Drug Addiction And Socioeconomic Status

Attention Getter: Imagine 60,000 people in one city, all dealing with the same problem, addiction. According to an article written by Carter M. Yang for ABC news on March 14th of this year, there are 60, 000 people in Baltimore alone that are addicted to illicit drugs. These numbers are disheartening and unfortunate. I can relate to every one of these people struggling with substance abuse, because I am an addict. A program called Narcotics Anonymous has

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.

Residents who come from low income levels are more likely to agree that “Drug dealing can be a good way for people to raise themselves out of poverty” (Wallisch and Spence, 2006, p. 296). Although most residents are aware that drug trafficking is connected with corruption and violence, their economic deprivation has created community norms that tolerate the economic advantages brought by drug trafficking. Individuals who chose to be drug users are more aware of the availability of drugs and chose to live in neighborhoods of higher drug

No one identity is sought after as it pertains to substance abuse addiction. In 1972 within Miami, the demographic data of the “common addict” was outlines as a single white male between the ages of 19 and 25 (Drugs in our Schools, 1972). Not operating inside a vacuum, drug addiction can affect all racial and ethnic backgrounds to include all ages.

Arielle Duhaime-Ross (2015) concludes, “ [In today’s world] those who are most at-risk for heroin dependence are non-Hispanic whites, people between the ages of 18 and 25, Medicaid recipients, men, people who don 't have health insurance, and people who make less than $20,000 a year” (p.1). Though these are the typical stereotypes for heroin users, heroin addiction can affect any human being no matter their age, wealth, or gender. Straight-A students, millionaires, and people with no history of drug abuse ever before, are all potential candidates for drug addiction. Heroin does not care if your friends miss you being sober, or if your family loses sleep each night wondering where you are. People do not think that one time does anything detrimental, but it can and it will.

“The rate of past-year heroin use among non-Hispanic whites increased 114.3% from 1.4 per 1,000 in 2002–2004 to 3.0 per 1,000 in 2011–2013” (CDC, 2015). Furthermore, heroin abuse has more than doubled among young adults in the past decade (CDC, 2015), and the problem of heroin use and addiction is becoming rampant in areas where it was never a problem before. More and more, young white males, are becoming the face of heroin abuse. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Between 2002 and 2013, the rate of heroin-related overdose deaths nearly quadrupled, and more than 8,200 people died in 2013” (2015). All of these shocking statistics beg the question, “why?” What is it about young white males as a population that makes them so susceptible to becoming heroin addicts?

Across the country social shifts of the twenty first century has been the drug use migration. It goes from centers of urban poverty to places that are suburban, white and or middle class. Over the recent years, a third of all DEA heroin seizures took place in the state of New York. Drug abuse is rising and becoming deadlier than ever. Staten Island has become a particular nexus of affliction. In the 1970’s and 1980’s, heroin was considered to be a plague in some of New York City’s poorest neighborhoods. A New York Times report indicates that the new face of heroin addiction in the state consists mostly of middle class, working class, and upper middle class citizens. Staten Island currently leads the city in the number of heroin related deaths, totaling seventy three in 2012, many of which are individuals from the younger generation and in their twenties.

However, I argue these changes are motivated by the changing face of heroin or its increasing use among the white suburban middle class. For instance, more social resources have been allocated to today’s Heroin epidemic compared to harsh crime laws issued in the 1990’s used to combat the Drug War. One can argue that the United States has taken steps to improve the treatment of drug users, but this overlooks the fact that there is an

The issue of drug abuse is a sad reality in every community, and drug prohibition is present across the globe. Whether it is under the guise of protection of family values, or public safety, prohibition disrupts more than it maintains. Many people view drugs as a problem but they can also be viewed as a problem solver. This essay will address the socioeconomic issues with prohibition of hard drugs, and argue for their legalization.

What does drug addiction mean to you? Did you know nearly 90 percent of first time heroin users in the past decade were white, middle-class, or wealthy people? Centers for Disease Control (CDC) found significant increases in heroin use were found in groups with historically low rates of heroin use, including women and people with private insurance and higher incomes. Heroin deaths have surged mostly among caucasians in the suburbs and small towns.

We will be examining substance abuse among adolescents in Orange County (OC) and assessing the contributing factors and different interventions currently offered. Adolescent substance abuse is difficult to identify because, unlike diseases, there are generally no physical manifestations. Therefore, proper education and resources geared towards at-risk adolescents must effectively address the underlying contributors of substance abuse. National statistics generally suggest that poverty is directly related to substance abuse. However, Courtney Perkes, a writer for the Orange County Register, notes that wealth is associated with substance abuse among teens, especially those living “in south Orange County and

I recently read a book by a famous rock star, documenting his battle with substance addiction; namely alcohol, cocaine, and heroin. According to this person, he believes that his childhood has played a major part in his addiction becoming so out of control. His father left when he was young, his mother passed him off to his grandparents when she would find a new guy to run off with, and even though his grandparents were very loving and supportive, he spend much of his childhood wondering why his mother didn't love him enough to have him with her all the time. He also bounced around from school to school in his childhood years, so making friends was hard, and he was made fun of frequently for being the new kid.

The United States is not immune to the worldwide drug addiction epidemic. Drugs pour in from Mexico daily, then distributed to throughout the country. The economic crisis in America is creating an excuse for drug use (e.g., depression, hopelessness). This chemical fix not only creates problems for the addict, but the family and community as well. Every addict has an enabler, a person who makes the addiction possible through various venues of support (e.g., financial, denial). Addicts are only concerned with their next fix and will resort to any means to obtain it (e.g., theft, prostitution, pan-handling). Some have even resorted to extremely desperate measures; for example, murder for inheritance or life insurance proceeds.

Many sociological studies fail to provide an accurate picture of substance abuse in a society for a number of reasons. In treatment or survey interviews, substance abusing individuals frequently misrepresent or misreport their frequency of use. Those living in poverty are often more transient in their housing than those of middle and upper classes and may, therefore, be excluded from many types of household surveys. Often, statistical information is gathered from treatment facilities; however facilities do not all report into a national database and a large number of addicts never seek services. One final problem with the validity of studies involving substance abuse and poverty is the isolation, in many studies, of one or more drugs. Many researchers have focused on drugs, such as crack-cocaine or heroin and not marijuana or powder cocaine (Jacobson and Ensminger, 2011). While it is difficult to obtain valid data on the actual rate and incidence of substance abuse in poverty ridden communities, researchers have been able to isolate some negative effects of substance abuse and correlate them to socio-economic status.

T.J: It started when I was about 11 smokin' weed. After a while weed wasn't