I chose this topic because I believe it is a very serious problem in today’s society and all of us most probably have experienced illicit drugs, in one way or another, whether it is from seeing one of our close friends or we have experience it ourselves. It has been a main problem in today’s society and it has to do with peer pressure, popularity, and the saddest cases they just do it to take away their pain or depression. Why do people use drugs? This is what I see from a sociological perspective as to why people use drugs and the problem that is causing to our society.
We have the adolescents that are doing it because of curiosity they want to try it. It all has to do with the social group that these kids are in, those groups determine what
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As far as age groups, men have greater rates of use or dependence on illicit drugs and alcohol than women do. However, women are just as prone as men to become addicted. On top of that, women may be more vulnerable to craving and relapses, which are key phases of the addiction cycle. Women of color may face unique issues with regard to drug use and treatment needs. Even ideology or culture can affect this for example, African-American and American Indian/Alaska Native women are more likely than women of other racial and ethnic groups to be victims of rape, physical violence, and stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime, and these issues are likely to be risk factors for substance use and should be addressed during treatment. Research done by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has shown that women often use drugs differently, respond to drugs differently, and can have distinctive obstacles to effective treatment as simple as not being able to find child care or being prescribed treatment that has not been sufficiently tested on …show more content…
Recently there has been an increase of overdoses deaths due to opioid drug in the Nation, especially in rural America and suburbia. Even with fund anti-addiction programs, and state governments working with federal authorities to address what they are calling a public health crisis of addiction to opioid painkillers and heroin, it seems not enough. New challenges thrive, some places in the country are seeing a rise in overdoses of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid painkiller drastically more powerful and deadly than morphine, and an even more dangerous new drug cocktail called “gray death.” The government is trying to do something however it is hard to stop it and it is causing many deaths around the country. Drugs, specifically opioid in this case, are taking the toll on Americans of all
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
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.
Mangrum, L., Spence, R., & Steinley-Bumgarner, (2006). Gender Differences in Substance-Abuse Treatment Clients with Co-occurring Psychiatric and Substance-Use Disorders. Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention, 6 (3), 255 - 267
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.
Hanson, Glen R., et al. Drugs and Society. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2011. Print.
Closing the need-service gap: Gender differences in matching services to client needs in comprehensive substance abuse treatment. Social Work Research, 33(3), 183-192. Peebles-Wilkins, W. (2006). The 'Peebles'. Let's pay attention to girls and drugs.
Novotna, G., Dobbins, M., Jack, S. M., Sword, W., Niccols, A., Brooks, S., & Henderson, J. (2013). The Influence of Lived Experience with Addiction and Recovery on Practice-Related Decisions among Professionals Working in Addiction Agencies Serving Women. Drugs: Education, Prevention & Policy, 20(2),
Drug abuse has changed over the years due to the trends that Americans face from the encouragement of different cultures. The abuse of substances creates many health problems. The following will discuss the past and current trends of drug use and the effects these drugs have on the health of the individuals who abuse the drugs.
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.
Illegal drug use is one of the most common problems that affect Americans every day. Joyce B. Shannon (2010) found that, “More than 35 million individuals used illicit drugs or abused prescription drugs in 2007” (p. 11). The impact can be seen in communities of all types, and people with low and high income levels. Drug use is at the root of many problems with our society. Joyce B. Shannon (2010) referenced a survey from 2004 that states, “32% of state prisoners and 26% of federal prisoners” admitted that they were currently serving jail time for offences committed while they were, “under the influence of drugs” (p. 102). The reasoning behind this issue will be explained from a psychological, sociological, and an anthropological perspective including the benefit of an interdisciplinary perspective to grasp the cause of drug use and it’s affect on society.
The reasons why people choose to use drugs will differ from group to group. While for many the use of drugs serves as an escape from the stresses of everyday life for others it is exactly used as it is called for recreational purposes. People also take drugs to feel happy and relax. The major reason among is still believed to be that of peer pressure, often teens feel the need t...
Drugs are something that has been prevalent in our society for many decades now. It seems that as our population continue to grow, drugs seem to continue to have a major impact throughout our society, then used by drug seem to have been influenced by many things, either through social or cultural factors and it have affected people in many different ways such as their behavior, their attitude and just basically their livelihood. Today our society is deeply infected with the issue of drugs, we look around our society and we see young kids are being consume by drugs, we see workers, and executive people are also being consumed by drugs. Drugs continue to play a huge role in our society because while most people