Case 6.4 Drug Dilemmas Essay

The United States has the world's highest incarceration rate. With five percent of the world's population, our country houses nearly twenty-five percent of the world's reported prisoners. Currently there are approximately two million people in American prisons or jails. Since 1984 the prison population for drug offenders has risen from ten percent to now over thirty percent of the total prison population. Federal prisons were estimated to hold 179,204 sentenced inmates in 2007; 95,446 for drug offenses. State prisons held a total of 1,296,700 inmates in 2005; 253,300 for drug offenses. Sixty percent of the drug offenders in prisons are nonviolent and were purely in prison because of drug offenses (Drug War Facts). The question then arises,

According to the text, what factorshave been major contributors to the demise of the two-parent household?

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.

The textbook pointed out that drug prevention and drug ________ might have different goals and use different approaches.

The twenty-first century has seen pharmaceutical companies grow in unprecedented size and strength. Due to the unprecedented growth the larger pharmaceutical companies have gained leverage and power in the prescription drug industry, but they lack innovation to market and they seek ways to help the business continue to increase its profits. The pharmaceutical industry was once ethically sound and was a valuable player in the development of human health. However, overtime with the lack of innovation pharmaceutical companies are becoming an unethical market that exploits patients, doctors and anyone else it can to increase its profitability. With eyes only on profitability this can create a hazard for patients because there

The high prices set by pharmaceutical companies for drugs allows the companies to continue researching, developing, and producing new drugs. As new diseases are discovered, new medications must be discovered in order to treat them.

The Pharmaceutical industry has been in the spotlight for decades due to the fact that they have a reputation for being unethical in its marketing strategies. In The Washington Post Shannon Brownlee (2008) states, “We try never to forget that medicine is for the people. It is not for the profits. The profits follow.” This honorable statement is completely lost in today’s world of pharmaceutical marketing tactics. These tactics are often deceptive and biased. Big Pharma consistently forgets their moral purpose and focuses primarily on the almighty dollar. Big Pharma is working on restoring their reputation by reforming their ethical code of conduct.

Since the 1960s, State and federal law enforcement have become more focused into putting an end to drug use. Each year, crimes related to drug use has increased, making the government spend tens of billions of dollars arresting, convicting, and jailing drug users. Because of this ongoing problem, the government can’t help but to wonder “will this ever end?” and “Should we stop fighting?” With these questions being raised about a problem so conflicted, The Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branch have different views and opinions regarding the Drug War’s Standpoint.

The pharmaceutical industry confronts several dilemmas every year. Most of these dilemmas revolve around money or whether or not to sacrifice now for a bigger payoff in the end concerning money and/or lives. Pharmaceutical companies tend to use shortcuts that create ethical problems. Drug companies have spent millions/billions of dollars in research, and they obviously want to see

Watching my older brother struggle with drug addiction has taught me more in my life than anything else. He was a smart kid with a good head on his shoulders.  As he grew older he made some unwise choices with regard to substance abuse that quickly turned into a full blown addiction lasting over five years and landed him in and out of four different rehabs.  He was striving to get clean, but every time he took one step forward he fell three steps back.  Taylor entered Drug Court, after finding himself in a lot of trouble with the law, due to drug related incidents.  Drug Court is a state run program offered to non-violent felony offenders suffering from the disease of addiction.   If you successfully complete the 3-5-year program, charges can be expunged immediately.  But if you fail to complete the program, your alternative sentence is state prison for the maximum term of your sentence. As Taylor took this opportunity, he knew he had to be fully committed to his recovery or he would be faced with a 10-year prison sentence.  Commitment was not a problem; his life started to change for the better. He started his own landscaping business, fell in love with a girl and seemed to be heading down the right road.  But as many do not understand, heroin retains such a ferocious grip on brain cells that relapses are part of the recovery process.   Though Taylor had every intention of getting clean, he struggled and he relapsed on more than one occasion.  The 10-year prison sentence

My case analysis paper is on an individual that suffered drug abuse for many years and now living each day to stay sober. My client is identified as a white, 26-year-old women living in Cleveland, Ohio. She grew up in a very small country town and had a very close and loving family. Her drug of choice was Heroin, crack-cocaine and anything she could get her hands on to get a fix.

"Junk yields a basic formula of "evil" virus: *The Algebra of Need*. The face of "evil" is always the face of total need. A dope fiend is a man in total need of dope. Beyond a certain frequency need knows absolutely no limit or control. In the words of total need: "*Wouldn't you*?" Yes you would. You would lie, cheat, inform on your friends, steal, do *anything* to satisfy total need. Because you would be in a state of total sickness, total possession, and not in a position to act in any other way. Dope fiends are sick people who cannot act other than they do. A rabid dog cannot choose but bite."

There are also some pro and cons of drug testing. Although drugs are seen in a negative manner there are some advantages. Performance enhancements are also used to help recover from injuries quickly. Drugs can also help reduce anxiety, pain, and stress. Drugs are known to have more of a negative effect on health than positive (Jost, Kenneth 24). Although, they are known to have a short-term enhancement they, “cause impotence, worsening acne, balding and “steroid rage.” (Jost, Kenneth 26). Another con of drug use is creating an unfair advantage. Performance enhancements do not create a level playing field but rather a competitive advantage. The use of drugs can also create health problems and death. Once addicted it may be hard to become sober. The use of steroids can create liver abnormalities, altered appearances, and psychiatric illnesses(Wong, Glenn 50). Finally, the use of drugs can create legal penalties and expenses.

The criminal justice system acknowledges the problem with addicts and substance use disorders (SUD). Drug use is not only a public health crisis but a crisis of human resources on law enforcement. “While police are fighting the crisis in the streets, corrections officers are fighting it inside the state, local, and federal jails and prison” (Pruitt, 2017, para.4). Drug abuse and criminality are prevalent and society today is different than back in the 1970’s, 1980’s, and 1990’s. Because the culture, beliefs, and ideology of the U.S. has evolved, perhaps traditional criminal justice practices should as well.

Introduction heroine is a highly addictive, and also illegal drug. It is made from the resin of poppy plants. The opium is used to make morphine, then further into different forms of heroine. It was from opium that morphine, a derivative, was developed as a pain killer in approximately 1810. It eliminated severe pains, many of times used for medical operations. It made who ever used it be completely numb.Heroin was first made by Alder Wright in 1874 from morphine. Heroine is made from a black sticky substance known as tar. Methamphetamine is a central nervous system stimulant drug and most of the meth abused in this country comes from other countries or domestic superlabs, although it can also be made in small areas like a garage, or illegal laboratories, where its production dangers the people within the labs, neighbors, and the environment. Opioids are a class of drugs that have heroine in it and act as pain relievers and can be obtained legally such as OxyContin, Hydrocodone, Vicodin, Codeine, morphine, and fentanyl. Opioid pain relievers are usually are usually safe when taken for a short time and not a long period of time and also when prescribed by a doctor most drugs should not be took if not prescribed by a doctor. Overuse of most types of drugs can result in death or sometimes even result in a coma which is not exactly something you would want most of your life would be wasted depending on how long you get into a coma for this is something you would really regret so