Running head: Drug Addiction Analysis !

Drug Addiction Analysis

Morgan Buchko

Arizona State University

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Abstract

In this essay I will be discussing the article, The Destructive Capacity of Drug Abuse: An

Overview Exploring the Harmful Potential of Drug Abuse Both to the Individual and to Society

by Thomas Peter Fox, Govind Oliver, and Sophie Marie Ellis. This is a review article about the

epidemic of drug addiction. This paper will analyze the effects from this writers review. How he

appeals to the ethos, pathos, logos, and kairos needed to effectively analysis a article or situation.

This paper is to explain the use of these in the article and the effectiveness.

Keywords: Drug Addiction, ethos, pathos, logos, kairos, appeal to,

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Drug Addiction Analysis

Drug addiction, it is a funny thing isn't it. Many of us believe that it could never happen

to us or to our family. Thats the shocking thing however, it always grabs ahold of the best family

there is in todays society. The family that is perfect, has the blue eyes, blonde hair, tall, skinny,

comfortable living, perfect happy family. It is the family no one would expect this awful disease

to capture. Drug addiction is an epidemic taking over the world. Thats it, addiction is an awful

disease. It destroys the family and the person it captures.

This article explains every aspect of addiction. It explains the physical addiction, the

mental, the psychological impact, and how it changes the brain and thinking process. It even

explains how it affects the children, the family, even the community and society that surrounds

the addict. Not only does this cause a right now problem but it causes life-long health issues.

The authors make this a strong analysis and review for the persuasive argument text it is

reviewing by appealing to ethos, pathos, and logos of us, the readers. This article is arguing how

this is truly a psychological disease and does not only affect just one person, it affects everyone

connected to that person if not the whole world. It also proves that this horrible addiction causes

life longs affects. It is not just a right now problem, it is a life-long battle this person will face.

The article is very effective in proving the argument of how drug addiction affects both the

individual and the society.

One strong technique these authors use to analyze this article is how they appeal to the

ethos of the readers. Ethos is the appeal to ethics. Ethos can cover a wide range of standards that
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make the analysis viable and reasonable. It uses their backgrounds, degrees, where they come

from and who their family is, and their own reputation. The reputation of these authors is

unknown at the initial reading of this article. Before conducting any research on the three authors

of this text we are able to discover the appeal to ethics from the writers. Judging from just

reading the article it is clear the authors are well versed in this subject. They conduct themselves

in a matter that does not discriminate or be-little any addict or family of an addict, but they

inform the reader. That is the purpose of these authors. Their purpose is to inform us as readers

and to argue their side of the argument. The article is written in a way that gradually progresses

and with no information about the authors themselves, we are able to accept and believe the

authors when they inform us with information we may not know is true or not.

However, as humans we do live in a world where we do not easily believe others who we

do not know or their backgrounds perhaps. With this trait as human beings we can not help

ourselves but to conduct some of our own research. One fact that helps us as humans believe that

these authors are true, honest and reliable, is knowing where the come from and where the article

was published. This particular article was published in Kings College Hospital London, NHS

Foundation Trust and International Scholarly Research Notices. These are world known

websites and organizations that have been well trusted for years. They only publish what is

honestly true and reliable form credible sources.

Thomas Peter Fox is known as a Clinical Pharmacology, Psychiatry, and a specialist in

Addiction Medicine. He has also published over nine articles on the topic of addiction. He is

credible also with the degrees he has earned for himself.

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Govind Oliver is a British Red Cross member and HCRI Research Fellow. He has helped

published and research multiple articles as well as this one and also has had first hand experience

with addiction.

Finally, but far from least important is Sophie Marie Ellis. She is a member of KING'S

COLLEGE HOSPITAL NHS FOUNDATION TRUST as well. This helps justify the credibility

as she comes from the very organization this article was published in. This hospital trust would

not put themselves in a position to be made out to not be credible or possibly slaughter their

reputation.

Without appealing to the logic, logos, this article would not make an outstanding effect of

a reader. The reader has already appealed to the ethics and will soon appeal to pathos , but first

must grab the attention and correctly argue this article by making the articles logically in the

minds of the readers. This is majorly discussed and shown in section two of the article. Section

two of the article is where it proves how it is a psychological disorder and greatly affects the

brain and creates life-long problems for the individual as well as their family. In this section it

discussed multiple different drugs and multiple different side affects it has on the individual. it

discusses the affects on the brain, the dependence of the drugs, and how it changes the

neurological pathways. It shows how different drugs have different effects but have related

damage.

This article appeals to the sense of pathos greatly throughout this article. It is possible the

most effective method used through to prove their argument. Pathos is when the author appeals

to the emotions of the reader. In this article the authors do a very effective job of this method.
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They appeal to the emotion so families, mothers, siblings, and the society as a whole. They show

how this disease tears a family apart. It argues how this disease does not only affect the addict

themselves, but also their family and community. The authors pull at the hear strings of the

reader by making this disease seem non-imaginary to a individual who has not experienced for

themselves. It makes it a real life situation not just a what if? situation. All of this is discussed

in the third section of this article, The Effect of drug use on Families, Communities, and

Society. It appeals to the emotions by applying shockingly real statistics and the reality of this

situation. Even though it does not give personal or real life examples it gives facts, and statistics

that can make the reader, us, imagine ourselves in a situation with our own family.

Drug abuse has damaging consequences and the authors of the article, The Destructive

Capacity of Drug Abuse: An Overview Exploring the Harmful Potential of Drug Abuse Both to

the Individual and to Society have applied the use of ethos, logos, and pathos to prove the point

of their argument that drug addiction has an effect on not only the individual but also to society,

their own and the worlds. It is important to understand these claims to be able to understand the

article written to inform the readers and of this world epidemic. The claims made are hear to help

make a reader choose an educated decision of how they feel about a topic when they are unsure

of weather it is comparable or not. It is to make a decision easier and more educated when there

are so many different views on a world argued topic.

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References

Fox, T. P., Oliver, G., & Ellis, S. M. (2013, July 17). The Destructive Capacity of Drug Abuse:
An Overview Exploring the Harmful Potential of Drug Abuse Both to the Individual and
to Society. Retrieved September 15, 2017, from https://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn/
2013/450348/