Overdose: A Case Study

As we learned in class last week, victimless crime can be one of many things. Victimless crime is defined as a crime taking place where there are no harmful injuries done from one person to another. Instead, the damage being done is committed by the individual who is committing the crime. Some examples of a victimless crime are, Drug use, prostitution, gambling, suicide, traffic citations and trespassing.

On Saturday, April 15, 2017 at approximately 11:29PM I, Deputy George along with Sergeant Kincaid checked en route to 2270 Farm to Market Road 2225, Quitman, Texas 75783 to assist Deputy Oviedo in reference to a disturbance in progress.

On May 23rd, 2017 at approximately 8:02am I Officer J. Quiles #1869 assisted in serving a, narcotics search warrant at 807 Cedar Cove.

) Discuss the public health impact of opioid misuse and abuse, including costs related to healthcare and criminal justice costs. Opioid drugs are valuable medications in treating acute and chronic pain that cannot be managed with nonopioid therapy, but inappropriate prescribing can cause serious harm. Taking higher doses or a combination of short-acting and long-acting opioids are likely to be abused and can also cause serious dose-related adverse effects that can include death. Opioid abuse affects the community and families in some way. It can lead missed work and sometimes it can be a problem keeping a job. Therefore, it is important that we obtain medication history to give us a picture of the patient pain medication history. While opioid

America is struggling with a new epidemic that is taking several lives every day. “Prescription drug overdoses claim at least 40 lives daily” ("Prescription Drug Overdose," n.d.Para 1). The opioid crisis occurring across the nation is devastating. A major problem is that once patients become dependent on these prescription medications, they are reportedly seeking more affordable alternatives such as heroin or fentanyl. In addition, patients may be switching to heroin when their doctor suddenly discontinues the medication they have become dependent on. Chronic pain is a controversial issue because opioid management can be beneficial but also detrimental as seen in recent years. “Between 2002–2016, deaths soared by 533% nationwide, from under

Substance abuse remains a large problem in the United States (US). According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS), substance abuse continues to take a large toll on individuals, families, and communities nationwide. In 2005, an estimated 22 million people were struggling with drug and alcohol abuse in the US. Substance abuse disrupts families, impacts work and school productivity, causes financial problems, and is related to domestic violence, child abuse, and crime (USDHHS, 2015).

In 2015, there were 428,000 children in foster care (Kids count, 2018). The average age of a child, entering the foster care system is 7.4 years. In 2014, more than half the children entering the foster care system in the United States where children of color. On average, children entering the foster care system remain in the system for two years, but seven percent stay in the system for five or more years. Fourteen percent of the children entering the system live in a foster home or group homes. In 2014, more than 107,000 children in foster care were waiting to be adopted (Children’s Bureau, 2014).

Many addictions to these opiates are caused by inaccurate treatment of pain by the patient’s doctors. According to Andrea M. Garcia, “Treatment of pain is inadequate due to uncertain diagnoses, societal stigma, the lack of effective treatments, and inadequate patient and clinician knowledge about the best ways to manage pain. Prescription painkiller overdose has reached epidemic proportions over the past decade.” When patients visit a doctor’s office due to pain, they often do not elaborate on the pain they feel or give accurate diagnosis of the pain they are experiencing. Patients will often over exaggerate their pain level in order to be prescribed higher doses of narcotics. Shoulder or knee pain is a very common complaint. Patients who

As stated by the Drug Enforcement Agency, "Drug overdoses are the leading cause of injury deaths in the United States, ahead of motor vehicles and firearms." America is suffering from a drug epidemic that has dramatically increased the annual death rate attributed to heroin usage, nearly tripling in just three years, from 9,000 in 2011 to 29,000 in 2014. Major factors that have lead to this spike include: its highly addictive nature, low street price, and newfound availability across the nation with ease of access in suburban and metropolitan areas alike. Heroin is a semi-synthetic opioid derived from morphine. It was first introduced to the German public in 1898 by Bayer pharmaceutical company as a treatment for morphine addiction and tuberculosis.

In summary, on 03/05/16 at 1639 hours, Ofc. Amilcar #230 and I were dispatched to 1530 S 49th Ave. 1FL in regards to a Disturbance.

When my brother Brandon was thirteen he told his siblings he wanted to start a life of crime. My brother is a drug addict. His life has been ruined by his addiction. He has been arrested more times than I can count for selling drugs and for domestic violence. Brandon has stolen and lied and hurt all his family members at least a dozen times each because getting high is the only thing he can focus on. His only friends are drug addicts and he steals from them too. His mind can only focus on drugs and how he is going to find his next high. I have tried to help him, but every time I try something awful happens and I am left wishing I had never tried. I have not talked to my brother in many years. He wants to be a part of our family again, but

The CDC has released new figures on how many drug overdose deaths were reported in 2014. There were 47,055 deaths related to painkillers, cocaine and heroin last year. 28,647 alone were associated with opioids. These are commonly found in prescription painkillers.

I live in Taunton, Massachusetts and for this assignment I chose the health problem heroin overdoses. On Facebook there is a group with the name “Taunton DP Scanner Talk”, which I am a member of. People from the Taunton area and Taunton residents that are listening to the scanner and are being updated, by this what is happening in the town of Taunton. Unfortunately, a lot of times you will hear on the police scanner that another overdose has occurred and that the police is on the wat to the scene. Some of the risk factors of heroin overdoses are that people who use heroin and “shoot up” unintentionally poising themselves, which is the leading cause of fatal deaths. Their intentions are to get high and not to kill themselves. Opioid patience that misuse the substance may also at risk of an overdose. Not enough doctors warn their patients about the risk of an overdose when prescribing opioids. Also people who misuse the substance also have a greater risk of getting HIV, since many users share their needles. Drinking a lot of alcohol is also a risk factor, which

HAIR a sample of hair is remove direct from the head are from a hair brush. A single hair can tell the DNA of someone. Hair analysis can also pick up certain health issues.Hair is predominantly used to test for drugs such as amphetamines, cocaine, marijuana (THC) and heroin, and more recently tests have been created to determine if the deceased was drinking heavily in the last few months before death.

Heroin use and overdose related deaths have increased considerably in the United States in recent years (Jones, Logan, Gladden, & Bohm, 2015). The results of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health [NSDUH] (2014), showed in the year 2013, approximately 517,000 Americans abused heroin, which was almost a 150 percent increase since 2007 (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA], 2014). According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse [NIDA] (2014), in the year 2011, 4.2 million people who were twelve years of age or older said they used heroin at least once in their lifetime. Furthermore, data from NSDUH showed approximately 460 people, twelve years of age or older, used heroin each day in 2013 (Lipari and Hughes, 2015). An even more frightening statistic is death rates doubled for people who were twelve years of age or older as a result of heroin overdose in the years 2010 through 2012 (Hedegaard, Chen, and Warner, 2015).