Addiction Canada: Drug Abuse, Rehabilitation, And Challenges - A Report

Drug Abuse - Global challenge and mitigation strategies

Analyse and evaluate the performance of the Addiction Canada organization and how the organization is performing in the modern times.

The issue of drug abuse is a serious issue not just in Canada but also on the global stage and it requires thorough understanding and evaluation to mitigate the challenge of drug abuse. The challenge of drug abuse can be mitigated by the efficient and the effective implementation of the rehabilitation programs and by making the common people aware about the problems of drug abuse in the world and what are the immediate side effects associated with the issue of drug abuse. There are various agencies which aid and support to the victims of drug abuse. These agencies are both public organization as well as private organizations. The Addiction Canada is one such organization is one such organization and it offers rehabilitation to the victims of drug abuse and aids and support to the victims of drug abuse in Canada. The report analyses the functioning of Addiction Canada and how the organization functions and helps resolve the issue of drug abuse in Canada. The report also analyzes the various challenges faced by the organization such as meeting the needs of the victims of drug abuse in Canada and how to overcome the challenge of financial and technical skills and other challenges faced by the organization.

The company introduction

Based on the interview with the entrepreneur it is observed that the organization in focus is Addiction Canada and it is a drug rehabilitation organization which was launched in Canada with the help of the Novus Treatment Organization and was Canada’s first privately owned addiction treatment organization which was launched in two locations. The organization expanded by opening two new branches in Alberta, Canada. The main activities of the organization include providing rehabilitation to the drug abuse victims as well as the people who have been trafficked into the illegal trade and use of various types of drugs. The victims who are suffering from drug addiction are provided treatment and assistance in this organization. The organization was launched in 2006. It is a Medium-Sized privately-owned rehabilitation centre and has an annual capital of $20 million (Flagel et al., 2014). The Drug abuse is a serious problem not just in Canada but on the global stage and the people afflicted by drug abuse has risen over the last three decades. The issue of drug abuse is not just limited to the sufferings of the victims alone. Rather the victim’s relatives and family are also impacted due to the scourge of Drugs (Fischer et al., 2016). The organization employs about 3000 people who are specialized in providing relief to the victims as well as their families and how to come out of the addiction of drugs and lead a normal and happy life. Drug abuse is directly related to the psychological feelings of depression and anxiety with the chances of the depressed and people affected by anxiety and other psychological factors getting addicted to drugs is extremely high (Taplin et al., 2014). The victims seek an immediate relief from their problems at life or at work and in the process, they get introduced to drug abuse and substance abuse (Watterson et al., 2017). The organization has an overall success rate in the range of 65% to 85% which is considerably good in the difficult circumstances of drug abuse as the victims of drug abuse are very difficult to control and manage. The organization offers a 10-month program to the drug abuse patients and in the training process, the patients are trained about restraining themselves from drugs and how to come out of the constant urge to take drugs. Compared with the government programs on rehabilitation where the success rate is a mere 15%, the Addiction Canada is doing a pretty good job by maintaining a success rate in the range of 65% to 85%.

Introduction to Addiction Canada

Opportunity Recognition

The entrepreneur stated that with the rise in the rate of people taking in drugs especially after the post-colonial era and with the rise of the globalization and modernization, there was an immediate need to open an institution which could provide immediate relief to the victims as well as their families from the deadly addiction of drugs. The drugs which are illegally manufactured and exported to countries are a serious threat to the human capital and potential. The entrepreneur stated the passion behind launching such an organization was to help the people come out of the addiction of drugs as drug abuse can be a serious challenge in realizing the true potential of the human capital. The families which have been victims of drug abuse have been devastated and domestic violence and inhuman treatment being a common feature in the households where drug abuse is present (Kennedy et al., 2018). The relationships are devastated due to drug abuse as the victims are unable to distinguish the real from the unreal when they become addicted (Salas-Wright, Vaughn and Gonzalez, 2016). The organization offers state of the art technology in rehabilitating the drug abuse victims and offering them a renewed life after the rehabilitation process. The families of the victims of drug abuse are also provided training to mitigate the issue of drug abuse.

Opportunity testing

Before implementing any new strategy or policies, the organization first studies the issue of drug abuse and then chalks out a plan as to how to chart their plans and procedures regarding the tackling of the issue of drug abuse. This is done by Analysing the statistics available about the number of drug addicts in the cities and then deducing the pattern which is to see where most of the drug addicts are located, what might be the possible reasons due to which the drug addicts got addicted, any particular similarity in the backgrounds of the drug addicts, any correlation between the drug addicts (Andreas, Lauritzen & Nordfjærn, 2015). After these analysis, the organization then frames a plan and procedure as to how to overcome the challenge of mitigating the issue of drug abuse. The organization also offers free programs to the common people and makes them aware about the issue of drug abuse and how it can be avoided and treated. There is a greater need to make the people understand the nuances of the issue of drug abuse and the immediate side effects caused by the problem of drug abuse.  The feasibility of a plan is studied thoroughly by the organization before implementing the plan.

Activities and Program Details

Startup Hurdles/ Challenges

There a lot of challenges which are faced by the organization. As stated by the entrepreneur, the organization is a privately-owned organization and often the patients or the victims of drug abuse are normally from the poor families. Therefore, it becomes difficult for these patients to meet the fees and costs of the rehabilitation program offered by the organization. There are a lot of challenges posed by the critics as they argue that the Government agencies offer similar programs on rehabilitation and that too at a relatively cheaper amount (McHugh, Nielsen & Weiss, 2015). Whatever might be the outcome of such argument, there is no denying the fact that drug abuse needs to be checked immediately and whatever be the cost to mitigate the issue of drug abuse, it must be done so immediately. The younger people have a greater chance of getting addicted due to drugs since they are at a vulnerable position due to their age. There is also a rise in the number of women getting addicted to drugs although most of the victims are males and are comparatively on the younger side (Glass, 2016). The services offered by the organization is expensive for the lower economy families as the costs of the training and the services offered by the specialists needs to be covered by the organization while providing such rehabilitation programs. Being privately owned, the organization needs to focus on the profit maximization aspect as well.

Entrepreneurial Attitudes to Overcome Start Up

The leadership of the organization revealed that more than the capital, the patience factor was greatly needed to start this organization. There was delay in the registration process of the organization and getting the specialists who can offer help and assistance to the victims of drug abuse requires huge amount of patience and persistence. Unlike other organization, the Addiction Canada cannot hire any new fresher for their rehabilitation program. The organization needed specialist since the victims of drug abuse can only be diagnosed properly under the supervision of an expert (Gust & McCormally, 2018). Therefore, the organization focused more on the networking aspect. The organization offered higher pay to the more experienced and expert doctors and people who have been employed in this profession for a long time. The patients of drug abuse are very difficult to manage and control, therefore the organization hires a huge number of people and workers who are well built and who can manage and control such type of patients (Gunn & Canada, 2015). There were a lot of hurdles as well such as finalizing the locality wherein the organization can be opened as well as the number of branches it can operate in. All these decisions required thorough understanding and deliberations. After thoroughly observing the facts and understanding the statistical data, the organization decided to launch itself in 2006.

Success Rate of Addiction Canada

Daily Management Hurdles

Running the organization daily is a tough ask as the patients of drug abuse are extremely difficult to control and manage. There is a high tendency among the patients resorting to drugs even after or during the rehabilitation programs and the patients always been inclined to search for drugs and creating havoc in the organization is pretty much evident (Bardo & Crompton, 2015). The organization analyses the availability of drugs and deduces the number of suppliers who are trained to supply the drugs to the people. The organization manages the customers in a very friendly and helpful manner and the workers employed in the organization are thoroughly trained to offer the best assistance and support to the victims as well as the families of the victims as the families of the victims are already going through a difficult period and they need as much support as possible from the organization and the people associated with the organization (Lake et al., 2015). The organization manages the cash flow and the financial aspects of its running in a very professional and ethical manner and maintains complete transparency in its financial issues. There is no issue of any discrepancy or malfunctioning in the working or dealings of the organization.

Attitude to solve Management Problems

The people associated with the organization are offered training so as to increase the personal as well as the soft skills to speak in a comforting tone with the families of the patients so as to comfort them (Baggett et al., 2015). The managers are also provided training to enhance their managerial and administrative skills to enable the organization to function effectively and efficiently. The organization hires people with outstanding leadership skills as the organization requires the workers to be thoroughly strong and well trained to solve the problems of drug abuse and substance abuse. Handling the patients of the drug abuse daily is not easy and requires huge amount of mental as well as physical strength. The organization also employs people with great technical skills and profound knowledge in handling the equipment of the organization. The organization also manages the financial aspects in a very professional manner and regularly holds meetings amongst themselves to check the performance of the organization and evaluate the overall performance of the employees and the workers. The efficient performers are rewarded accordingly. The organization is doing a great job in offering the best available assistance to the victims of drug abuse in Canada.

Challenges Faced by Addiction Canada

Conclusion

From the above analysis, Drug abuse is a major issue in the global world and millions of people are afflicted by the issue of drug abuse in the world. There is a need to address this challenge of drug abuse and it can be done by understanding and evaluating the challenge of drug abuse in the world. There are lots of agencies which aid and support to the victims of drug abuse in Canada. Some of these agencies are privately owned and some are publicly owned. Addiction Canada is one such organization and the organization operates in Canada and provides rehabilitation to the victims of drug abuse in Canada. The organization operates in a very efficient and effective manner and the experts are hired by the organization to meet the challenges of drug abuse in the country. There is a growing tendency among the youths to be afflicted by drugs and the organization helps such young people to come out of the trap of drug abuse. The people with the best soft skills and technical skills are hired by the organization to assist the people afflicted by drug abuse.

References

Andreas, J. B., Lauritzen, G., & Nordfjærn, T. (2015). Co-occurrence between mental distress and poly-drug use: a ten year prospective study of patients from substance abuse treatment. Addictive behaviors, 48, 71-78.

Baggett, T. P., Chang, Y., Singer, D. E., Porneala, B. C., Gaeta, J. M., O’Connell, J. J., & Rigotti, N. A. (2015). Tobacco-, alcohol-, and drug-attributable deaths and their contribution to mortality disparities in a cohort of homeless adults in Boston. American Journal of Public Health, 105(6), 1189-1197.

Bardo, M. T., & Compton, W. M. (2015). Does physical activity protect against drug abuse vulnerability?. Drug & Alcohol Dependence, 153, 3-13.

Fischer, B., Murphy, Y., Rudzinski, K., & MacPherson, D. (2016). Illicit drug use and harms, and related interventions and policy in Canada: a narrative review of select key indicators and developments since 2000. International Journal of Drug Policy, 27, 23-35.

Flagel, S. B., Waselus, M., Clinton, S. M., Watson, S. J., & Akil, H. (2014). Antecedents and consequences of drug abuse in rats selectively bred for high and low response to novelty. Neuropharmacology, 76, 425-436.

Glass, I. B. (Ed.). (2016). The international handbook of addiction behaviour. Routledge.

Gunn, A. J., & Canada, K. E. (2015). Intra-group stigma: Examining peer relationships among women in recovery for addictions. Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy, 22(3), 281-292.

Gust, S. W., & McCormally, J. (2018). National Institute on Drug Abuse International Program: improving opioid use disorder treatment through international research training. Current opinion in psychiatry, 31(4), 287-293.

Kennedy, M. C., Scheim, A., Rachlis, B., Mitra, S., Bardwell, G., Rourke, S., & Kerr, T. (2018). Willingness to use drug checking within future supervised injection services among people who inject drugs in a mid-sized Canadian city. Drug and alcohol dependence, 185, 248-252.

Lake, S., Wood, E., Dong, H., Dobrer, S., Montaner, J., & Kerr, T. (2015). The impact of childhood emotional abuse on violence among people who inject drugs. Drug and alcohol review, 34(1), 4-9.

McHugh, R. K., Nielsen, S., & Weiss, R. D. (2015). Prescription drug abuse: from epidemiology to public policy. Journal of substance abuse treatment, 48(1), 1-7.

Salas-Wright, C. P., Vaughn, M. G., & González, J. M. R. (2016). Adolescent Drug Abuse and Delinquency. In Drug Abuse and Antisocial Behavior (pp. 129-155). Palgrave Macmillan, New York.

Taplin, C., Saddichha, S., Li, K., & Krausz, M. R. (2014). Family history of alcohol and drug abuse, childhood trauma, and age of first drug injection. Substance use & misuse, 49(10), 1311-1316.

Watterson, R. A., Williams, J. V., Lavorato, D. H., & Patten, S. B. (2017). Descriptive epidemiology of generalized anxiety disorder in Canada. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 62(1), 24-29.