From watching the video about drug diversion, it made me think of my first day working at CVS and how I witness my first drug diversion from a patient. While doing some modules for CVS, a Latino male walked into CVS and gave one of our technicians a prescription to fill. Since the script was a controlled medication, they gave it to the pharmacist, so he can take a look at it. Before the pharmacist had the chance to look at the script, the male patient was moving around a lot and mention how he went to multiple different pharmacies and no one was willing to fill his medications. Those were the first few warning signs that something did not feel right. After my pharmacist examined the script and saw something was off about it, he decided not
The documentary Heroin Cape Cod, USA focused on the widespread abuse of pain medication such as Vicodin, Percocet, and Oxycodone that has led the U.S. into the rise of an opiate addiction. Many of the users within the video explained that it doesn’t matter where you go, there is no stopping, and you can’t just get high once. Instead, those who do it want that high forever. I think that this is a very important concept that those who aren’t addicted to drugs need to understand, no matter how hard it is to. The documentary featured many addicts including Marissa who first popped pills when she was 14 years old, Daniel who stated he started by snorting pixie sticks, and Arianna who started smoking weed and drinking before age 12. Additionally, the documentary interviewed Ryan and Cassie. These addicts explained that in Cape Cod you either work and you’re normal, or you do drugs.
?). Drug use and abuse has become a widespread issue within the United States. One of its most troubling aspects being the abuse of pharmaceutical and prescription drugs, painkillers raising the most concern. Drugs such as Oxycontin, Ambien, and Xanax are being prescribed by doctors and given to the public and then being misused, causing more harm than good. ADD SOURCE THAT EXPLAINS THE MANIFESTATION OF THIS. Barbara Ehrenreich, an American author and sociologist explores this very problem in her book, Nickel and Dimed. When talking about a worker’s use of medication, Ehrenreich claims that, “Unfortunately, the commercial tells us, we workers can exert the same kind of authority over our painkillers that our bosses exert over us. If Tylenol doesn’t want to work for more than four hours, you just fire its ass and switch to Aleve”(25). In other words, Ehrenreich is stating how the media is pushing drugs onto the working class and through the use of personification she illustrates how workers identify themselves with the medications they are taking. Employees will opt for the most efficient medication in order to be efficient themselves, which reduces them to a less than human kind of being for their employer’s benefit. If any of the employees fail to meet the expectations set for them, a new recruit from the company’s “pool of cheap labor” can easily replace them. Pharmaceutical and prescription drug abuse is becoming a growing concern amongst low wageworkers because of their variety, easy access, and social acceptance.
Chasing Heroin is a two-hour documentary that investigates America’s heroin crisis. The documentary details the opioid epidemic and how police offers, social workers, and public defenders are working to save the lives of addicts. The documentary explores the origins and continuing causes behind the heroin epidemic such as; massive increases in opioid painkillers starting at the turn of the century, Mexican drug cartels who are now rooted in upper-middle-class neighborhoods, and the cheap price of heroin when compared to prescription pain killers. A program in Seattle called LEAD is explored. This program channels addicts into a system that points them toward help (rehab, temporary housing, counseling, methadone treatment) instead of prison
Nestled in the natural ridge that runs between Atlanta and Athens and in between South River and Hightower Trail lays the territory that comprises of DeKalb County (The DeKalb History Center). DeKalb County, also known, as the greenest county in America is located in Georgia. DeKalb County is the third largest county in the state with over 9 cities located inside of it parameters. According to US Census Bureau 691,893 people resided in the county based off of 2010. 23.9% were represented by individuals that were aged 18 and under (DeKalb Census Bureau). Over the years from 2000-2010, DeKalb County has seen a 3.9 percent increase in its population. Georgia has 159 counties. The DeKalb County Juvenile Court is located in the Gregory A. Adams Juvenile Justice Center at 4309 Memorial Drive in Decatur GA.
More than often, American’s argue that if we have the technology to gain access to these “miracle meds”, then we should take advantage of it. To receive an opposing view, the National Institute of Drug Abuse asked teens around America why they think prescription drugs are overused, and the results were shocking; 62%: “Easy to get from parent's medicine cabinets”, 51%: “They are not illegal drugs”, 49%: “Can claim to have prescription if caught”, 43%: “They are cheap”, 35%: “Safer to use than illegal drugs”, 33%: “Less shame attached to using”, 32%: “Fewer side effects than street drugs”, 25%: “Can be used as study aids”, and 21%: “Parents don't care as much if caught”. I believe the major problem here isn’t the medication, but instead the fact that our nation is extremely uninformed on the “do’s and dont’s” of prescription medication. When “the United States is 5 percent of the world’s population and consumes 75 percent of the the world's prescription drugs” (CDC), there is a problem present, no matter the reason. Clearly, many critics believe the breathtaking amount of pills we consume in America is simply for the better good, but tend to forget the effects that are soon to follow.
A Nameless Inmate shouts to the camera behind bars in the Documentary “The house I Live In, he shouted “Just wipe me out straight off the map for nothing. 57 years for a small rock . I wanna know why i’m treated like I murder somebody?
If medical providers are not able to prescribe medications based on an individual's needs, an individual will go into his or her community to locate and purchase medications. This practice can be dangerous, as it is an unregulated amount of medication which can lead to an opioid overdose. Depending on the need of medication from individuals in the community, members will be prescribed medication and then sell their medication at an increased price.Many individuals will have multiple providers for opioid pain relievers and will even fake the need to visit an emergency room.
Addiction is one of the hardest difficulties to overcome, yet people often find themselves caught in the world wind of addiction. We all ask the question to what makes a person an addict, or why is it so hard for drug addicts to overcome this problem. However, can we say that getting a hold of drugs is much easier in today’s society, or is it made available to easily. In this day and age, heroine seems to be a major epidemic; furthermore, opiates have been around for centuries. Therefore, people have been battling addiction for as long as opiates have been around. In Drugstore Cowboy, the film takes a look into the life of four people who rob drugstores in order to support
It was the late 19th century when a lot of conflict for families from the Industrial Revolution and illegal drugs had easy access to anyone in the United Sates. These illegal drugs like morphine, cocaine, and alcohol were available through manufacture, delivery, and selling. It was proved that the over use of alcohol and violence in families’ homes were linked together around the 1850’s and that women and children were being abused by the father and husband from the letters and journals that were wrote. These were times when women were stay at home mothers and it was the man’s responsibility to be the provider for the wife and children. Because of the abuse in the household it led up to the temperance movement. The purpose
As described in novel The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference the course of any trend, movement, social behavior, and even the spread of a virus has a general trend line that in essence resemble a parabola with 3 main critical points. Any trend line first starts from zero, grows until it crosses the first tipping point, and then spreads like wildfire. Afterwards, the trend skyrockets to its carrying capacity (Galdwell, 2000). Then the trend gradually declines before it reaches the next tipping and suddenly falls out of favor and out of memory. Gladwell defines tipping points as the “magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire” (Gladwell, 2000).
The complex issues of dealing with offenders in the criminal justice system has been a point of ongoing controversy, particularly in the arena of sentencing. In one camp there are those who believe offenders should be punished to the full extent of the law, while others advocate a more rehabilitative approach. The balancing act of max punishment for crimes committed, and rehabilitating the offender for reintegration into society has produced varying philosophies. With the emanation of drug-induced crimes over the past few decades, the concept of drug treatment courts has emerged. The premise of these courts is to offer a “treatment based alternative to prison,” which consist of intensive treatment services, random drug testing, incentives
The rate of death due to prescription drug abuse in the U.S. has escalated 313 percent over the past decade. According to the Congressional Quarterly Transcription’s article "Rep. Joe Pitt Holds a Hearing on Prescription Drug Abuse," opioid prescription drugs were involved in 16,650 overdose-caused deaths in 2010, accounting for more deaths than from overdoses of heroin and cocaine. Prescribed drugs or painkillers sometimes "condemn a patient to lifelong addiction," according to Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This problem not only affects the lives of those who overdose but it affects the communities as well due to the convenience of being able to find these items in drug stores and such. Not to mention the fact that the doctors who prescribe these opioids often tend to misuse them as well. Abusing these prescribed drugs can “destroy dreams and abort great destinies," and end the possibility of the abuser to have a positive impact in the community.
On my arrival in the United Kingdom from my native Zimbabwe, I had my first meeting with an individual with a serious heroin addiction when I found myself sharing a flat emergency accommodation at Lady Beck Close in Leeds. Items of value went missing until the person responsible approached me and accepted responsibility. He apologised for the thefts but explained at length the serious problem with substance misuse that he had. He explained how he dropped from University where he was studying dentistry because of drugs. He expressed his desire to quit but failed despite the care, support and help he received from so many professionals.
The first drug court was rooted in 1989, in Miami-Dade county Florida and its purpose was to close the divide between drug treatment and the criminal justice system. Many large-scale pharmacies publicized merchandise that contained heroin, cocaine, and codeine as refreshing drinks, medicine for kids, and cough suppressants. It became clear that opiate addiction was increasing widely, doctors turned to cocaine, which was touted as a nonaddictive cure that Sigmund Freud called a “magical drug”. Substance abuse is a constant problem in the United States. Many people who see drug abuse as a disease do believe it is important to seek treatment and also look at drug abuse as a crime that includes consequences that the drug court is in place for. So the question is, are the drug courts essential to helping an addict recover and, do their methods and treatments really work?
Addiction and abuse of drugs have remained an unexplainable circumstance, even till today. A mistaken assumption is that drug abusers lack moral principles, and if given a chance or in the presence of will power, their selections could be altered. In reality, drug addiction is known as a complex disease and requires more than will power or mere good intentions to change. Due to the fact that drug addiction could change the way the brain works, with time, the brain promotes compulsive drug abuse. It is difficult to relent even if one is ready to do so. Drug abuse has negative influences not only in the lives of mortals, but also in the society.