“Micro-Activity #12: Researching”

I am interested in the topic of substance abuse because I often witness the toll it has taken on the life of many individuals across my neighborhood and the city. Unfortunately, I am able to observe the deterioration of some of these individuals over the years. The United States in the past five years have recorded an average of 50,000 deaths per year from opioid overdoses alone. I would like to learn more about this topic to be more informed and educated on the subject  as well as to be able to help people in the future. I still need to do more research to narrow my focus in order to be successful but I aim to understand the root of substance abuse and why certain people are more susceptible to it than others. I hope to find updated information from studies and research being done to better understand this problem that affects so many people in our society. From the research I have done so far I learned that substance abuse is sometimes directly correlated with mental health and childhood trauma. I hope to find information on how to minimize the effects of substance abuse because prohibition clearly has not been working. If I end up finding information that does not fit my hypothesis I will make sure to assimilate and learn from it to do my best to be able to use such information. Also, I would like to be able to break some of the stigma that has always been connected with substance abuse.