There is no reliable data on Jewish drug use, since official sources don’t track religion, and many people in the community hide their abuse, but treatment providers said rates are similar to other groups. Amudim has had over 2,100 opioid cases since 2014, said its CEO, Zvi Gluck. A UJA-Federation of New York survey on the impact of COVID-19 on Jews in New York City and its suburbs found that 10% of Jewish households reported a substance abuse problem. Nine out of ten of those households said they were not seeking help for the problem.
I would suggest, that a contributing factor to drug abuse; may the amount of disposable income people have today.
ReplyDeleteYears ago, when people had less money to blow, there was no easy way for a teenager to do drugs. Drugs cost money, and you knew that if you got addicted, then you would need to steal in order support the habit, which risks hard jail time, and this served as a strong deterrent.
Today, kids are walking around with much more money in their pockets, and there's more from where it came from. They have dad's credit card too. So when someone wants to experiment a bit, the financial barrier which formerly might have served as an impediment; has been greatly lowered.
A lot of homeless people use hard drugs. So what little money they can steal goes towards the habit
ReplyDeleteNot necessarily.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, drugs have always been around. When we were kids "years ago" the industry wasn't as developed. You had heroin, cocaine and cannabis. That was pretty much it.
Then came other opioids. Then came more potent cannabis. Then even more potent opioids. Then ketamine. Then designer drugs like Spice, MDMA and others.
When we were kids it was burgers and pizza. Today it's those plus a couple dozen more options. And they're not always expensive, dealers know how to "cut" the product to make a sale.
I suggest the main factor is escape. Why do people do drugs? Some because they try it once and happen to have an addictive personality but most start using because they want to escape the misery of daily life. The average happy person who is content with life doesn't want or need to do drugs. that's why the war on drugs always failed. People stayed miserable so they were willing to continue the drugs despite the consequence. Address the ennui and you will make progress.