Matthew T B4 10/18/16
In today’s society the use of drugs, both legally and illegally obtained, has become an overwhelming problem in the U.S. Heroin and opioid abuse has been dangerously increasing over the past decade. This issue needs to be addressed immediately before the drugs are exposed to more people, and addiction continues to take more and more lives. If the issue is not addressed, overdoses will continue to get worse, as currently opioid overdoses are the highest they've ever been in the U.S. Opioid and heroin addiction are a scary problem because it can affect any age group or gender, causing there to be many different options for rehabilitation. The heroin addiction crisis needs to be addressed immediately because addiction rates are skyrocketing, not enough is being done to stop it, and the number of overdoses will only get worse.
In today’s society the use of drugs, both legally and illegally obtained, has become an overwhelming problem in the U.S. Heroin and opioid abuse has been dangerously increasing over the past decade. This issue needs to be addressed immediately before the drugs are exposed to more people, and addiction continues to take more and more lives. If the issue is not addressed, overdoses will continue to get worse, as currently opioid overdoses are the highest they've ever been in the U.S. Opioid and heroin addiction are a scary problem because it can affect any age group or gender, causing there to be many different options for rehabilitation. The heroin addiction crisis needs to be addressed immediately because addiction rates are skyrocketing, not enough is being done to stop it, and the number of overdoses will only get worse.
Heroin and opioid use has been rising recently due to an increase in smuggling and the effects of doctors’ prescriptions. One theory has been presented for the cause of the heroin epidemic is cultural transmission. Cultural transmission is when one person in a community will try heroin, and then share the experience with others around them, and so on. This is very dangerous due the fact that in just a matter of time whole neighborhoods could be addicted to heroin. Neighborhoods could be getting their heroin through smugglers, once smugglers establish a successful smuggling route in an area, these routes become nearly impossible to remove. The strongest theory about the rise in heroin use is the surplus of opioid prescriptions given out by doctors. Doctors were accused of overprescribing opioids such as Vicodin and Oxycontin, as a result doctors had to cut back on these prescriptions. “The biggest theory is that the crackdown on prescription drugs, like Vicodin and OxyContin, were being over prescribed and as prescribers slowed down the prescriptions of these drugs, heroin use went up," addiction expert Scott Krakower. If a patient’s opioid prescription is cancelled and they start to feel withdrawal symptoms, an easy solution would be to turn to heroin. Although doctors were accused of overprescribing, it still happens, which makes it very easy for patients to abuse prescription opioids. The heroin and opioid crisis will continue if these issues are not addressed soon.
The deaths due to heroin overdoses in my home town of Wilmington, MA has quadrupled from 2012 - 2015, and has increased by 59% in Massachusetts since 2013. This trend will not stop unless more forceful actions are taken to end the epidemic. Police should start intervening and find the source of the heroin and end the distribution of the drug. The methods being used now are a good start to the end of overdoses, such as the use of medication-assisted treatment, but it is not enough. The ending of heroin and opioid overdoses should be a number one priority. Many states, towns, and governments are trying to put a stop to the epidemic in several different ways, such as providing knowledge and awareness about the issue, and offering more abuse treatment programs. The federal government has started working with health care providers to ensure that patients prescribed opioids obtain the correct doses, and so patients don't abuse their prescription. State governments have been making access to substance abuse treatments more available to those in need of it, and healthcare providers are using prescription drug monitoring programs. New methods to prevent opioid overdoses are also being researched, such as the overdose antidote naloxone, which has already reversed thousands of overdose cases. All of these methods to stop heroin and opioid abuse are a good start, but more I believe that more needs to be done.
Stopping heroin and opioid overdoses should be a number one priority because not only can these drugs kill you, but they destroy your body and brain. The abuse of opioids can lead to serious medical conditions such as a heart attacks or comas, and if abused by pregnant women the newborn child may be born with severe health complications. heroin can be consumed in several different ways, but the most common and dangerous is injecting heroin. Injecting heroin can lead to serious viral infections such as HIV, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and bacterial infections in the heart, blood, and skin. Heroin is also highly addictive, making it extremely difficult to cure if addicted. Heroin overdoses can affect the amount of oxygen going into the brain, which can result in permanent brain damage. The effects of heroin and opioids are a dangerous and destructive force that should never be messed with. Due the destructive effects of opioids if abused, new medication should be invented to stop the use of opioids.
The cease of heroin and opioid abuse cannot be stopped by just one person, state, or government. This effort needs to be a nation wide movement to immediately end the consumption of these drugs. One of the best ways to help end heroin and opioid abuse is to educate people about the problems and signs of heroin abuse, and to get drug abusers desperately needed help. Thousands of lives are being lost every year to heroin and opioid overdoses, and this issue needs to be addressed, and stopped now.
Works Cited
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Moore, John. "Heroin and Prescription Opioids Form Especially Toxic Mix in Mass. - The Boston Globe." BostonGlobe.com. N.p., 02 May 2016. Web. 17 Oct. 2016. <https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/05/01/heroin-and-prescription-opioids-form-especially-toxic-mix-mass/WejrwoaMOjM1vQFD9ov2GK/story.html>.
"Today’s Heroin Epidemic." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 07 July 2015. Web. 17 Oct. 2016. <http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/heroin/>.
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