Catching Dragons : Chasing The Dragon

Heroin and opioids have grown in appearance in communities. Since, 2008 in Allegheny County alone there was more than two thousand overdose deaths, with one hundred-seventy-seven deaths in this year alone (Pennsylvania). Furthermore, in 2015 there was only one -hundred-twenty-six;

Heroin gives the user an incredible rush of happiness and well being that cannot be experienced in normal life. But, usually after two hours the high is over. Sometimes, one time using heroin is all it takes to create an addict who cannot bear to live without ever feeling the rush again. With other people, it may take 3 or 4 times using to become an addict depending on the amount taken. Chasing the dragon is looking for that high. And, when not high, the user feels physically and psychologically so horrible that he must have it whether by injecting, inhaled or smoked to alleviate his discomfort. A logical question is “Why would one even begin to take heroin? They have to be crazy!”

Want to hear something kinda scary? The chances of your kids dying from overdose have increased by 500 percent according to teenhealth.com. Teen drug abuse has become a very serious problem the last couple of years. New and More powerful drugs have hit the streets, which means Teens and young adults are in more danger of overdosing. They could very possibly be blind to their own addiction. It is up to the community and their peers to notice the effects the drug has done to the person of abuse and help that person. Drugdirectory.com has listed many different signs of drug abuse one could see. Our goal as a community should be to help the statistics of overdoses go down. Drug and alcohol counselors are doing just that. They've helped

Defeating Dragons and Minutes That Matter have many similarity and differences! Defeating Dragons is about a group of teens who help the local people of Aniak, Alaska they work 24 hours 7 days a week.Minutes That Matter is about a group of teens who send phones to soldiers who were overseas so they could talk to there family.These two groups both help people,whether it's helping them communicate with their family or helping them if they're hurt.They also are different in some ways Defeating Dragons help if there's an emergency, and Minutes That Matter help the soldiers keep in touch with their friends and family.

A huge epidemic that is obtaining a lot of attention from Congress and medical professionals across the county is the spiking heroin overdoses that are rising at alarming rates. (Krisberg, 2014). My question to everyone that is researching this topic is this:

You would think that people would stop using when they hear the statistics, or when they see their friend die because of it, but the truth is they can’t stop because they are already addicted. Alison, a young girl using states, “From the day I started using, I never stopped. “Within one week I had gone from snorting heroin to shooting it. Within one month I was addicted and going through all my money.” (International) The expanding epidemic of unawareness is taking its toll on the adolescents of St. Louis City, St. Louis County, and the rest of the world. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs makes it somewhat easier to understand why people use heroin. The top three levels of the pyramid, 1.social 2.esteem 3.self-actualization, show what people are trying to get out of using. Most people will begin using due to peer pressure and trying to fit in. What kids do not realize is that the first time using could lead to addiction. So they will continue using because it makes them feel better about themselves, it becomes a part of who they are. Pretty soon they look around and realize heroin is the only thing they have left, because everyone else has left. These problems teens are facing here in Missouri are the same ones they are facing all over the world. A recent statistic from the International Statistics of Heroin Addiction & Abuse reports that over 9 million people in the world are using heroin. (International) You read stories every day of

This literature review will focus mainly on the drug use of heroin, the scary numbers behind the drug and the sudden rise of overdosing on the drug across the United States. Issues that will be discussed are what is Heroin, what’s in Heroin that makes it addicting, how it can increase the users risk of contracting other life threatening diseases and where it’s use and abuse are most popular across the United states and we will take a look at multiple studies that show examples of our new drug problem in the United States. While we looked at how homicide rates have dropped while in class, the flip side to that is that the amount of drug usage has risen.

Chasing heroin is a documentary giving us insight information on the rapidly growing pandemic of addictions to drugs, notably heroin. The heroin epidemic is rising at an alarming

Heroin addiction is one of the leading killers of adolescents and adults in the United States. In recent years, addiction has skyrocketed, and “the rate of heroin-related overdose deaths increased by 286 percent between 2002 and 2013.” In 2002, “100 people per 100,000 were addicted to heroin, and that number has doubled by 2013” (The National Institute on Drug Abuse 2013). The most affected populations include low income males, adolescents, and those who have a family history of addiction, due to their increased susceptibility and crime-ridden environment. While it may seem as though heroin addiction is “just another drug problem” in the U.S., it is actually a problem of major public health importance because there are numerous physical, economic, and social risks associated with heroin dependence. Heroin dependence in the United States accounts for brain damage, increased homelessness, crime, and incarceration rates, as well as economic decline.

A Youth Behavior Survey that was completed in 2015 from high schools all around the nation reported that New Mexico was ranked second in the use of cocaine, ecstasy, fifth for methamphetamine and highest for heroin. In the article they included that there is a lack of treatment options for young teens and the availability of these drugs is usually in their own homes. From these statistics, it shows that the society of New Mexico is beginning the use of drugs at a young age. With beginning to take drugs as a teen, it can become a gateway to worse drugs in the future, and just goes to show why there are so many deaths from drug overdose. In the article it states “advocates for addicts point to an abundance of illegal drugs in New Mexico, and a shortage of addiction treatment options.” (Uyttebrouck) For teens to get on a better track, rehab programs and the health department should be educating these teens on the many problems that can come from bad habits of taking drugs so they can have a better society.

You might find it difficult to read the data related to teenage drug abuse and addiction. Based on recent stats, the picture is not pretty and the information indicates that Americans are not doing enough to combat the problem of teenage drug

“...from that moment on I didn't take heroin because I wanted to, I took it because I needed to.” Heroin is a highly addictive, illegal drug that comes from the opium plant. In just the year 2014, 12,000 people in the United States died from heroin overdoses. The York County community has made a big effort to help fight the heroin epidemic, but despite these efforts the county is clearly still struggling with over 60 overdose deaths last year. Some of the efforts York County is making include the use of NARCAN, drug drop boxes, the Good Samaritan law and treatment courts.

Heroin is a drug most children grow up learning about as being one of the worst things you can do. Being young, a child could never imagine doing something to them that is harmful. Yet here we are, at home, right in Northeast Ohio with the biggest heroin epidemic in history. Heroin is essentially a pain blocker. It turns into morphine when it enters the brain. Is this why it is so popular, or is it because this drug is becoming cheaper and cheaper? The answer is both. Heroin offers users a cheap, quick fix to temporarily numb themselves. With its growing popularity, this drug needs to be stopped. The Heroin and Opioid Epidemic Northeast Ohio Community Action Plan is currently a working draft that will

In the US, according to CQ Researcher, the number of those that used heroin had more than doubled between the years of 2002 and 2004 and doubled again between 2011 and 2013. It is a growing issue especially due to

A heroin overdose is generally a familiar, yet taboo, subject in today’s culture. It is familiar because one can witness the drug’s devastating effects like crime, imprisonment, and death within their community. It is taboo because it is culturally unacceptable and embarrassing to use an illegal product. Heroin overdoses have become a huge epidemic in Northwest Ohio, due in large part, to a misinformed culture, an influx of pain management programs, mixed drug toxicity, and a user’s desire to abuse laced heroin. With doctors, scientists, and researchers desperately searching for an answer to why heroin addiction is so prevalent, our community can find relief by being properly informed on