Alcohol is abused by ten to twenty million Americans and heroin is abused by seven hundred and fifty thousand Americans (Rathus 2014 p108). Both substances have had a significant impact on my life and my community in Auburn, New York. There are many things that these two substances have in common, death, withdrawal, heartbreak, and crime just to name a few. Within the last year my community has faced more tragedy regarding alcohol and opiates, more specifically heroin. It is very upsetting to see a community that was once so strong, now declining. The use of alcohol and drugs only causes more problems and inflicts an unnecessary amount of pain on the loved ones of those using, and it needs to be stopped. Alcohol is legal to drink and purchase
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Even if one is twenty-one and can drink and purchase alcohol legally, there are still ways that they can abuse it. For example, if one decides to drink and drive, legally they would need a BAC (blood alcohol content) of 0.08 in most states, although it can be lower in other states. If one is pulled over and caught with drinking and driving, there are serious consequences for driving while intoxicated. When one drinks alcohol it decreases all of your senses because it is a depressant, and slows your central nervous system (Rathus 2014 p107). This means that if you are driving all of your reflexes are slowed. Reflexes are responses to stimuli, in which your body needs to act quickly. Therefore, drunk driving accidents occur all the time. Alcohol has an effect on your body where you become more confident when you feel euphoria, which is another side effect. Also, when one drinks alcohol they may be less likely to think about the consequences of their actions. This euphoric feeling …show more content…
Narcotics, like alcohol, are also depressants. Other drugs that are opiates are morphine and codeine, which are common prescribed as severe pain killers. Opiates are so strong it is easy to get addicted with one use, and even more possible to overdose the first time one uses. Heroin has the euphoric effect similarly to alcohol, which alters perception and judgement (Rathus 2014 p110). Currently heroin abuse and overdose is one of the biggest problems people are trying to stop within drug use. Because tolerance builds up as a person continues to use, they have to take more and more amounts of the drug for it to work as well as they want. Since they start taking higher doses that can also factor into the overdose problem. Heroin is used by many people because it is cheaper than other drugs, easier to get, and gives a good high (Drug abuse 2016). Because of this, dealers tend to take advantage of their clients, and substitute part of heroin with fentanyl, and it is deadly. With one use of fentanyl laced heroine, it is possible to overdose and die. The number of people who use heroin has gotten out of control, because more people are using there is more competition between dealers as to who has the best and which dealer gives you the best high. Once the dealer gets someone hooked on heroine, they’ll do whatever they can to get their hands on that drug. People will steal, and commit crimes, just to get that drug, it changes them and
Even if one is twenty-one and can drink and purchase alcohol legally, there are still ways that they can abuse it. For example, if one decides to drink and drive, legally they would need a BAC (blood alcohol content) of 0.08 in most states, although it can be lower in other states. If one is pulled over and caught with drinking and driving, there are serious consequences for driving while intoxicated. When one drinks alcohol it decreases all of your senses because it is a depressant, and slows your central nervous system (Rathus 2014 p107). This means that if you are driving all of your reflexes are slowed. Reflexes are responses to stimuli, in which your body needs to act quickly. Therefore, drunk driving accidents occur all the time. Alcohol has an effect on your body where you become more confident when you feel euphoria, which is another side effect. Also, when one drinks alcohol they may be less likely to think about the consequences of their actions. This euphoric feeling …show more content…
Narcotics, like alcohol, are also depressants. Other drugs that are opiates are morphine and codeine, which are common prescribed as severe pain killers. Opiates are so strong it is easy to get addicted with one use, and even more possible to overdose the first time one uses. Heroin has the euphoric effect similarly to alcohol, which alters perception and judgement (Rathus 2014 p110). Currently heroin abuse and overdose is one of the biggest problems people are trying to stop within drug use. Because tolerance builds up as a person continues to use, they have to take more and more amounts of the drug for it to work as well as they want. Since they start taking higher doses that can also factor into the overdose problem. Heroin is used by many people because it is cheaper than other drugs, easier to get, and gives a good high (Drug abuse 2016). Because of this, dealers tend to take advantage of their clients, and substitute part of heroin with fentanyl, and it is deadly. With one use of fentanyl laced heroine, it is possible to overdose and die. The number of people who use heroin has gotten out of control, because more people are using there is more competition between dealers as to who has the best and which dealer gives you the best high. Once the dealer gets someone hooked on heroine, they’ll do whatever they can to get their hands on that drug. People will steal, and commit crimes, just to get that drug, it changes them and