Heroin Overdose
Heroin overdosing is the point of use where the addict wants to be without realizing the seriousness of the fact they are literally at the point of death. Drug overdose deaths in the United States have risen steadily since 1970. Painkillers actually kill more Americans than heroin and cocaine combined, according to the Centers for Disease Control, but heroin is still one of the No. 1 killers of illegal drug users. One in 10 heroin overdoses ends in death. XXX Heroin overdose causes the body to go into a deep sleep where the respiratory system shuts down. When you are sleeping your body naturally remembers to breathe. When you overdose, your body essentially forgets to breathe. Blood pressure dips significantly and causes the heart
…show more content…
Most victims die in their own homes when accompanied by another person. A person's chances of dying from heroin use increase dramatically after 20 years of use. Studies show that after 30 years of use, 16% of heroin users have died, compared with 6.5% of cocaine users and 1.5% of meth users. XXX
Narcan now administered by First Responders
The Governor of New Jersey signed into law on May 2, 2013 a bill that would provide Nasal Narcan to overdosed Heroin users issued by First Responders. Nasal Narcan, or Naloxone, is an opioid antagonist that counters the effects of an opiate overdose. It removes opiods from the receptors of the brain that control the nervous and respiratory systems. This new law, which takes effect July 1, 2013, gives immunity to victims of drug overdose meaning anyone who OD’s is not responsible for the drugs or paraphernalia left behind at the scene of the overdose. Also, First Responders such as Police and EMT’s are not responsible and also have immunity when dispensing Nasal Narcan to an individual suspected of overdosing. The Nasal Narcan is dispensed through a syringe into the victim’s nasal passage. Most times when the
This is being done in hopes to decrease the number of overdose deaths that are occurring in West Virginia. The law does have restrictions. Those who buy naloxone OTC must be trained by a pharmacist on how to recognize an overdose, when to administer the antidote, and how to properly inject or inhale the drug. Pharmacies must also provide educational material telling customers how and where to access treatment programs (Brown, A., Para. 1, 2016). West Virginia being the number one state in overdose deaths, I personally believe that it is a good decision to pass this law. However, I think people should be trained properly on how to administer, when to administer, what to do, what signs to look for and how to respond. Narcan is a life savior and it should be readily available over the counter. Just because they have addiction or uses drug, they don’t deserve to die. If there is already a drug to save someone’s lives, why not use it. It is ridiculous how expensive the drug cost compared to other countries. Lower class and middle class people cannot afford to buy a drug for 500 to 600 dollars. I think it is a control by the big drug industries to make more money but being greedy is just hurting everyone. If country like Australia and Canada can sell cheap as a dollar, how come it costs 500-600 dollars in USA. People have stereotype belief that only druggies gets overdosed. However, it is not true. Older people who sometimes forget what medicines they took, light weight people who had never taken any drugs when started on pain medicines because of accidents or even though if it is overdose by someone trying to get high, saving life is a miracle. With the scientific achievement, people can make clone, skin graft, synthetic valves or many ways to save or repair human body, but no one can bring a soul back to a dead body. Many people doesn’t get overdosed to kill
The documentary states that over 27,000 deaths a year are due to overdose from heroin and other opioids. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in 2015 prescription pain relievers account for 20,101 overdose deaths, and 12,990 overdose deaths are related to heroin (Rudd et al., 2010-2015). The documentary’s investigation gives the history of how the heroin epidemic started, with a great focus on the hospice movement. We are presented with the idea that once someone is addicted to painkillers, the difficulty in obtaining the drug over a long period of time becomes too expensive and too difficult. This often leads people to use heroin. This idea is true as a 2014 survey found that 94% of respondents who were being treated for opioid addiction said they chose to use heroin because prescription opioids were “more expensive and harder to obtain (Cicero et al., 2014).” Four in five heroin users actually started out using prescription painkillers (Johns, 2013). This correlation between heroin and prescription painkiller use supports the idea presented in the documentary that “prescription opiates are heroin prep school.”
It’s very hard to be a heroin addict and have a normal, properly functioning life. Most of the times addicts cannot hold stable jobs, so there is not a stable income coming in, which in turn results in these individuals becoming homeless, or turning to criminal activity to support their drug use. It is not easy to maintain a healthy lifestyle when you struggle with an addiction. I’ve seen first hand with family members how quickly your life spirals out of control, and how hard it can be to get back on your feet once you’re addicted. If people using heroin are taking it intravenously, there are a number of risks that come with that as well. Unclean needles can cause people to contract HIV or Hepatitis, and other infectious diseases if they use dirty puddles of water to cook their drugs. The veins of heroin addicts can also become damaged. On top of all that, if these addicts aren’t using clean needles, abscesses can form wherever they’re injecting drugs into the body, which can be very dangerous. For all of the reasons above, the cons of taking heroin certainly outweigh the
Opioid overdose is currently the most common cause of accidental death in Canada and the U.S. The opioid crisis is having a devastating effect on communities across Canada, taking its toll on opioid users as well as their friends and families.
Heroin is one of the most dangerous drugs in the world. When using heroin, people run the risk of developing serious “infectious diseases” such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis (The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), 2014, para 10). Above all, heroin use often results in death. The DEA Strategic Intelligence Section (2016), who prepared the 2016 National Heroin Threat Assessment Summary claims that heroin is the most fatal drug compared to other drugs because heroin related deaths occur at a much higher rate. In 2014 cocaine users outnumbered heroin users by about three and a half to one, yet there were twice as many heroin related deaths compared to that of cocaine (p. 9). One of the main causes of the large amount of death is a result of what dealers are lacing their heroin with. Fentanyl, a drug that is considered “50” to “100” times stronger than morphine (NIDA, 2016, para 1), is being used by dealers to mix in with their heroin in order to increase its effects and the quantity of their product. Because of how strong fentanyl-laced heroin is, the possibility of overdosing rises, which is the effect that numerous addicts seek out to attain. In the article “Spiked”, written by Maggie Lee (2015), Lieutenant Rick Mason from the Atlanta Police Department emphasizes, “… if somebody OD’s, that’s who [heroin addicts] want to buy their heroin from because it’s the strongest and it must be the best” (para 22). Heroin addicts chase the powerful batches, often asking around for the dealer selling the batch that is causing mass overdoses. Their high tolerance for heroin lead them to believe that they will not fall victim to a deadly overdose until it is too late. When these users consume what they think is their normal dose, the fentanyl kills them. Those unable to receive prescription medication from a doctor will argue that heroin is a cheap way to relieve pain. While heroin may help to
In the United States, opioid addiction rates have majorly increased . Between 2000-2015 more than half a million individuals have died from Opioid overdose, and nearly 5 million people have an opioid dependence which has become a serious problem. The Center for Disease control reports that there are 91 deaths daily due to opioid abuse. Taking opioids for long periods of time and in
The dependence on hard core drugs in the United States is on a continuous climb. Heroin is the leading reason for this. Considered by many to be the hardest of hard drugs, thus making heroin a very popular choice among drug addicts. Heroin is a narcotic produced from the opium of the poppy plant and poses a serious risk to society. Since it could be injected, snorted or smoked heroin also causes health complications and the possibility of death. Sadly, none of that matters to an addict because they only want their next fix. A century ago the doctors who developed heroin were only hoping for a way to help patients, they were unaware their new found medicine would lead to decades of addiction, abuse, health problems and even death for many.
Increased risk of death among heroin addicts in Columbus Ohio, related to an epidemic as evidenced by the number of overdoses occurring in Ohio, as it leads the nation in deaths.
“There are nearly 200,000 inmates in federal prisons, and almost half are drug offenders.” Drug addicts get arrested and thrown in jail, yet weeks later they come out and continue their same habits. This type of cycle is not good for police officers, taxpayers, or the addicts. In “Chasing Heroin,” the PBS program Frontline discusses the heroin epidemic and possible solutions, like the L.E.A.D. program. This program is very flexible and provides statistics on its effectiveness, but is very controversial with how lenient they are towards allowing their patients to continue using. The L.E.A.D. program needs to be provided more funding in order to help spread its comforting and supportive program to more addicts, in order to help them improve their lives.
Coolen, P., Best, S., Lima, A., Sabel, J., & Paulozzi, L. (2009). Overdose deaths involving prescription
Drug abuse is part of everyday life, most of us know someone who is or was abusing drug at some point. A way to simplify a difficult time in our life, we find an exit in a product that numbs our brain to the surrounding. People find addiction through drugs, activities and action that creates chemical reaction within our bodies. Whether you love jumping off the empire state building or inject yourself with a drug, you are looking for a high that your body enjoys. The body creates chemicals which stop our self-control. According to the CDC website, “Deaths from drug overdose have been rising steadily over the past two decades and have become the leading cause of injury death in the United States.” (Birnbaum HG, web).
The Toronto Board School Board is moving forward with its plan to implement naloxone kits, known simply as opioid overdose prevention kits, in all 112 secondary schools. The decision comes after the school board voted on the matter.
For one, addiction would be the biggest problem due to a person's need for more and more opioids in order to function. Opioid abuse has also been known to weaken a person's immune system and in turn making they more likely to get sick. Also, if a person did not die from a opioid related overdose, they could end up in a coma because of it. Even if a person were to stop using opioids all together, they could have lifelong health problems due to their previous use of opioids. This is more common with the opioid Heroin since it is often used by syringe. Many Heroin users have contracted HIV/AIDS as well as Hepatitis because they tend to share needles with other people who may have these diseases.
Many obvious effects of drug abuse, which are manifested in the people who do these drugs, include sick and bad health, death is also a very common thing in most drug addicts. One of the terrible things of people using drugs is the unsanitary effect it can have, for such needle born illnesses like HIV/AIDS and hepatitis. NSDUH data indicates that during 2004, over 3.5 million people ages 18 and over, admitted to using needle induced drugs. (National Drug Threat
Furthermore, drug users might kill themselves if they cannot take drugs appropriately. From 2006 to 2010, about 88000 deaths per year happened due to the drug abuse (Nolan, 2014). The most of cases contain the drug users do not know how much drugs they should take. When they take the quantity of drugs more than the standard of the specification, they are easy to addict the drugs.