Dittmar: Educating ourselves to reduce drug use risk factors

Firouzeh Dittmar is the new Substance Abuse Coordinator for Maricopa’s M.A.S.H. Coalition. She has a background in psychology and counseling and has worked with youth in both the Maricopa and Casa Grande areas the past year. This is the first of a series of articles on the factors and risks surrounding drug use and substance abuse.

Often people will turn a blind eye to the presence of drugs within their community, or even within their own families, when just the opposite needs to occur. Drugs are here, in our community, our schools and our lives. Now what we all need to do is educate ourselves, and those around us, in order to gain the necessary strength to fight this epidemic.

Drug abuse and addiction are defined by the National Institute on Drug Abuse as “a chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences.” Due to the long-lasting effects of drug use on the human brain and other organs, it is considered a disease. Drugs change the brain; they change the basic structure of the brain and other organs.

To those of us who have never used, we question the driving force behind those who do. “Don’t they know better? It can kill them.” These thoughts are common; however, there are social, as well as physical, reasons people start using drugs. There are four main reasons why people use drugs: to feel good, to feel better, to do better and because other people they know are doing it.

When risk factors are present, the chance that drug use will occur increases. The more risk factors that are present, the greater the likelihood. There are six different risk factors that increase the likelihood of drug experimentation and addiction: early aggressive behavior, poor social skills, lack of parental supervision, substance abuse by those around them, drug availability and poverty.

These risk factors affect us on individual, family, school and community levels. Once the community comes together to receive the necessary education, these risk factors can be combated on all fronts. Protective factors can be taught and implemented. These will be described in a future article.

The M*A*S*H (Maricopa, Ak-Chin, Stanfield, Hidden Valley) Coalition is a group of your friends and neighbors who want to combat drug abuse, and we need your help! Join us on the third Thursday of every month at City Hall to explore how we can all work together to help fight drug use and addiction within our community. The next meeting is on Jan. 17 at 6:30 p.m.

For further information please contact Dittmar at [email protected] or (602) 463-2650.