Just like alcohol, marijuana also plays a big part in violent crime. Studies show “Continued use of cannabis causes violent behaviour as a direct result of changes in brain function that are caused by smoking weed over many years.” (BBC, 2016) Overall the drug should remain illegal unless medically, as opposed to recreationally. This is beneficial as legalising it recreationally will mean a lot of users may want to try the drug and thus end up becoming addicted; this could cause a lot of harm through mental illnesses, which may cause more of a strain on the NHS. Medicinal marijuana could be legalised under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 but under very strict conditions where the users suffers heavily from an illness and other treatment are not effective in terms of helping. Marijuana is a gateway drug into harder drugs so drug consumption rooms can be useful in breaking the habit of smoking marijuana before the user moves onto other, more harmful drugs, if not already addicted.
This patch will focus on the desirability of drug consumption rooms within UK. Drug Consumption rooms are described as “Supervised drug consumption facilities, where illicit drugs can be used under the supervision of trained staff” European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, 2017
These are accommodations in which drugs can be consumed safely under supervision. Supervision may be required so that people who rely on dangerous substances such as heroin or cocaine, can consume without overdosing. (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug addiction, 2017) Other drugs, such as heroin, the drugs room can help them by reducing the risk of shared needles, which can carry diseases. Research has been conducted into needle sharing which Milloy and Wood state that “This reduces behaviours that increase the risk of HIV transmission and overdose death (e.g. Stoltz et al., 2007; Milloy and Wood, 2009)”
Drugs are always used and drug facility rooms are vital for keeping individuals safe. A report shows that “the next most commonly used drug after cannabis among adults aged 16 to 59 was powder cocaine, equating to around 725,000 people” (DrugWise, 2017) with such a commonly used drug, it is vital that facilities like drug
High School students do not mix well with drugs and never will. There has been a huge drug epidemic causing public school officials, and the Supreme Court to take serious measures since, it has been brought in the school. Our school should be a clean,safe environment for students,teachers,and staff to do what’s needed for our young leaders to be successful.Since the start of that there has been an even bigger problem that the student’s are hostile about.This problem is checking the student’s personal property helping to ensure the student’s safety while in school. However, I agree with public officials in checking for the safety of themselves and others .
Results of safe injection site studies have shown that an expansion may have a greater impact. This may reduce the chance of dangerous encounters between users of these safe injection sites and the public. Children not even out of elementary school, were getting involved in the drug scene. These runaways were a concern to the residents, who witnessed overdoses in the past decade. Over 2,000 lives were lost due to the Downtowns East side’s “drug-fuelled spiral” (MacQueen et al., 2003). Persisting the safe injection site can help in lowering risk behaviors by the drug users of SIS’s and community concerns that are related to public injection of drugs (McKnight et al,. 2007). Overall, SIS’s may have the ability to change the drug users and transform them into potential productive members of society.
Imagine for a moment being able to walk down the street without seeing used needles or other drug equipment. Although it will not completely eradicate the problem, safe injection sites will allow users to have a safe and clean environment that they do not have access to now; not just to inject their drugs, but also to dispose of their used syringes. When given a 3-year trial at the first facility in Canada, it was found that fatal overdoses within 500 metres of the facility were reduced by 35 percent, and a 9 percent decrease in the rest of the city (Stueck, 2011). Thus proving the effectiveness of injection facilities not only in Vancouver, but nationwide. Giving access to support can significantly increase the quality of life for intravenous drug users. By providing sterile equipment the
Heroin, methamphetamine, and opioids have been around for centuries and the use of these drugs is not a new phenomenon. The use of injection drugs causes individual’s serious harm and have placed large expenses on the health care system. “Heroin, cocaine and other drugs kill around 0.2 million people each year, shattering families and bringing misery to thousands of other people” (United Nations iii); Because of-these incidents harm reduction strategies have been put in place to create a safer and more educated population, but it has only been a start. ‘Safe injection sites’ has become a well talked about term in the last decade. The term itself refers to a physical place
The use of controlled substances continues to be a problem within the healthcare industries. As healthcare provider, we are more concerned with pleasing the patients by giving into their demands and improving the organization’s Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHAPS) scores that we get lost in why we chose to go into the healthcare profession, to save people lives and do no
Throughout Canada, many individuals unsafely use illicit substances that may result in disease or even death. The government has established safe injection sites in order to prevent addicts from spreading HIV or AIDS and even overdosing. The first safe injection site to be established was built in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, Canada. At first, the site was operated under a waiver from the federal government that allowed the clinic to provide its services to drug abusers as part of a research project (Drucker, 2006). Now, based on the research collected, it is apparent that there are both positive and negatives that have risen from the formation of safe injection sites. Canadian society also has both concerns and gratitude from the
Doctor prescribed RX drugs to proven addicts in Liver Pool, England takes a controversial approach to the war against drugs. During the 1980’s the drug use in England had tripled and the western approach to prevention was not working; they needed to find a different means to an end. The research they had done showed half of all drug addicts choose to become sober within a ten-year span but the lifestyle associated with addiction had lifelong ramifications. The new method requires urine sample provided evidence to confirm the use of illicit drugs for each individual, as well as remaining free of criminal behavior, in order to continuously receive prescriptions for their drug of choice. They hold seminars for intravenous drug users to learn proper techniques to minimize potential harm caused during injection and safe needle disposal. By providing safe doses of fore mentioned drugs without the extremely harmful filler used on the streets, affordable prices due to the prescriptions, the steps taken to teach safer use, and the clause preventing criminal activity a significant amount of addicts are able to live productive lives.
In the United States of America, there is prescription drug abuse epidemic that continues to be a growing concern. Prescription drugs cause a large amount of overdoses and result in an abundant amount of deaths each year. A government study conducted shows this epidemic is scarily on the rise, “A recent government study found a 400% increase in prescription drug abuse between 1998 and 2008” (Schreiner 531). The excessive use of prescription drug abuse is leading to nonmedical use of the drugs, and creating addiction. Furthermore society is paying an extreme amount of money in this battle. With this drug abuse on the rise, legislators must create a law preventing doctors and pharmacists from over prescribing prescription medications as well a law to require they both participate in drug monitoring programs to prevent drug abuse. Now is the time that doctors and the pharmaceutical industry must be held accountable for their role in causing one of America’s worst addictions. The over medication of prescription drugs in the United States must be brought to an end by legislators creating laws to stop
Regardless of its legality, heroin remains an ever popular drug and continues to be an issue many cities face. Heroin deaths continue to rise each year; Seattle reported 156 deaths in 2014, 99 deaths in 2013, and 49 in 2009 (Beekman). Heroin isn’t a problem that is going away, rather it is a problem that grows annually. Deaths from an overdose, the spread of disease, and the improper disposal of dirty needles all rise with the popularity of heroin. To combat this, heroin safe-sites have been established across the world. Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada, Spain, and more countries have all implemented safe-sites for the consumption of hard drugs under certain legal pretext which is typically an age requirement (Haemmig and Beek. 160-169). The first site proposed in the United States is here in Seattle, but unsurprisingly it is highly controversial. Despite any negative sentiment towards heroin and the consumption thereof, these sites should be implemented. This is not to say that the abuse of heroin should be endorsed and widely accepted however. The aim of these sites is to open a channel of dialogue between drug abusers and medical professionals to offer treatment, to prevent deaths and disease, and to keep needles off the street and out of public. It is for these reasons that heroin safe-sites need to be more widely established and that the proposed frontrunner site in Seattle needs to happen.
You may ask yourself who is or what is an addict? Most of us do not have to think twice about this question. We know, our whole life and thinking was centered in drugs in one form or another. The getting and using and finding ways and means to get more. We lived to use and use to live. Very simply, an addict is a man or woman whose life is controlled by drugs (Narcotics Anonymous World Services Inc., 1986). This paper will discuss my experience from observing a Narcotic Anonymous (NA) meeting. I will outline the following: a) group description, b) facilitator, c) group observation, d) intervention, cultural sensitivity, and e) my professional development.
Marijuana is one of the most common drugs sold and used in America and all over the world. This substance have received a lot of attention over the years but have come to the forefront more in the recent years. Mostly because it have become a debate of whether it should or should not be legalized. Some people use marijuana for recreation while others use it for medical purposes. There are many advocates for the legalization of marijuana. On the other hand, there are advocates opposing the legalization of the same named substance. I suppose the view of whether it should or should not be legalized would depend greatly on who you speak to. I for one feel as if the use of marijuana should be legalized because it
A number of public health and safety concerns arise from injection drug use, including: HIV transmission (Mathers et al., 2008), hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission (Alter, 1997; Lake and Kennedy, 2016), overdose (Lake and Kennedy, 2016; Sherman et al., 2007), abscesses and infections (Binswanger et al., 2000; Salmon et al., 2009), and improperly discarded syringes (Buchanan et al., 2003). Supervised injection facilities (SIFs) —also called drug consumption rooms (DCRs), safe injection sites (SISs), and medically supervised injection centers (MSICs)—have attempted to address these concerns by providing legally sanctioned, safer environments for people to inject pre-obtained drugs under medical supervision (Broadhead et al., 2002). To date, more than 90 SIFs have been opened in 8 countries (Australia, Canada, Germany, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and Switzerland) (Hedrich et al., 2010). Although there are different SIF models, these facilities typically aim to provide clean injection equipment, education for safer injecting, medical response in the event of an overdose, and treatment referrals (Broadhead et al., 2002). Many facilities offer a comprehensive array of health and social services, including counseling, medical care, and legal assistance (Kimber et al., 2005; Small et al., 2009).
Nowadays, the amount of drug users is growing day by day. Unfortunately, these people are not aware of their vulnerability. Whether we talk about prescription, OTC or illegal drugs, the excessive use of these substances lead to considerably dangerous consequences; having health problems is the most well-known of them. However, drug abuse causes other serious effects on people such as money and job-related problems, likelihood to engage in criminal acts, and even potential death.
Drug addiction is a devastating socio-medical problem. In 2014, about 250 million people aged 15-64 were estimated to have used an illicit substance, and a total of 12 million people used injected drugs worldwide, of whom 14% have HIV and 50% have hepatitis C, with overall poor health outcomes, including death (UNODC, 2016).
An average of seventy-eight Americans are dying every day due to some form of drug overdose… As far as the war on drugs, the United States is most definitely losing (“War On Drugs…”A.7). This might not even be shocking anymore because people of the world know how big of a problem drugs are, and have been for years. Drugs are tearing families apart, ruining careers for people, and even ending lives. Currently, the main drug causing much of these problems is heroin. In the Unites States alone, the heroin-related death rate has tripled just since 2010 (“War On Drugs…” A.7). In the world today, drugs are common, and very easy to get ahold of. On just about every corner in every city, you can purchase drugs. If people know how big of a problem drugs are, why is nobody doing anything to stop it? The answer is that they are, but many people just don’t realize it. Cities across the world are beginning to experiment with things that could change drug addicts lives: safe and supervised injection sites (Zielinski). People believe an injection site is the best answer to helping users get clean, and preventing some kind of disease epidemic. Supervised injection sites are legal offices where users can use illegal drugs, with supervision of doctors and nurses, and not have to worry about being arrested (Strike). Injecting in these sites is completely legal, and this is a main reason why they are so popular. As a user, you do not have to worry about getting in