Drug Abuse and the Latino Community

It should come as no surprise that the Hispanic population of the United States has been steadily increasing over the past few decades, with over 54 million Americans identifying as Hispanic or Latino, accounting for about 17 percent of the country’s population.

There is a common concern that is often overlooked in the Latino community, and that is the susceptibility and prevalence of substance abuse and addiction. Unfortunately, there is not enough information or research that has been conducted to provide the accurate help that is needed.

The main issue that can be surmised, is that immigration and acculturation have a correlation to the ongoing struggles of substance abuse in the Latino community. This, in turn with a common issue regarding health and privacy, creates an issue that many studies agree needs to be looked into more.

According to a social science perspective, immigration is a three-stage process. The first is an individual or family deciding to uproot everything and leave their respective home countries, more than likely a voluntary decision, but involuntary occurs as well. The second stage is the physical act of relocating to a different country, while the third stage is settling down and attempt to adjust to the new norms.

There are many problems foreign workers and students may face transferring to a different country. Some of the more obvious ones are racism and bigotry, communication barriers and culture shock. These issues alone, even knowing about them ahead of time, can cause stress and trauma for many newly immigrated people, but there are many other concerns and issues, like the fear of deportation or the trauma of involuntary migration (e.g., asylum seeking, human trafficking).

Acculturation, which is a scenario wherein a person interacts engages and with a new surrounding and culture openly and successfully with minimal psychological distress, presents its own unique problem in the Latino community. Acculturative stress is the psychological impact of adapting to a new culture, often leaving lifelong issues.

For many Latinos arriving in the US, either as immigrants or refugees, the stresses of assimilating to a brand-new culture and place, where even their language is unknown, can provide lifelong hardships and pressure on oneself.

Another large issue that a few studies are finding is that co-occurring mood and anxiety disorders are fairly common among Latinos that are abusing substances. Studies found that co-occurring disorders, other mental health issues alongside addiction and substance abuse, are fairly common with Latinos, a lot more so than the general population.

What’s unfortunate and frightening is that, although there is a notable rise in substance abuse and addiction among Latinos, no one can really pinpoint as to why that is. More research needs to be done in order to comprehend why these numbers are the way they are. Doing so will not only help pinpoint the problems that the Latino community in America is facing, but also to help provide the appropriate help that they need.

Usually, substance abuse is viewed in the Latino community as a private concern that families have to deal with, rather than at a rehab facility. Unfortunately, as substance abuse rates rise amongst second and third-generation Latin Americans, the need for a recovery program that meets their needs will not help ease the Latino communities issue, but will, in fact, aid in the country’s overall wellbeing.