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Impact of opiate epidemic on Canada
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Native peoples have made great strides to become equal to other Canadian citizens, but by no means does this mean their plights are no longer important or valid. Too many Native children start drinking at young ages, too many Native girls sell themselves, and too many Native peoples deal with prescription addictions. “In some [native] communities, it’s as high as 75 per cent. Of the thousands who need treatment, she said, less than 10 per cent are getting help.” (Paperny) Oxycotin, the main drug used by the native peoples, has harsh and sometime deadly effects, but due to the dangerous, depressive and aggressive environment that so many reserves deal with, Oxycontin has become the high so many native peoples believe they need. This highly addictive drug though destroys lives further. “On Feb. 6, Matawa First Nations, a tribal council of nine Northern Ontario First Nations, reported that almost 2,000 people have an Opioid addiction in their communities.” (Windspeaker) These 2,000 people need help, and the way in which the government has chosen to deal with this is by cutting Oxycontin from the Ontario health care plan to replace it with OxyNEO. Explaining the history behind this drug addiction and the environment it thrives in, the issues withdrawal will cause and the symptoms of withdrawal, will help people conclude for themselves whether OxyNEO is a positive solution, or we need something else.
OxyNEO threatens the health of many Native peoples, but it wouldn’t be an issue if the addiction itself wasn’t such a big problem. But how come Native peoples struggle so much with addiction? Well a large part of the issue is environment, as many natives live on reserves, native communities usually isolated with little job opport...
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...Canadians health, and the availability of clinics. It is not the best answer to this question. How can one answer this question? Through resources. Opening clinics, opening detox centers, but through help, not donations. Doris Slipperjack has changed the way her community sees addiction, by looking past the drugs, and to the mentality behind it and the drive to take opiates.
"I had to live off my mom, and I would steal too from the store so my kids could eat," she remembers. "But now I'm not spending money on drugs, I buy groceries and things I never really had." (Pressly). Through her detox and time working on establishing a clinic in Fort Hope, Doris was able to overcome her addiction. She is a sign that given the right opportunities, any one can overcome their addiction. She actively works to give her people the same opportunities she has been given.
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.
This medicalized interpretation of heroin addiction heavily emphasizes a constant state of suffering for those who are affected (Garcia 2010, 18). Furthermore, Nuevo Dia employees take this framework into account when contributing their efforts to treat addicts, on the premise that relapse will soon follow recovery (Garcia 2010, 13). When detox assistants assure themselves that their patients will return to the clinic, as if they never went through a period of treatment, one can expect that the quality of such to be drastically low. The cyclical pattern of inadequate therapies, temporary improvements in health and detrimental presuppositions all widen the health inequality gap in New Mexico. Garcia shares that the “interplay of biomedical and local discourses of chronicity compel dynamics of the Hispano heroin phenomenon,” which is evident in how the judicial system handles the social issue of addiction (2010,
the story of his journey and struggle to overcome his addiction with the help of the native
From alcoholics, drug addicts, people of obesity, those carrying HIV/AIDS, or people of mental illness, stigma has caused discrimination and abuse to those characterized into these groups. Stereotyping, a form of stigma, is when something is labeled and linked with undesired characteristics. From the documentary, the audience learns that alcoholics and drug addicts are stereotyped in many parts of the community. In healthcare for example, addicts seeking help are only treated for addiction symptoms such as dehydration or anxiety, and not the underlying problem. An important part in in recovery is “the construction of a positive sense of self” (Hill, Leeming, 2014). Beverely Haberle, a former cancer patient in The Anonymous People, could not understand how she is offered support and outreach of treatment but those of addiction do not. The standard of care is found to be unequal do to public perception, and it must take those to speak out to make a differences in the stigma evolved around addiction. Until those attributes are addressed, many will suffer limited resources and unequal
Presently, access to programs and health care services is fragmented given the nature of the health care system for Aboriginal peoples (Wilson et al., 2012). The federal government is responsible for providing limited health services among Inuit living within traditional territories and status/registered Indians living on reserves (Chen et al., 2004). This responsibility is vested in the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch organizations to carry out protection activities and health promotion, and provide funding for community health programs in Inuit communities and reserves (Chen et al., 2004). Firstly, the complexity of the health care system for Aboriginal peoples has resulted in an unequal access to health services due to the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch program (FNIHB), which only applies to Inuit and Indians. Therefore, Metis and other Aboriginal peoples who do not qualify for registration under the Indian Act do not receive health services provided by FNIHB (Chen et al., 2004). Secondly, the transfer of responsibility to health boards, communities and other authorities has resulted in unequal supply of health services between territories and provinces, uneven distribution among communities, and leaves limited opportunity for increased funding (Loppie et al., 2009). It has also lead to controversy between various levels of government over the responsibility to pay for particular health services. Jurisdictional limitations, which have failed to recognize Metis identity and rights, have resulted in health disparities among the Metis population (Wilson et al., 2012). While the federal government recently decided to include Metis status in Aboriginal initiatives, the funding has not been equitable when compared to those of Inuit and First Nations or to the non-Aboriginal populations in Canada (Loppie et al., 2009). The Aboriginal health
Definition: Mental health has become a pressing issue in Indigenous communities. Often, a combination of trauma, a lack of accessible health resources, substance abuse, violence, and socioeconomic situations lead to high rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidality in Indigenous Peoples. This crisis is especially apparent in Indigenous youth, where there is a growing suicide epidemic but little mental health support and resources are provided. The increase in stigmatized and untreated mental illness has continued as trauma and systemic injustices remain unaddressed. Indigenous groups, governmental parties, and health organizations are involved.
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
Health care inequities can be elucidated by the research that identifies the social, economic and political ideologies that reflect aspects of cultural safety (Crandon, 1986; O’Neil, 1989 as cited in Browne & Fiske, 2001). There are various factors that affect the mistreatment of aboriginal peoples as they access health care in local health care facilities such as hospitals and clinics. Aboriginal women face many barriers and are discriminated against as a result based on their visible minority status such as race, gender and class (Gerber, 1990; Dion Stout, 1996; Voyageur, 1996 as cited in Browne & Fiske, 2001). A study done on Aboriginal peoples in Northern B.C. showed high rates of unemployment, underemployment and dependency on social welfare monies (Browne & Fiske, 2001). This continued political economic marginalisation of aboriginal peoples widens the gap between the colonizers and the colonized. The existence of racial profiling of aboriginal peoples by “Indian status” often fuels more stigmatization of these people because other Canadians who do not see the benefits of compensations received with having this status often can be resentful in what they may perceive is another compensation to aboriginal peoples. The re...
In previous years, the government has not made great efforts toward stopping opioid addiction (Global). With the vast amount of deaths, over 183,000 since 1999, and dependencies, it would be foolish for the government to not address this (Jones).
Bruce K. Alexander’s essay “reframing Canada’s drug problem is about how the focus needs to be shifting from intervention to prevention
There are some social determinants factors contribute to Australian indigenous people’s mental health disorders. The addiction incidence of mental health disorders and substance misuse problems is terribly high. Aboriginal Australians suffer from unemployment and that can give rise to substance misuse, anxiety, depression, and sometimes severe mental health conditions. The social isolation risks rose up with development of social exclusion and hardship, such as addiction, divorce, disability, s...
Many people believe that Native Americans are a disadvantaged group of individuals in many ways. Culturally, in that many of the cultures of the various tribes across the Americas were taken from them by Europeans and their descendants. Socially, in that they are unlike other minorities in the United States because of their extra-constitutional status; and even medically, stemming from the general belief that Natives are at a higher risk for disease than other ethnicities due to tobacco and alcohol use, especially when used together (Falk, Hiller-Sturmhöfel, & Yi, 2006).
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
For instance, Craib et al. (2009) reported that among those Indigenous study participants who were experiencing unstable housing and injecting drugs, the prevalence of HCV was 51.9% [10]. Furthermore, the prevalence of HCV in this study was 81.2% in those Indigenous participants who reported having been previously incarcerated [10]. Homelessness has also been significantly associated with transition to injection drug use in young, urban Indigenous people, putting them at an increased risk for HCV acquisition [8]. Moreover, young Indigenous people who inject drugs are more likely to have been incarcerated, to struggle with mental health issues and to have been denied shelter because of their drug use [8]. Finally, a high prevalence (25% to 40%) and over-representation of Indigenous peoples with HCV has been documented among populations who are incarcerated in Canada
Drug addiction is a very big problem in today’s society. Many people have had their lives ruined due to drug addiction. The people that use the drugs don’t even realize that they have an addiction. They continue to use the drug not even realizing that their whole world is crashing down around them. Drug addicts normally lose their family and friends due to drug addiction.