Addiction epidemic
I would like to thank the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer for the Red Ribbon Week: Young Americans on Drug series. The drug and alcohol problem in Columbus and Phenix City is pretty big. About 90 percent of crimes are caused by drug users.
Illicit drugs, alcohol, and prescription medications are easy to get by young adolescents. There are 21 million illicit drug users in America, and every year 1,700 adolescents die because of alcohol-related incidents. Last year, 4 million young Americans ages 12 and older received treatment for alcohol or illicit drugs. Millions more didn’t seek help. Forty-one percent of 12th graders report alcohol consumption in the previous 30 days. The types of prescription medications most commonly abused by people are painkillers (such as Vicodin and OxyContin),
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When children grow up and start making friends, they listen to and talk with their friends more than their parents. Make sure your child becomes strongly connected to your church and gets involved in church activities. Church friends are better than school or club friends.
People who have suffered from prolonged and untreated alcohol and drug addiction may require medical treatment and/or rehab, which will help reduce the powerful effects of drugs and alcohol on the body and brain. Rehab could be traditional (30-day) or long-term (2 to 12 months).
Recently, the FDA approved the pain killer Zohydro made by Zogenix, Inc. This is a stronger version of hydrocodone, the widely abused prescription pain killer. A recovered addict admitted that he used to take thousands of milligrams a day of the pain killer Adderall that was prescribed to him for ADHD at 60 milligrams a day. Prescription drug manufacturers make huge profits when their products are used by drug addicts. These companies are becoming “legal” drug
Reformulation did not help diminish preexisting OxyContin addictions but provoked people to seek out their fix through stronger means. Opioid pills paved the way for street drugs such as heroin. Black tar heroin was appealing to many OxyContin addicts as it was incredibly cheap, yet potent; and most of all, satisfied their opioid cravings. CDC data suggests that “people who misuse prescription opioid painkillers are 40 times more likely to become addicted to heroin than those who do not misuse prescription opioids” (Wickramatilake et al. 171). Consequently, America saw an en-masse departure from pills to heroin which began permeating wealthy suburbs, high schools, and other locations previously assumed to be “safe” from street drugs.
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. (Summary goes here) The article starts out with the story of a woman named Lauren Deluca.
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.
I think some of the drug laws that are enforced are ridiculous, for instance in the move that we watched in class stated that people are receiving mandatory life sentences. In someone cases because of the drug laws a person can’t get below a 20year sentencing. I agree with you, the system is not fair at all. If you are caught with drugs, no matter the form or type the rules need to be the same for everyone. I think that goes back to the war on drugs, and how because this was not happening it became a drug war (destruction of human life).
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.
Opioid pain medications are some of the most commonly abused prescription drugs. Between 1991 and 2010, opioid prescriptions rose from about 75.5 million to 209.5 million. Americans account for 4.6% of the world’s population but consume approximately 80% of the world’s opioid supply. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 12 million people used prescription painkillers for nonmedical reasons in 2010. Opioid abuse has led to increases in emergency-department visits, hospitalizations, and admissions to substance-abuse treatment centers at a time when our healthcare system is already strained.
In today’s world, alcohol is acceptable, and marijuana is just plain terrifying. This “weed” is apparently taught to be a plague to society and only brings violence and criminal activity, Society is afraid of this drug, but fails to realize that both alcohol and cigarettes actually have some nasty side effects that are not present in marijuana. It has been proven that people who use alcohol usually are too drunk to rationalize anything, and can turn violent and aggressive out of nowhere, meanwhile people who use weed are calm and chilled due to its effectiveness as a mood stimulant (Marijuana Policy Project). In comparison to cigarettes commonly known cancerous side-effect, there has been no link to pot and lung cancer (National Organization
Opioids is a big issue because Americans are addicted to drugs especially opioids. After a surgery doctors give patients opioids because they are a pain killer. After patients have been taking opioids they soon are not in pain anymore but they keep taking the pills because it makes their body feel relieved. People get addicted to this and can’t function without them.
we are living through the worst epidemic of addiction in american history, and the drugs causing the most deaths are legal prescription opioids like oxycontin, percocet, and vicodin. How did so many of us get addicted to painkillers? and why are so many americans dying from drug overdoses? to find out you have to go back to the early 90s. Before that time doctors generally considered opioids dangerous but in 1996 a company called purdue pharma released a new drug ,oxycontin.
First, there is alarming rise in mortality rates together with other formidable effects initiated by the anomalous use of opioid pain relievers. A study by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (2014) outlines that in 2009, more than 15,500 individuals in the United States died due to overdose on opiate pain relievers, a 300% rise in accordance with its history for the last 20 years. These alarming figures have increased the national interest regarding the climb in for script drug abuse in the United States. An additional cause is the escalating diversion of these drugs. Diversion in association with drugs implies to the illegal usage of licit dugs; and it happens when medications are counterfeit, medical records have been interfered with showing false information that a certain drug has been administered while it has actually been purloined, or when prescriptions go missing or stolen.
Despite the government's “best” efforts, drug use and addiction rates continue to rise, and the criminalization of drug
Drugs are the dangerous substances that will destroy the consumer both physically and mentally; therefore, it is necessary to determine these substances restrictively. In order to do that, I am strongly assuring that the drugs should be legalized. There are three main reasons why the drugs should be legalized: diminution of crime rates, health guarantee, and extending of drugs regulation. Drugs are one of the crime sources, although not by the drugs, itself, but the condition. Illegal drugs are rare products that could not be found in the normal market, the cost for its rarity is totally expensive.
These pills, such as xanax and oxycodone allow people for short periods of time to withdraw from the harsh reality faced today. “Between 1997 and 2002, sales of oxycodone and methadone nearly quadrupled” (Okie). Around 15 years later and the prescription pill problem is continuing to skyrocket. Since prescription pills are dispersed out to anyone by doctors, many people do not realize that it is as much of an illicit drug as cocaine and heroin is. “Misinformation about the addictive properties of prescription opioids and the perception that prescription drugs are less harmful than illicit drugs are other possible contributors to the problem” (NIDA).
Prescription drugs (opiates only) have caused over 165,000 deaths within the last 15 years and is currently on the rise. Over 2 million Americans in 2014 were addicted to Opiate prescription narcotics. The most troubling fact is listed directly on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website: “As many as 1 in 4
Lastly, it should be assured that they are comfortable in seeking help for them and anyone they know who is suffering from alcoholism. Alcoholism is seen both as long-term a chronic disease and disorder, therefore it is important to prevent the youth and aid the victims who are