Heroin Addiction : The United States

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

The heroin epidemic in America has been an issue for decades. According to narconon.org, the heroin epidemic truly began in the Wild West during the 1800’s. Many scholars believe that Chinese immigrants brought the drug to America. Morphine is a derivative of heroin, and during the civil war, many soldiers, both northern and confederate, was injured and became addicted to the drug after being treated with it. It was from opium that morphine, a derivative, was developed as a pain killer in approximately 1810. It was considered a wonder drug because it eliminated severe pain associated with medical operations or traumatic injuries. It left the user in a completely numb euphoric dream-state. Dr. F.W.A. Serturner named the drug morphine, after

PBS’s documentary entitled, Chasing Heroin, highlights the detrimental effects that drug addiction has on individuals in America. Throughout the film, the stories of specific Americans who have experience battling drug addiction presented. Moreover, the film introduces some solutions that have been proposed to combat the drug epidemic that has spread all over the nation. While some methods have seen some success stories, relapse rates are still at fifty percent. As drug addictions have taken over and even ended the lives of people from all classes, backgrounds, and age groups, the country needs to take serious measures in order to combat the issues associated with drug usage.

Heroin is making a comeback in the United States and is highly prevalent in certain areas. The heroin epidemic is sweeping across the Midwest, and claiming the lives of young white males. It is very different from the 1960’s use of heroin, and is now typically used because of its low cost and previous opioid addictions to other prescription drugs. Young white males in many different communities are becoming hooked because of the careless use of pain pills prescribed or taking them from parents’ medicine cabinets. The communities include rural towns, big cities, and suburbs all across the country.

Heroin was introduced by a German chemical company around 1874 and ¨ was imported into the United States shortly after it was invented. The sales pitch that created an instant market to American doctors and their morphine addicted patients was that Heroin was a “safe, non-addictive” substitute for morphine.¨ (International,2016) Our bodies

Heroin was first produced in 1898 in Germany, by Bayer Pharmaceutical Company as a substitute for morphine.6 It was marketed as a non-addictive miracle drug, to use as a cough syrup and pain reliever, but 12 years later it was discovered that heroin was about two times as potent as morphine.5-6 Today, we know heroin as a highly addictive narcotic which has played its part in the worst opioid crisis in the history of British Colombia.2 Heroin is an opioid made from the resin of poppy plants which contain morphine.1 The drug itself can be a white or brown powder or a black goo.1 It is commonly mixed with water and injected with a needle right into the body, but can also be smoked or snorted up the nose.1,3 These methods send it very quickly to

In my opinion, there is a heroin epidemic within my community and many other communities nationwide. In Will County in December of 2015 one of my childhood friends passed away from a heroin overdose. Heroin use is an issue that is prevalent within our community and has affected an immeasurable amount of people. Heroin addiction is extremely detrimental to young adults and must be combated with a multi-faceted approach. The prevalence of pill mills, teen’s access to prescription pills, a lack of drug education, and the defunding for alternative pain management strategies have driven the increased demand for heroin. The defunding of physical rehabilitation centers and the increased focus on prescription medication as the answer to all aliments

Heroin users and overdose deaths are on the rise. Especially among young middle-class white citizens (Seelye, 2015). Why is the amount of heroin users rising and how is the government handling this epidemic? There is a strong correlation between the increase of prescription painkillers and the amount of heroin users. “People who are dependent on prescription opioids are 40 times more likely to abuse or be dependent on heroin” (Seelye, 2015). One of the main reason there has been a recent increase of heroin users in the last decade is because there has also been an increase of prescription opioids such as OxyContin. And the government has never tested a way to stop the increase of drug users other than harsh

Heroin drug use is being addressed within the broader topic of substance abuse in the United States under Healthy People 2020, a 10-year plan to improve the nation’s overall health. Understanding how heroin drug use is addressed in Healthy People 2020 is especially important to public health and community health professionals. According to healthypeople.gov, 22 million Americans struggles with some form of substance abuse, including heroin. Healthy People 2020 outlines objectives for reducing overall substance abuse in the nation in upcoming years through policy, prevention,

Heroin use and addiction has historically been a problem in large cities within disadvantaged neighborhoods (Levengood, Lowinger, & Schooff, 1973). However, in recent years, many suburban, higher income communities have been affected by heroin and its victims are becoming much younger than the typical heroin addict. According to a qualitative study done on young heroin users in Baltimore, Maryland, the new generation of heroin users have a different demographic profile than older heroin users in that area. There are many factors that may have contributed to the heroin epidemic such as prescription opioid use that was replaced with a cheaper and more readily available drug, heroin. In this literature review, four scholarly, peer reviewed

The portrait of a heroin addict. Images emerge of a homeless junkie huddled in the corner of a subway seat at 3:00am feening for his next hit. Or the drug addict laid out on a New York City bench, just skin and bones, with syringes littering the ground below. What probably does not come to mind is a picture of the perky cheerleader rooting her team on to victory at a Friday night football game, nor does a vision of the mother of three living in the suburbs with her husband working for a Fortune 500 company in her Executive position. However, these are some of the real people who are falling victim to the temptation of heroin on a daily basis. Heroin deaths are surging amongst suburban whites and the impact of the drug has taken a devastating turn. The heroin epidemic in the United States is entering a new stage in the war on drugs.

Heroin and its subsequent misuse has been a contentious issue plaguing society for decades. With the advent of the internet, it is becoming more difficult to curtail many of the illegal activities individuals engage in regards to drug use. Heroin in particular is very pervasive in the United States as it is a drug that is highly addictive. In America, drugs are becoming a very serious issue as immigrants enter into the country illegally carrying the drug with them. Heroin, although mainly created in Afghanistan and China, is often brought to the United States illegally from Latin countries. By entering into the country these individuals provide drugs and other narcotics to disseminate among the masses. Even more troublesome, it seems that little is being done to help prevent the influence of drugs within American society (Eric, 2008). According to the 2008 National Survey on Drug Use, the number of current heroin users increased from 153,000 in 2007 to 213,000 in 2008. One issue that is especially interesting is substance abuse among many young individuals and how that affects HIV rates within the American population. Many individuals are not concerned with drug use among the young population. It is my contention however, that drug use among the young has a profound impact on the society in which we live in.

Theodore J. Cicero, a professor of psychiatry at Washington University analyzed a study from a sample of 2,800 men and women who had sought out treatment for heroin addiction. He found, “White individuals made up approximately 90% of the study participants who began using heroin in the last decade… Men represented slightly more than 80% of heroin users who began opioid abuse in 1960s, according to the study. But by 2010, nearly equal numbers of male and female heroin users were seeking treatment…(Nierenberg, 2014). The changing demographics of heroin usage noted prove that preventing heroin abuse is a public health issue that does not discriminate against age, race, gender, or socioeconomic class. Heroin use is becoming increasingly more popular in suburbs because the teenagers there have the money to pay for it, which dealers have begun to take advantage of. This is important for health care providers and members of the community in general to recognize because the drug users and abusers no longer fit into the stereotypical poor, troubled individuals. Addiction does not

According to the federal government’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 4 out of 5 current heroin users report that their opioid use began with OPRs. America is re-living an epidemic of heroin usage that killed thousands during the 1960s and 1970s where heroin consuption was often associated with violent, lower class, African-American and Hispanic populations. However, today’s average heroin users are young, middle-class, white citizens who would not typically be associated with such substances. In 2013, 15.2 percent of individuals aged 12 or older reported it would be fairly easy or very easy for them to obtain heroin if they wanted some (NSDUH).

In today’s busy lifestyle world, there has been a number of rising cases of drug abuse. Illicit use of Opiates, especially heroin has dominated most parts of the world According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), in 2012 about 669,000 Americans reported using heroin in the past year of 2012. (1.)