In the United States drug overdose has begun to rise within many states. Whether or not municipalities and state government should try to control such an epidemic is in question. Some say by creating a supervised injection site where these Intravenous drug users(IDU) may go to safely conduct their self inflicting abuse and also seek rehabilitation may benefit these abusers and the society they live within. The United States government has not yet enabled one of these type of sites to establish itself in states where drugs have infested its cities and towns. Which brings me to Raleigh NC, where overdoses from drug abuse is on the rise; this problem starts the debate on whether or not Raleigh should implement a SIS to reduce the drug induced …show more content…
There's a greater hazard though, by implementing these supervised injection sites (SIS), Raleigh may face ethical, operational, and public health issues that would create an unhealthy environment for many who live there. The misconception with Raleigh's problem is that the high drug affiliated mortality rate is due to the abuse of prescription drugs, rather than from drugs that require a hypodermic needle in order to be consumed. According to a publication called Unintentional Overdose Deaths in North Carolina Medicaid Population(1) by The State Center for Health Statistics a majority of the prescription pills that are being abused are pain killers such as Hydrocodone, Alprazolam and Oxycodone. The publication also states that “Between 2000 and 2007, …show more content…
In the International Journal of Drug Policy, within a research paper called Impacts of intensified police activity on injection drug users: Evidence from an ethnographic investigation,(3) Small et al. states that “The intensification of police activities led to less drug related activity in the area where the drug market was traditionally concentrated, but widespread displacement of drug use activities to other locations also occurred. The adverse impact of concentrated police activities upon urban drug problems and the implications for both public order and public health should be recognized.” This study found that after the SIS Insite was established in Vancouver, Canada, police activity began to grow in the location of the SIS, which inadvertently propagated the relocation of drug users to the surrounding areas, where they had not inhabited
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.”
Semaan, S., Fleming, P., Worrell, C., Stolp, H., Baack, B., & Miller, M. (2011). Potential role of safer injection facilities in reducing HIV and Hepatitis C infections and overdose mortality in the United States. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 118, 100-110.
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.
Concerned authorities have focused essentially on criminalization and punishment, to find remedies to the ever-increasing prevalent drug problem. In the name of drug reducing policies, authorities endorse more corrective and expensive drug control methods and officials approve stricter new drug war policies, violating numerous human rights. Regardless of or perhaps because of these efforts, UN agencies estimate the annual revenue generated by the illegal drug industry at $US400 billion, or the equivalent of roughly eight per cent of total international trade (Riley 1998). This trade has increased organized/unorganized crime, corrupted authorities and police officials, raised violence, disrupted economic markets, increased risk of diseases an...
Wilton, R., & Moreno, C. M. (2012). Critical geographies of drugs and alcohol. Social & Cultural Geography, 13(2), 99–108. doi:10.1080/14649365.2012.670505
Alexander explains that in Canada there has been three major waves of drug intervention, the ‘“harm reduction’ techniques” (225) being the most resent consisted of: clean injectable heroin, clean needles, methadone, and housing. Although, each of the methods are devoted and knowledgeable they have done little to decreased the deaths or supress the unhappiness. While clean heroin did work well few addicts quit using and many found the conditions of reserving the drugs to be repulsive. Yet another method is legalization which is nothing new and will do little to help.
Zajdow describes drug abuse as being a social, legal, health, economic and ethical issue (1999, p.44). This great problem therefore involves not only one department, but also many other departments. These include the police, who offer their power and resources, Justice, who has the resources for jail, Health, which offers treatment programs, and Education which provides drug education to the community. Without these departments, the issue would be too complicated for the Government to solve on their own. However, as indicated by Knowles, these departments were bidding for more funds to strengthen the resources they provide (2000, p.1).
With such statistical information it is unsurprising that governments have not fully embraced the harm reduction concept, with some countries reverting back to older methods. For instance, Canada is on the verge of closing the dangerous In-site injection facility in Vancouver and reallocating funds to traditional inpatient treatment--real treatment that promotes eventual abstinence. One can conclude that the effectiveness of harm reduction is a very questionable topic as not only does it aid in offender substance abuse, but at what cost. The topic of harm reduction provokes a deeper thought, what happened to prevention methods and what about them is not working?
Bruce K. Alexander’s essay “Reframing Canada’s ‘Drug Problem’” is about shifting the focus from intervention to prevention. Alexander explains that in Canada there have been three major waves of drug intervention: “Criminal prosecution and intensive anti-drug” (225), “medicinal and psychological treatment” (225), and the ‘“harm reduction’ techniques” (225) being the most resent. The “’harm reduction’” (225) consisted of: clean injectable heroin, clean needles, methadone, and housing for addicts. Although each of the methods is devoted and knowledgeable, they have done little to decrease the deaths or suppress the unhappiness. While clean heroin did work well few addicts quit using and many found
National Institute on Drug Abuse (2009). Preventing Drug Abuse: The Best Strategy . Retrieved October 21, 2011, from http://www.nida.nih.gov/scienceofaddiction/strategy.html
The current situation of drug control in the United States is imperfect and inadequate. Millions of men and women, both young and old, are affected by illicit drug use. It costs the United States about $6,123 every second because of drug use and its consequences (Office). Moreover, 90 percent of all adults with a substance use disorder started using under the age of 18 and half under the age of 15. Children who first smoke marijuana under the age of 14 are five times more likely to abuse drugs as adults than those who first use marijuana at age 18. Finally, the children of alcoholics are four times more likely to develop problems with alcohol (Prevent). Current legislation that has to do with the United States’ drug control policy is the Controlled Substances Act, which regulates the manufacture, importation, possession, use, and distribution of certain substances (Shannon). In 1966, Congress passed the Narcotic Addict Rehabilitation Act also known as the NARA. This legislati...
One of the most prevalent misconceptions, Benson and Rasmussen, contend is the notion that a large percentage of drug users commit nondrug crimes, what might be called the “drugs-cause-crime” assumption implicit in the government’s drug-war strategy. If true, then an effective crackdown on drug use would reduce nondrug crime rates.... ... middle of paper ... ...
West Virginia has one of the highest rates for prescription drug abuse, and overdose in the nation. In order to change this it is important to understand what pharmacists do, their role in prevention, and the severity of prescription drug abuse. Pharmacists are known to dispense prescription drugs to patients and inform them about their use; However, one aspect of their career most people overlook is that Pharmacists must keep a sharp eye out for criminals looking to abuse these prescribed drugs.
stigation, Uniform Crime Reports for the United States 1996, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office ( 1997) Inciardi, James A. "The Wars on Drugs." Palo Alto: Mayfield, 1986 Kennedy, X.J., Dorthy M. Kennedy, and Jane E. Aaron, eds. The Bedford Reader.