Substance use is sometimes used as a dysfunctional coping mechanism for dealing with ACEs. However, an article from Substance.com suggest that the way we use and treat substances in the US may be different than in other countries.
We Americans like to think of ourselves as exceptional, the land of the free and the home of the brave, the City on the Hill and all that. When it comes to the politics and culture of drugs, we are indeed special—or at least dramatically different from the rest of the Western world. Too often, however, we are special for the wrong reasons.
1. We Try More Drugs Than Anyone Else
Americans are more likely to try illegal drugs than anyone else in the world, according to global survey data from the World Health Organization.
42% of American adults have tried marijuana, for example, while only 20% of the Dutch have done so—despite the Netherlands’ long-running policy of tolerating sales and possession without criminal penalties. We’re also number one in terms of the percentage of our population that has tried cocaine (16%), with most European countries (including Holland) having averages around 1% to 2%. In Colombia—a major source country for the drug—only 4% of the population has taken cocaine.
http://www.substance.com/ten-ways-addiction-is-different-in-america/8383/
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