Introduction
From time immemorial, people have been concerned, collectively as well as individually, about avoiding health impairment and prolonging life. In society they have developed two increasingly specialized arms for advancing their health interests and this include sets of healers, now long dominated by physicians, for dealing with individuals’ problems, and community health protection, to which public health personnel are devoted. The first set focuses on people one at a time and the second on the population as a whole (Jamner & Stokols 2000). Physicians have tended to emphasize cures, whereas public health has focused attention on prevention, though considerable overlap in these emphases has occurred. Both are supported by society to varying degrees in different times and situations, generally corresponding to the value that society places on them for safeguarding health. Most health problems arise in a societal context. Thus, tuberculosis, influenza, pneumonia, and other respiratory-borne and acute intestinal diseases dominated the health scene during the early days of the industrial revolution and even into the 20th century (Jamner & Stokols 2000).There are different threats towards a person’s health, these threats may be natural or man made. These threats can reduce the life span of an individual even if that individual is physically fit. Being healthy is an important desire for all people. Being healthy reduces financial problems and it removes the inability of a person to do daily activities. The media plays a big part in making sure that the people take care of their health. This paper will discuss about the role the media plays in the health of a society from the perspective of ones’ illegal drug use.
Illegal Drugs and society
The ultimate determinant of the worth of any drug policy or change to it must be the extent and nature of harm such a policy or change imposes on society. Harm done to a large body of users, particularly the young, unavoidably does damage to many others directly and indirectly. It imposes heavy burdens on financial and other resources and damages the fabric and strength of society. Therefore the question of harm on which drug policy issues depend cannot be dismissed on the basis that use is a matter of individual democratic choice. Such an argument completely overlooks potential damage to the immature, feeble-minded and uninformed. Harm to them is direct harm to society. Therefore, virtually every issue concerning drug policies and strategies must turn on the harm issue. The relationship between the use of drugs and the harm they cause is of critical importance (Malouf, Moffitt & Thompson 1998).
Drugs and other related substance has its extent of harm that increases or decreases with the rise or decline of drug use. The lack or strength of the public’s perception of the risk of harm from the use of drugs will influence how extensively drugs are used, thereby determining the extent of harm. For drugs to cause harm of any kind, they have to be used. The supply of all illicit drugs for non-medical use is illegal (Malouf, Moffitt & Thompson 1998). Therefore, any increase in use will increase the wealth, power and corruption of organized crime. Harm directly caused by them can be compared to the harm caused by any dangerous substance or conduct such as explosives, pesticides, leads in petrol or drunken driving. The more often the dangerous substance is used or dangerous conduct occurs, the greater the harmful effects. This is especially the case when the substance is capricious according to the circumstances of its use, or when it is used by those lacking expertise or experience (Malouf, Moffitt & Thompson 1998).
The purposes, philosophies and reasoning of those who propose or support more permissive policies vary, but are consistent in one respect: they do not aim to reduce the use of illicit drugs. Their objectives include greater individualism, so people are free to decide what drugs and risks they take. Some also consider that it is normal human behavior to stimulate the body and the mind by artificial means (Coombs & West 1991). These views implicitly include the wishes, even expectations, that there will be a freer and greater use of drugs. Few of those who are prepared to discuss the changes they propose deny that an increase in use is likely, but dismiss this as irrelevant or insignificant. It is very likely that the use of illicit drugs will accelerate due to peer pressure and social attitudes, much the way alcohol and tobacco have. If the laws change, certain former non-users will be influenced by this apparent official acceptance of society’s change of attitude to drug use and its dangers (Coombs & West 1991). The illegal use of drug causes various negative effects to people. It slowly removes the ability of non athlete to think within the limits of logic. Drugs are addicting and it forces the individual to do inappropriate things just so he/she can purchase the illegal drugs
Effect of over use of illegal drugs
The possible causes for initial drug use and subsequent transition from use of one drug to use and abuse of other drugs include psychological, sociological, economic, behavioral, and biological variables. It is difficult, if not impossible, directly to examine and manipulate any of these possible explanations in children. The existing literature on reasons for drug use initiation and maintenance in children is restricted to self-reports. In contrast, the literature on adult drug initiation and maintenance includes self-reports as well as experimental examination of behavioral and biological effects of drugs (Kandel 2002). Importantly, continued drug use in adults, as self-reported and as indicated in experiments, largely results from the behavioral and biological effects of the self-administered substance. Self-report studies in children also suggest that young people use drugs because of their behavioral and biological effects. Both the adult and adolescent drug use literature indicates that the behavioral and biological effects of drugs are potent motivators of continued drug self-administration (Kandel 2002).
In addition to the effects of drugs on neurotransmitter receptors and voltage-operated ion channels, many drugs affect the biochemical pathways operating within neurons. Traditionally, the sub discipline of neuropharmacology has dealt primarily with the receptor effects of drugs and has therefore been distinct from the study of the biochemical events occurring within neurons. However, neuropharmacology and the biochemistry of neurons are increasingly overlapping fields of study. Some drug receptors are located in the cytoplasm rather than on the cell membrane. Many drugs affect complicated enzyme pathways within neurons. It is becoming clear hat many of the long-term effects of neurological and psychiatric drugs are due to biochemical changes within neurons such as modification of existing protein and synthesis of new protein (Darlington & Smith 1996). Virtually all drugs will produce undesirable side effects if too high a dose is given. These side effects can range from minor discomforts to life-threatening damage to vital organs. For most drugs there is an optimum range of doses that produces the maximum medical benefit without adverse side effects. The separation between the dose range in which the desirable medical benefits are seen, and the higher dose range at which adverse effects emerge, is known as the therapeutic window. Obviously, it is desirable that this window should be as big as possible, but it is not always possible to achieve this. The adverse side effects may be caused by over stimulation of the same receptor mechanism that underlies the therapeutic effects (Iversen 2001)
Illegal substances have different effects to people and the different parts of their body. Some can change one person’s mental state, others can damage vital organs. The effect depends on the type of substance used and the amount of substances used. Its effect can have a lifelong effect. The effects of illegal drugs can be life changing and life threatening that is why there is a need for the media to make sure that they participate in undergoing information campaign against the use of drugs.
Media’s participation
Health educators are beginning to use two new strategies to affect changes in personal and public health. Both strategies challenge traditional notions about intentions of the message producers and begin to address some of the problems of traditional campaigns. The first strategy has been called edutainment and involves imbedding health related messages in entertainment content. The second strategy is called media advocacy and involves health professionals taking an active part in news coverage of health issues. A number of health-related agencies and groups have begun to work with producers of entertainment content, primarily in the broadcast media, to develop positive health portrayals. Other groups, such as the American Cancer Society and the Center for Population Options, have been working with Hollywood producers to develop programs that include antismoking scenes and dialogue, and sexually responsible portrayals. In other countries, music videos and soap operas have been used extensively in the promotion of sexual abstinence and family planning.
Media advocacy is the strategic use of mass media for advancing a social or public policy initiative. The approach is designed to use media coverage to focus attention on policy-level influences on health problems, rather than on individuals’ unhealthy behaviors (Bryant & Zillmann 1994). Successful reframing depends on two key strategies: focusing on industry practices rather than on individual behaviors and de legitimizing the industry by showing how it engages in unethical or exploitive practices. Another key difference between traditional health campaigns and media advocacy is that media advocates do not wait for media outlets to run public service announcements or to cover health issues. Media advocates attempt to create news about research results and to build on breaking news stories by providing local statistics or local reactions relevant to the story, by comparing the risks of using the target product to other health risks currently in the news. Media advocacy has several limitations: It has not been fully defined or tested, it requires more subtle and complex skills than other health promotion approaches, and it may require more time than public health agents can spend conducting research and cultivating media gatekeepers. In addition, because media advocacy focuses on social and structural influences on health, it may be more difficult to attract and hold media attention, and confrontations with powerful vested interests, both political and corporate, are virtually guaranteed (Bryant & Zillmann 1994).
Over the past 25 years there has been an enormous growth of interest in the role of the mass media in promoting healthy behavior through persuasive media campaigns. Within communication research, this specialty is today called health communication. Health communication is a multifaceted and complex area. Topics include client/provider communication, issues related to developmental communication, media coverage of health issues and media content, campaign message design issues and their relationship to social values, information, and power, among others. (Burgoon & Crano 2002).A reconsideration of the power of mass media to influence audiences occurred in the 1970s and, when coupled with several important demonstrations of the power of well-defined and orchestrated public health campaigns, led to a burgeoning of research interest and funding for media and health communication. This is now a very vibrant area of research in communication, and it is a research area that has reinvigorated interdisciplinary study of communication (Burgoon & Crano 2002). The media plays a big part in informing people about the risks they have to face when they take various substances. Through the use of infomercials and news items, the media can inform people about what illegal drugs will do to their system. The infomercials can be used to show what happens when someone consume too much drugs. The news items in TV, radio or newspaper reports can be used to give concrete examples of how illegal drugs can affect one’s well being. The news items will give a graphical representation of how Although there are some instances wherein the media doesn’t contribute to society because they are influenced by businesses like alcohol or tobacco companies, it doesn’t mean that media will not be helpful to society.
Conclusion
The media’s role is to give appropriate information to people. This is exemplified in how the media provides information on the effects of drug use. However there are some instances wherein the media allows the environment to change their goals. There are certain times where the media only provides moderate information about the effects of a certain products. They do this because representatives of some products talk to them and persuade them to limit the information disseminated by the media.
References
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Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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