As human beings, we stay up to date with the most recent news articles and watch when statistics begin to rise. It’s great to see how many more young teens are graduating high school and college, and moving on with their lives. One of the most recent skyrocketing numbers however, is the heroin epidemic that we have going on. Is it becoming easier for kids to get their hands on the harder drugs? Are we going to being to see that after the legalization of other drugs kids want to experiment more and are now moving onto harder and more dangerous drugs? How are these young adolescent teens getting the drugs, and how are they finding out where to find them in their community? With this paper, I want people to think about what they can do to try …show more content…
When I saw the numbers of how many users there were in the United States, I can honestly say that I wasn’t shocked. Just where I live, Bellefonte, PA, there has been multiple heroin arrest in the past year. “Agents arrested nine in Center County drug bust” shut down a half- million-dollar heroin and cocaine drug operation. They arrested at least nine people that were in connection with the crime. In the article, one of the senior deputy attorneys, General Patrick Leonard, said, “They are here from New York City and Philadelphia.” (Morelli). Which brings up the question, how far will this drug travel and why is it so easy to get your hands on such a hard drug?
There are many obvious signs to recognize if someone has a problem with heroin. Some of the less noticeable ones would be shortness of breath, dry mouth, and small pupils. Some more noticeable physical signs of heroin abuse would be the disorientation, cycles of hyper alertness followed by suddenly nodding off, and often appear droopy. There are also things that lay around the household that can be noticeable signs of heroin dependency. These can be things like burned silver spoons, small plastic bags with a white powdery residue in them, and/or aluminum foil or gum wrappers with burn marks on them. Soon enough loved ones will begin to notice other signs that someone has built
The heroin supply spreads globally with many ways of transportation. Illegal heroin is sent as a powder. People delivering heroin often hide their drugs in public transportation vehicles or privately owned motor vehicles. Heroin may be hidden in and on peoples' bodies. Heroin is smuggled in amounts of one to
Three decades from now, T.L.O., a student at a New Jersey High School was caught smoking in a school restroom, and was brought to the assistant principal’s office. The 14-years-old teenager denied smoking, so the assistant principal persisted in searching her purse and found cigarettes, and rolling paper which is associated with marijuana (T.L.O. vs. New Jersey). Nothing has changed since then. If you look a little closer, you can see teenagers lying around doing drugs here and there. They are no longer determined to succeed in life; instead all they can think about is where the next supply of cocaine will come from. What has our future come to? Research done by scientists and other professionals provide evidence that substance abuse by teenagers is an ever-growing problem due to teen’s poor judgement, it’s irreparable damage, and inability to compete with drug addiction.
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.
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.
“In 2002, 404,000 people used heroin in the United States. By 2016, there were 948,000 people. This is a 135% increases in the past 14 years” (Kounang). I decided to research about heroin, because I want to know what heroin is and which celebrities have done it and survived or died. I knew it was an addictive drug that many people overdose on. There was a lot of misconceptions that I had about heroin. Originally I thought heroin users become addicted instantly. I still have some questions about heroin. Why is heroin so popular? Who has done it? Even though some people think heroin is not bad, people should not take heroin because it's a highly effective drug and tons of people are dying from overdosing.
The existence of a myriad of social problems among teenagers that both parents and states have to deal with is a factor whose weight ought not to be treated lightly. The increasing level of drug use among the adolescents constitutes one of the ever increasing situations in the society and may, as a matter of fact, be a representation other underlying issues. The level of the situation in the contemporary world, though not discussed as much as it ought to be, has reached alarming levels. There seems to be an increasing predisposition among the use to take the drugs as it's reflected in the escalating trends of drug abuse among this generation of individuals (spooner, 1999). The ever deteriorating levels of this situation coupled with the widespread permissiveness in the society and the absence of attention from appropriate caregivers at different institutions only means that the need to address the problem is paramount. Different avenues of solutions can be applied in reducing the level of the problem and averting the massive negative consequences that come with the phenomena. Dealing with this issue is not a matter of instance as the different parameters of the problems, its causes and possible workable solutions have to be discovered. As such, research on these dynamics is a mandatory undertaking.
Heroin the most addictive flower that hooks users for life that brings the destruction of life. The poppy flower that grasp human mentality by the knees holding them enslave to the euphoria state that the mind has a craving wanting more. This poppy flower has addicts wanting more to have another fix of the poppy flower juice that gives another dose of heroin high. Heroin is easy to search for when looking in the direction for a euphoria journey. As Anthony Brooks (NPR) said “Heroin is the number one dope that could be sold at a cheaper price.” The people that can’t afford their medications through doctor’s orders or a single over-the-medication they look toward the cheapest price of a drug that may take away the pain for a few three hours of pain free. The hook of heroin’s’ grip never lets one go making the mind crave for more like chocolate the sweetness that gives the careless feeling of becoming less than human but a junkie and a dope fiend. The documentation of the Heroin Crisis documentary that America is the dope fiend paradise where addicts can get a fix anywhere without being notice of heroin use and heroin being transported from Mexico, South America, Asia, Laos, Vietnam and Afghanistan the number one supplier. The dope that brings current users wanting more for the craving of heroin and creating new users to make a profit through the heroin addiction that leaves victims overdosed to
Teens are consequently affected by prescription medication due to its influence amongst teens and like many other drugs it’s commonly used for profitable reasons, which could lead to prison time for several years. Non- medical use of prescription drugs amongst teens are alarmingly high, parents and their teens are often blindsided by the illegal risk that come from misusing prescription drugs along with any other drug for that matter. According to “U.S War On Drugs” Statistics have shown that OxyContin is legally classified as a narcotic, or if use of Vicodin it’s classified as an opioid as in heroin, which means these drugs could lead up to years of punishment in prison along with over $1,000 dollar fine. According to the “National Institute
The image of a listless young heroin addict collapsed in a filthy, dark alley is obsolete. Today, the young addict could be 12 years old, play video games and enjoy the music of his generation. He could appear smart, stylish and bear none of the common traces of heroin use, such as needle marks on his arm.Because it is available in various forms that are easier to consume and more affordable, heroin today is more tempting than ever. Between 1995 and 2002, the number of teenagers in America, aged 12 to 17, who used heroin at some point in their lives increased by 300%.A young person who might think twice about putting a needle in his arm may more readily smoke or sniff the same drug. But this is falsely reassuring and may give one the idea that
Most kids at the age of 12 are in Middle School learning about science and math. However, in today’s adolescent life at the age of 12, when kids are barely even an adolescent, they are starting to use heroin. Heroin is increasingly spreading an outbreak throughout Long Island and it has become a widespread addiction that has many side effects. Heroin addiction has caused many overdoses, deaths and arrests. Ten years from now, this epidemic will get worse. There are ways we as a whole can help to recover from this outbreak. Such as treatment centers, education, and spreading awareness of the issue.
According to Monitoring the Future, which is an ongoing study by the University of Michigan on teenager behaviors including drug use, statistics show that the amount of teenagers in the 10th and 12th grade using this drug increased approximately .25 percent from the year 2001 to 2002. Furthermore, when twelfth-graders were asked in 2002 about the availability of heroin, approximately 30 percent said that it was fairly or very easy to get.
It has been discovered that most people who struggle with drug addiction began experimenting with drugs in their teens. Teenage drug abuse is one of the largest problems in society today and the problem grows and larger every year. Drugs are a pervasive force in our culture today. To expect kids not to be influenced by the culture of their time is as unrealistic as believing in the tooth fairy (Bauman 140). Teens may feel pressured by their friends to try drugs, they may have easy access to drugs, they may use drugs to rebel against their family or society, or they may take an illegal drug because they are curious about it or the pleasure that it gives them.
With the world we live in today there are all types of new drugs. The more drugs that are out there the more drugs that teens are going to try. In high school is when most teens will be peer pressured by their friends to try “something new”. “The results revealed that 78 percent of U.S. teens had drank alcohol, and 47
The rise of heroin use in the United States can be mostly attributed to more young adults between the ages of 18-25 using the drug. Data from NSDUH revealed heroin initiation rates by young adults during the years 2002 through 2011 was nearly two to seven times higher than the initiation rates in people were between the ages of 12-17, as well as older adults who were between the ages of 26-49 (Muhuri, Gfroerer, & Davies, 2013). Additionally, in 2013, young adults had the highest rates of
Since 2000, the drug use rate in America has risen to the highest it’s ever been. In a survey done in 2009, 8.7 percent of people age 12 and up said that they used illegal substances within a month of taking the survey, a 9 percent increase since 2008 (Abuse, National Institute on Drug, 2010). This statistic alone is very concerning due to