The topic i chose to write about is the Heroin Epidemic in Philadelphia. The history of Heroin and how it started. In the early 1800’s the drug morphine was introduced as a painkiller. It wasn 't until the 1850’s that the drug was available in the United States. During the civil war was when the “addictive properties went unnoticed”. Thousands of people started becoming addicted to morphine. In 1874 the discovered the answer to the problem. Researchers discovered “Heroin” this was the non-addictive substitute for morphine. This slowly became the next drug epidemic. Until 1920, the distribution of Heroin was legal in the United States, but by the time the law was passed against it in 1925 there were already 200,000 addicts in the country. Where …show more content…
Programs such as PDMP’s (Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs) have been put into place to help stop this drug abuse. Students in schools across the country are being educated about drugs through programs such as CSCP (Caring School Community Program), GGC (Guiding Good Choices), LST (Life Skills Training), and SFA (Skills for Adolescence). Detoxification treatment centers are meant to slowly help people get off of their Heroin addiction but are also mostly linked with relapse. There are plenty of Treatment centers in Philadelphia, all over the city but yet still so many drug addicts, and drug overdoses each year. Treatment centers have a waiting list that they put people on when they don 't have enough beds to sleep anymore people. This is something i strongly disagree with. If a person is willing to get help and have taken the initiative to go and get it, they should never be denied the help simply because there is not enough room to hold them. If a person is there and willing to get help they should last resort be offered to sleep on the floor. As long as they are getting the help they need to recover. Last Stop is a treatment center in the middle of Kensington Philadelphia. They will take any person willing to get help regardless of how much space they have available. They don 't take funding from the government but only fund on donations from anyone willing to donate. Statistics show that the amount of deaths from Heroin overdose is continually growing. This shows that the policies that the government has previously put in place and continues to put in place are not working. I have a close friend who 's mother grew up in Philadelphia, by the age of 18 she was already addicted to Heroin. Her mother had died of a Heroin overdose when she was 2 years old. From that point on she was raised in a drug free household. When she reached middle school she began to hang out with a crowd who soon got into drugs.
of Methadone and she reported maintain a satisfactory dosing level. During the last quartet, Pt. learned about heroin use, resentment, powerlessness and treatment progress. Pt. seemed to understand that she was completely without power, without strength, without any ability to control how much she used during her addiction.
The Reality of the “Hillbilly Heroin” Epidemic in Appalachia McDOWELL COUNTY, March 9—West Virginia’s Bureau of Public Health determined that the state of drug addiction and abuse in McDowell County, West Virginia is increasing in high numbers. McDowell County, known to be one of the poorest counties in America, is a community overwhelmed with the devastating effects of poverty and drug addiction. This is clearly a problem too dire to ignore. Background:
Nationally, for the first time in 2015, deaths from heroin overdoses alone surpassed deaths in the United States of America by firearm homicides (New Jersey). In 2015 New Jersey lost nearly “1,600” people to drug overdoses. On January 10, 2017, Chris Christie, former governor of New Jersey gave a heartfelt speech to a group of intellectuals and the to people of New Jersey about the mistreatment of the disease known as addiction and what we can and will do to treat it. Christie uses a clear antithesis to show his message that addiction is a cruel and brutal disease that will stop at nothing to infect everybody (Arco). To make sure his words are burnt into the viewers mind he uses: frequent tone change and practices comforting, but controlling
Much of the drug’s distribution center is in New York, specifically Harlem. In 1964, The Federal Bureau of Narcotics reported, “an estimated 48,525 “active addicts” resided in the country, half of whom were believed to live in New York City.” The apprehension for heroin abuse grew and within
Over the past few years, the addiction of heroin has increased due to varieties of reason in different communities across the United States. The majority of media attention is focused on suburban, white, middle-class heroin abusers, meaning that the majority of America’s effort and resources to end the Heroin Epidemic is mainly for the White Community. Resulting in a dramatic increase of deaths caused from Heroin overdose in the minority communities in the past seven years. In the article, “How the Heroin Epidemic Differs in Communities of Color” by Sarah Childress, mentions how certain minority communities lack medical access for Heroin overdose (e.g. Naloxone) and knowledge of laws to protect the drug users from incarceration, Maryland’s
There was improvement in many areas of the country following the crackdown on prescription drug abuse and pill mills. However, another result of the crackdownwas a diminution in the availability of prescription painkillers and the price for the painkillers on the street became more expensive. The ones who became addicted to painkillers during the pill mill epidemic then turned to heroin. The crackdown of pill mills inadvertently fueled the epidemic of heroin. “Between 2007 and 2012, heroin use rose 79 percent nationwide, according to federal data.
Is the policy of giving methadone to drug addicts a good one? There are many conflicting opinions about this topic. Methadone Maintenance Treatment is a very controversial topic that arises many different attitudes toward the program. Some people believe that Methadone maintenance treatment is a good thing and that it does truly help addicts get over their addictions. Others are against Methadone Maintenance treatment because they believe it is an unnecessary and a waste of money.
I. Importance: As American deaths from drug overdoses continue to rise in the United States, the nation is faced with a public health crisis so profound that in October 2017, President Trump declared the opioid epidemic to be a national public health emergency (Merica). President Trump’s declaration came after numerous studies indicating the danger opioid addiction posed; for example, a 2016 study entitled “Increases in Drug and Opioid-Involved Overdose Deaths—United States, 2010-2015” claimed that drug overdose deaths “nearly tripled during 1999-2014,” reaching a startling high 52,404 deaths in 2015 (Rudd, et al). These statistics are more than just disturbing revelations regarding the opioid crisis; they are evidence of a serious problem that is rapidly affecting the lives of more and more Americans every year. Death by overdose is not the only public policy concern, however, as millions of Americans are also addicted to prescription opioids.
What is surprising is that smaller communities face many of the same issues. How bad are the problems? As class one substances like heroin, meth and Oxycontin have gained in popularity in recent years, drug crimes and overdoses have experienced a noticeable increase. In 2013, 13.2 residents out of every 100,000 residents statewide met with untimely deaths because of their inability to conquer their drug problems. At the end of the day, rehabilitation is the only way to reverse these troubling
Their Escape from the War The Vietnam War was a difficult time for soldiers and the people on the home front. The soldiers were experiencing a completely different type of war, guerilla warfare. It was complete chaos and there were no organized battles or anyway to get a good attack on the Vietnamese soldiers, or the Vietcong as they were called. The soldiers were having to do unethical things and go against their will by killing these people.
Opioid Epidemic in the United States The opioid crisis has risen over the years here in America. The addiction to painkillers has caused many drug overdoses across America. According to the Vox," In 2015, more than 52,000 people have died from drug overdoses from linked to opioids such as Percocet, heroin, Oxycontin or even fentanyl. This problem did not become an overnight health crisis, but it has become quickly known in America. Expanding our drug treatment centers across America would provide the support to those who are addicted to drugs.
"I don't mind helping. If I could bring in 1,000 pounds of cocaine at a time to make people happy, what's to say I couldn't bring in 1,000 pounds of something that could really hurt them? he says. "I've never made fun of law enforcement; they were never my enemy. I just took advantage of some of their weaknesses.
When looking at a scholarly journal or other form of report pertaining to controlled substances, the theme is usually pretty clear; “drugs are bad, people that do drugs are bad, and it’s only getting worse.” Moore challenges this theme by breaking the mold in his article, “The Other Opioid Crisis” by implementing several rhetorical devices to add a more human aspect to the not so black-and-white issue. “The Other Opioid Crisis” is an article that goes into the ethics and the arguments regarding those who are in need of opioids and their stories, alongside other ethical issues they may face. By providing stories of patients, Moore states his opinion which is backed strongly by the pains, both mentally and physically, that opioid prescribed patients face. In these stories he not only provides a detailed account of their struggles, he uses strong language to appeal to the pathos of the reader on a subject that may not be easy for many to sympathize with.
When people take these synthetic heroin pills, they do not feel as though it is a drug addiction as much as it is a way for them to deal with pain, over-stimulation, and as a tranquilizer. Today, we are currently facing an epidemic with drug addiction and continuously trying to solve the problem with a war on drugs. “The U.S. spends about $51 billion a year enforcing the war on drugs, and arrests nearly 1.5 million people for drug violations, according to Drug Policy Alliance, a drug policy reform group” (Ferner). Since the United States spends so much money on this epidemic, the numbers should start to go down, but it is instead doing the opposite. It is easy to figure out the numbers through doctors, “Increases in prescription drug misuse over the last
President Obama’s 2014 National Drug Control Strategy, issued in July 2014, is a departure from previous approaches to drug policy. The strategy focuses on both the public health and public safety aspects of alcohol, tobacco and substance use disorders. It focuses on addiction as a disease and on the importance of preventing drug use; providing treatment to those who need it, including those in the criminal justice system. It provides support for all individuals and family affected by addiction (Whitehouse.gov 2014). National Drug Control Strategy Goals to be accomplished by 2015