A treacherous killer has found its way into the homes and communities of many Americans, destroying the lives of millions. An epidemic is ascending resulting in the addiction and overdosing of many Americans of all ages. Opioids are unpredictable and can affect a huge number of people in a small amount of time. The opioid epidemic is not a battle specifically targeting a particular area; ethnicity; age; gender or social status they are affecting well-respected individuals. The opioid epidemic has led Criminal Justice Officials to make accommodations to meet the needs of opioid users.
Opioid use has risen substantially leading the nation into a state of emergency. More and more people are becoming addicted to opioids. Opioid addiction for most people begins with prescription pain medicine and escalates from there to heroin and other dangerous drugs. The demand for opioids is higher now than it has ever been (ASAM, 2016). Opioids have come into the homes of Americans all around the world.
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Overdoses and deaths relating to opioid use have increased majorly.
Overdose related deaths have become more and more frequent in many areas. Reports from Ohio conclude that over the course of a year the morgues have seen the highest body count of overdosed caused deaths and 86% of the overdoses was caused by opioids (Wasser, 2017). On average in the year of 2016 the United States lost 115 Americans a day to the opioid epidemic. Due to the heightened amount of opioid induced deaths, investigations have concluded that the highest number of overdoses were caused by a new highly dangerous synthetic drug called Fentanyl. Fentanyl is a thousand times stronger than strait heroin and is far more deadly. Opioid users are unknowingly purchasing opioids on the streets that have contained traces of Fentanyl in them, which have led to the overdoses of many individuals (Branson,
2018). The opioid epidemic has led to an increase of crime commissions to support users opioid addiction. When an offender has high demands for opioids they are more likely to commit offenses to meet their needs. Studies show that the arrest rates relating to drug use increased by 12.5% from the year of 2013 to the year of 2015 (Madhani, 2018). Opioid users become highly addicted to the opioids and when their body is use to the drug and they feel good while under the influence of opioids the users can often become addicted which could potentially lead up to an arrest. Opioid users might steel to afford their next opioid purchase or drug dealers in general constantly get arrested for selling opioids. The opioid epidemic has forced Law Enforcement Officials to respond to many scenes of overdosed individuals or individuals causing a disturbance due to being under the influence of opioids. Police officers are often the first respondents on the scene and they often have to endure being exposed to toxic living situations and surroundings. Police Officials are at severe risk of coming into contact with drugs while at the scene. Some officers arrive on the scene and have to immediately resuscitate victims who have overdosed on opioids. Police Departments have reacted to the opioid epidemic by purchasing supplies to protect their Officers when they are called to a scene involving an overdose (In Opioid Crisis, 2017). Officers are in danger of being exposed to Fentanyl through inhalation or through their skin. Officers are also at risk of any other unsafe drugs or diseases when entering a crime scene. According to ( In Opioid Crisis, 2017) “ An Ohio officer overdosed in a police station after brushing off with a bare hand a trace of white powder left from a drug scene”. The smallest amount of Fentanyl can be absorbed into the bloodstream of a Law Enforcement Official and could cause immediate harm, leading to the important need for Narcan. Fentanyl is the most deadly and dangerous opioid for Law Enforcement to come into contact with. The opioid epidemic and high amount of overdoses relating to opioid use has forced the need for Officers to carry Narcan which is a drug to reverse an overdose (Branson Police, 2018). The need for Law Enforcement Officers to carry doses of Narcan on the job demonstrates how serious the opioid epidemic has become. Courts have had to make decisions in the best interest of offenders in order to tackle the opioid epidemic. The courts response has been altered in order to provide less punishment to opioid users and more rehabilitation services. The courts are offering more treatment options to give offenders a chance to detox from opioids and change their behavior (America, 2018). According to (Bitsoli, 2018) the majority of offenders who have been arrested and allowed to get treatment rather than going to jail have been successful; some offenders have stated that being arrested and being provided treatment through court was in their best interest. The court system is working in the best interest of offenders and giving them the opportunity to seek treatment instead of jail and recover from opioid addiction. Tackling the opioid epidemic has resulted in the destruction of any lives in the United States. The opioid epidemic has resulted in the loss of many people throughout the world. Peoples children; parents; and siblings are being affected by this killer that has reached the streets. Many programs to help families battling opioid addiction have been developed and some have been successful for some people . The opioid epidemic has forced many changes throughout police departments and court systems nationwide. Law enforcement has had to make accommodations to meet the needs of opioid users. The true dangers of opioids are unknown still to many Americans and the likelihood of opioids affecting the more innocent families is increasing daily. The opioid epidemic has controlled the lives of many and still continues to do so. The intention of this research is to inform readers of the seriousness of opioids and the actions that Criminal Justice officials have taken as a result to address and provide for opioid users in America.
About 435,000 Americans regularly use heroin, a large increase in the last decade. 28,000 deaths a year are attributed to opiate overdoses, 2,590 of which occur in Ohio. This causes an increase of children in government custody, law enforcement officers carrying naloxone, and overflow in treatment centers. Drug traffickers choose Ohio to avoid violence involved with drug trade in large cities. Clinics over-prescribed very addictive painkillers, but once law enforcement cracked down they became very expensive, giving the cheap drug heroin an advantage. Adam Conkey was prescribed with pain pills twenty years ago, which started him on the road to heroin. Conkey and his girlfriend, Natasha
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.”
Almost one hundred years ago, prescription drugs like morphine were available at almost any general store. Women carried bottles of very addictive potent opiate based pain killers in their purse. Many individuals like Edgar Allen Poe died from such addictions. Since that time through various federal, state and local laws, drugs like morphine are now prescription drugs; however, this has not stopped the addiction to opiate based pain killers. Today’s society combats an ever increasing number of very deadly addictive drugs from designer drugs to narcotics to the less potent but equally destructive alcohol and marijuana. With all of these new and old drugs going in and out of vogue with addicts, it appears that the increase of misuse and abuse is founded greater in the prescription opiate based painkillers.
We are introduced to the story of Matt Schoonover, a young man who had recently obtained his masters degree from Yale. He had grown up “attending a Christian private school, and a prominent church” (2). Matt had begun abusing pills, though he was originally prescribed them by a doctor. Even after undergoing detoxification and then rehab, Matt could not curb his addiction. “Unable to afford street Oxycontin, Matt switched to black tar heroin, brought in from Mexico” (3). We are told how this is unfortunately quite common. People who are prescribed pills often end up abusing them; and once they can no longer afford the high prices of OxyContin they switch to black tar heroin. This transition is often what leads to overdoses, as black tar heroin is extremely deadly and overdoses like Matt’s are common. This is just one story out of tens of thousands of similar stories that all have the same ending. The opiate crisis is a problem that few recognize because it crept up on a majority of Americans. Young people throughout the nation were not using drugs in public, but privately in their own
Attention getter: As quoted by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, an average of three Oregonians dies every week from prescription opioid overdose, and many more develop opioid use disorder.
Opioid’s chemical composition consist of many highly addictive substances which cause the human body to become quickly tolerant. Many opioid users become addictive to the substance because the doctors have been over prescribing. “In the United States, there were 14,800 annual prescribed opioid (PO) deaths in 2008” with the US having less restrictions (Fischer, Benedikt, et al 178). The United States have implemented more regulations so that “high levels of PO-related harms been associated with highly potent oxycodone formulas” will decrease (Fischer, Benedikt, et al 178). With the regulations, it does not change the fact that opioids are is destructive. The regulations assistance by lessening the probability of patients becoming addictive to opioid. There are numerous generations that are effected and harmed by the detrimental effects of opioids on opioid-dependent patients.
The opioid crisis is Canada’s worst public health crisis since the emergence of HIV in the 1980s. The epidemic is dangerously pervasive, affecting Canadians of all ages and income brackets. The Government of Canada has taken several steps to address the crisis, but many doctors and public health
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
On the typical day, over 90 people will die at the hand of opioid abuse in America alone (National). In fact, as of 2014, nearly 2 million Americans were dependent and abusing opioids. The Opioid Crisis has affected America and its citizens in various ways, including health policy, health care, and the life in populous areas. Due to the mass dependence and mortality, the crisis has become an issue that must be resolved in all aspects.
Every year, 2.6 million people in the United States suffer from opioid abuse and of that 2.6 million, 276,000 are adolescents, and this problem is only escalating. An individual’s physical and emotional health suffers as well as their personal lives as they lose employment, friends, family, and hope. Opioid addiction begins with the addictive aspects of the drug. People easily become hooked on the relieving effects of the opioids and suffer withdrawal symptoms if they stop using the drug completely because their nerve cells become accustomed to the drug and have difficulty functioning without it; yet the addiction to the drug is only one aspect of the complex problem. The stigma about opioid addiction has wide-reaching negative effects as it discourages people with opioid abuse problems from reaching out.
In 2016 Americans are turning to heroin to deal with their despair, pain and turmoil in their lives, subsequently causing an opiate epidemic. This point is further evidenced by the following statement
According to The Division Control department currently, fentanyl crisis is fueled by China-sourced fentanyls and fentanyl precursor chemicals that are being sold to various individuals and organizations responsible for fentanyl processing and distribution operations. Also the Enforcement Administration: Office of Diversion Control reported in May 2015 - Chinese Customs officials seized 46 kilograms of fentanyl and 26 kilograms of acetyl fentanyl hidden in a cargo container destined for Mexico. These drugs are then distributed in states. In 2016, DEA Miami Field Division reports a kilogram of acetyl fentanyl purchased in Florida for $1700, sourced from China (DEA). There are no laws in China regulating the production or sale of prescription medicine, making them easily accessible to potential drug traffickers. China then exports the fentanyl to Mexico, and from there its distributed throughout the country into the United States. In 2006, illegally manufactured, non-pharmaceutical fentanyl often mixed with cocaine or heroin caused an outbreak of overdose deaths in the United States and Canada, heavily concentrated in the cities of Dayton, Ohio; Chicago; Detroit. Analgesics through the state of crystal powder has been killing dozens of people.
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.
Understanding this problem begins with education about the type of drugs being abused. Opiates, or opioids, are a type of drug that relieves pain. Painkillers interact with nerve endings in the brain, stopping them from sending the message to your brain that you are in pain. Taking this medication results in lose of pain and a temporary high. If a patient takes pain pills for too long, they can begin to form a tolerance to lower doses, causing the physician to have to continually raise the amount being put into their bodies. After extended use, opiates can cause iatrogenic addiction, “most likely to occur with long-term use and/or high does of a prescription drug” (Kendal1 l75). Even though opiates have been used to treat pain in the medical field for years, research is indicating negative side effects. Some of these, interesting enou...
The first phase to taking action on a drug addiction problem is to take survey to what sort of drug issue inside the group. Then decide the level of danger variable influencing the issue. The consequence of the evaluation can be utilized to bring issues to light and determine the best project to face the issue. A few signs to look for are individual, family, peer, school, and community confinement.