. The suggestions from executives of different department (marketing, finance, production operations, HR) are gathered to project the future demand (Lambert, 2008). The method is simple and easy to implement. This method takes into consideration construction contracts, personal income, agricultural income and automobile registration to analyze the demand for cement, consumer goods, agricultural imports, and car parts and petrol (Thomopoulos, 2014). The analyst establishes a relationship between the indicator and product sales to project the estimated future sales. This method makes use of regression equation to determine the demand by taking one individual factor and assuming the other factors to be constant (Thomopoulos, 2014). This one single factor is applied to different markets to construe the estimates. The opinions and suggestions of experts is considered to forecast the demand of product. Recommendations After studying various types of forecasting methods, the appropriate method for Adidas supply chain management would be trend projection so that a demand driven supply chain could be established. The trend projection method would help the company to forecast the demand which is adequate to meet the demand of customers. The demand driven method helps to slow down the production method when the forecasted demand is low as compared to previous year (Lipton, 2013). Alternatively, the production process becomes faster and the number of quantity of products is increased when the demand forecasted is high. The method would help the company to provide real time demand figures so as to meet the demand of the consumers. Visibility, coordination, infrastructure and optimization are the four pillars of demand driven process. Visibility helps to develop a transparent business process, infrastructure support flexible production process to meet the demand of consumer, coordination among the team me mbers ensure effective operations and optimization ensures satisfying the customers through great customer services (BCG, 2017). Conclusion The report has thus, successfully analyzed the supply chain management process of Adidas. The company has an effective product flow beginning from the production process to the hands of consumer. The product is manufactured by considering the demand forecast and planning process of supply chain to meet the demand of the consumers. The information flows from one process to another process to ensure connectivity within the processes. The history of customer is taken to forecast the demand for future. The information flows effectively from demand planning process to production process to produce the appropriate quantity of Adidas shoes. Cash flows from the hands of consumers to hands of manufacturers. In order to improve the overall process, the company must incorporate sustainable practices. The recommended sustainable practices were reducing carbon emission and toxic waste by developing recycled products. The company has implemented cold cement construction process that includes coupling toe-puff, back part molding, insole tacking, roughing up, toe lasting, heel/side lasting, ironing scouring/roughing, gluing, attaching and finishing tasks. There are four main processes in planning and control includes scheduling, loading, sequencing, monitoring and control that is established through an effective value chain and Enterprise Resource Planning. The recommendations were to use fully automated production system to reduce the overall cost of production. Trend projection forecasting method was suggested to the company to develop demand driven supply chain system. This was evaluated to provide real time figures to the company through its four pillars of visibility, coordination, infrastructure and optimization. References Adidas Group. (2017). Supply Chain Structure. Retrieved from: https://www.adidas-group.com/en/sustainability/compliance/supply-chain-structure/ BCG. (2017). Demand driven supply chain. Retrieved from: https://www.bcgperspectives.com/content/articles/supply_chain_management_sourcing_procurement_demand_driven_supply_chain/?chapter=2 Eryilmaz, M.S., Kusakci, A.O., Gavranovic, H., Findik, F. (2012). Analysis Of Shoe Manufacturing Factory By Simulation Of Production Processes. Southeast Europe Journal of Soft Computing, 1(1), 120-127. Henkel, R. (2016). Adidas Speedfactory: Fully Automated Shoe Production. Retrieved from: https://www.ispo.com/en/trends/id_77829550/adidas-speedfactory-fully-automated-shoe-production.html Jervell, E.E. (2015). Adidas Moves to Address Environmental Worries. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from: https://www.wsj.com/articles/adidas-moves-to-address-environmental-worries-1443075134 Kaye, L. (2013).Adidas Implements New Strategies to Lead in Supply Chain Transparency. Sustainable Brands. Retrieved from: https://www.sustainablebrands.com/news_and_views/supply_chain/adidas-implements-new-strategies-lead-supply-chain-transparency Lambert, D.M. (2008). Supply Chain Management:Processes, Partnerships, Performance. US: Supply Chain Management Inst. Lipton, M. (2013). Demand-Driven Supply Chains Are In Demand. Industry Week. Retrieved from: https://www.industryweek.com/supplier-relationships/demand-driven-supply-chains-are-demand Roscoe, S., Baker, P. (2013). Supply chain segmentation in the sporting goods industry. International Journal of Logistics Research and Applications, 17(2), 136-155. SGS. (2014). Hazardous Chemicals In Footwear Manufacturing. Retrieved From: Http://Www.Sgs.Com/En/News/2014/06/Hazardous-Chemicals-In-Footwear-Manufacturing Thomopoulos, N.T. (2014). Demand Forecasting for Inventory Control. Illinois: Springer.