ipl-logo

Social Problem: Drug Epidemic In West Virginia

1080 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Drug abuse and its effects

Social Problem: Drug Epidemic in West Virginia

I will be discussing a social problem, West Virginia’s drug epidemic that has been going on for years but, seems to keep getting worse from prescription drugs to heroin. There are several effects of the drug epidemic. Also, the efforts to help/prevent and try to end the drug epidemic. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention along with Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and Department of Health and Human Resources (2007), characteristics of methadone and other opioid drug overdose decedent’s; sex: in males, methadone 70.1%, opioid 66.3%; in females, methadone 29.9%, opioid 33.7% ages range 18-45 years. Furthermore, epidemic is a reflection of the long-term stagnation of …show more content…

According to Holly Jorden a behavioral health counselor and Michelle Kosa a social worker, they see drug addicted mothers on a weekly basis at family care health centers in Putnam, Boone and Kanawha counties. All mothers are taking subutex, a prescription drug that helps reduce the symptoms of opiate dependence. Meanwhile, according to the agency for health care research and quality in 2003 nationwide about 1 in 1,000 pregnant were women addicted to drugs. In 2009, the number rose to 3 in 1,000. Women who are drug addicted mother avoids doctors well into their third semester. According to David Chaffin an OB-GYN, in 2009 at Cabell Huntington Hospital 80 out of 1,000 pregnant women were addicted to drugs. In 2014, 139 out of 1,000 pregnant women were addicted to drugs. According to Chaffin approximately, 25 percent of infants born to substance addicted mothers go home after birth. However, majority of babies spend weeks in the hospital being weaned from drugs. Children born to mothers taking subutex spend one week less in hospital care. Also, diseases like Hepatitis C, common to intravenous drug users can be passed from mother to child. There are three places in the whole state that will take pregnant women and children. There is an outpatient center in Beckley, it only has 12 beds. Chaffin stated “rapid onset of withdrawal can lead to compromise of the baby through fetal distress and getting clean before giving birth will not guarantee that the infant is no longer addicted to the

Show More
Related
95 Words | 1 Pages

Per Reporter: Christine and the baby tested positive for benzodiazepines and marijuana. The meconium test is pending. There were no birth defects; however, the nurse (unknown) mentioned that the baby is experiencing withdrawals (trimmers). Christine takes Subutex (methadone), which are prescribed.

Read More
380 Words | 2 Pages

She has had no drug use, per her report, since early first trimester. She has struggles with anxiety/depression and PTSD, although she is not on any medication currently. She reports that she is doing well. She has used an SSRI in the past and reports that she did fairly well but was told to stop when

Read More
157 Words | 1 Pages

Thank you for the privilege of meeting with you, Senator Markey and Jason Allen. We, as well as Elks National President Michael Zellen and Elks Past National President Paul Helsel, appreciated the opportunity to share with you the Elks’ drug prevention awareness work. Drug use prevention has been at the heart of the Elks’ mission for over 30 years. Each year we reach nearly every school and community across the nation through drug prevention rallies, public service announcements and the distribution of millions of anti-drug brochures annually. All of this available at no cost to schools, kids or parents.

Read More
383 Words | 2 Pages

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:

Read More
288 Words | 2 Pages

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

Read More
454 Words | 2 Pages

Doctors have stated that children are more likely to become heroin addicts today than they were in the past. Dr. Venkata Jonnalagadda is the medical director at Eastpointe Managed Care Organization, which is located in Greenville. She has stated that 12 is what she considers early contact for drugs. She has also stated that she has seen patients as young as eight become addicted to heroin. Dr. Jonnalaggada is working hard to combat this disturbing trend.

Read More
770 Words | 4 Pages

When looking at the drug crisis in West Virginia, it is a local problem that is affected by global aspects. In the Central Appalachian region, heart of coal country, has faced a painful decline. Within West Virginia there are 55 counties, while coal mining isn’t in all of the counties in West Virginia, the drug crisis is. The drug crisis isn’t just a global problem but a local to the United States but more specifically West Virginia. Globalization has affected the drug crisis in the 35th addition to the United States from the coal counties to the urbanized areas.

Read More
935 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
1087 Words | 5 Pages

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

Read More
1481 Words | 6 Pages

The issue at hand is universal, but remains prominent specifically in Tempe, Arizona, with synthetic drugs and opiates trickling into the Arizona State University campus and the surrounding metro alike, causing family issues, drug related crimes, as well as contributing to the increasing the rate at which students drop out of college. This large college-town has its fair share of problems, though few as detrimental as drug abuse, and the current methods of combating it seem to raise more problems than solutions. The issue at hand is how to minimize community risk while still treating those who abuse illicit substances and offer an alternative to the current habits of living. The drug problem in Tempe is increasingly rampant and especially severe due to the large amount of student residents, and legislature must be passed to improve these

Read More
1352 Words | 6 Pages

Becoming a mother is one of the few joys in this world. Preparing for a child can be the happiest time in a woman’s life. Unfortunately, for incarcerate mothers/mothers to be, being pregnant in jail does not bring the same joy it would to an expectant mother who is outside the confines of a jail. Pregnant women who are incarcerated is a topic that is often overlooked, along with the care these women receive regarding their children. In correction facilities there are no daycare centers, no doctor appointments, and no mommy and me classes.

Read More
1341 Words | 6 Pages

Correspondingly, releasing a baby into the care of a former drug addict runs the risk of relapse and is a danger to the future of the child. Due to lack of proper care, officials remove the child when a mother does not seek sobriety. With the mother undergoing so much change and barely grasping reality, she is in no condition to look after a baby, she must first help herself. Most hospital workers fail to convince mothers to enter into drug-treatment programs, and some mothers refuse the care-most being poor and uneducated women (Condon 2). These mothers are not able to give the right care for their children and risk the child’s safety.

Read More
685 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
687 Words | 3 Pages

Big Pharma Name: Institution: Over the past years, various issues have faced the United States of America in the health sector in general. Some of these challenges include difficulties in healthcare insurance policies, increasing cancer cases, elevated levels of misuse of prescription drugs, rise in the consumption of illicit drugs, inter alia. These issues have led to escalation of health issues to the American citizens, and in turn, affecting the economic status as well. This research will focus on the subject matter misuse, abuse, and addiction of opioid prescription drugs.

Read More
753 Words | 4 Pages

So would a heroin addict be able to raise a baby correctly, while she is in prison? Maybe she feels like she can, so she will have the baby. But, if she feels she can not, she will not even have the choice to abort it because the government will not pay for it. Her child will end up in foster homes until they are eighteen and live a melancholy life with no family. Moreover, “Marie-Celeste Condon, a specialist in infant mental health and development at the University of Washington School of Social Work, supports this finding through her own research and involvement with the nursery in the Washington Corrections Center for Women.

Read More

More about Social Problem: Drug Epidemic In West Virginia

Related Topics

Open Document