Beyond the history, the article supports the idea that treatment retention rates grew, increased productive rates among individuals being treated, and lower crime rates. The information provided within the article appears to be support with statistics and facts. A majority of the information on the history of the heroin epidemic and methadone were confirmed in additional sources, such as, Medication-Assisted Treatment with Methadone: Assessing the Evidence by Catherine Anne Fullerton, M.D., M.P.H. Joseph’s article stated some opinions, such as, individuals with heroin dependency under legal supervision should have access to MMT. This is clearly an opinion, yet the opinion was followed up with facts regarding the FDA approval of the medication for substance abuse treatment. There are many objective facts within the article that will be used within the research paper to provide factual information that supports the idea the methadone is indeed an effective treatment for individuals that are heroin…
In fact, between 1915 and 1938, over 25,000 doctors were reported to the authorities for violating the Harrison Act. It is not surprising that the medical community began to shun the use of the opiates not only for treating the addicted but also for treating the organically ill. This attitude by medical practitioners was particularly apparent in their attitude toward heroin. Although heroin was the most powerful of the opiates, it had been popularized in the early 1900s as a drug of choice among the criminal classes. By World War I, heroin had become a full-blown national…
The very mention of drugs summons demonic images: needles, babies addicted at birth, violence. No issue generates such a visceral reaction in people like the topic of drugs. In Mike Gray’s book “Drug Crazy: How We Got Into This Mess and How We Can Get Out,” his analysis of the drug war in America explores the mass hysteria surrounding addiction that was nourished with misinformation. Based on the history Gray has compiled, coupled with modern studies, the drug war appears to be a lost cause, now and into the foreseeable future. In 1909, Dr. Hamilton Wright was appointed as the third U.S delegate to the International Opium Commission at Shanghai and became “personally responsible for shaping the international narcotics laws as we know them today.”…
The opioid heroin has become an epidemic in the state of Ohio with the amount of overdoses on a rise. One of the most notable overdoses in recent months is one that happened in September in East Liverpool. A man was pulled over after driving erratically and then he incoherently told police his driving was due to the fact that he was taking the passenger, who was passed out, to a hospital. Shortly after this statement, the driver then passed out. Police noticed that the passenger’s face was turning blue which is when they had EMTs administer Narcan.…
Quinolones describes America’s opiate epidemic as capitalism. The capitalistic market on illicit opiates have no regulation and thus behaves nefariously and disseminates rampantly throughout underground networks in cities across America. This type of capitalism still follows…
The article Ottawa must act quickly on opioid crisis by Tara Gomes, illustrates the catastrophe caused by the substantial amounts of opioids that are being distributed within Canada. There are various issues surrounding the opioid battle, ranging from abuse of opioids, to policies which have been implemented with the intention to resolve this crisis. Society has yet to acknowledge the outcomes from the drug opioids, as a crisis. Preventable measures could have been taken before the problem of opioids became a national disaster. Health wise, those who are the most impacted would be palliative care patients due to their need of opioids to manage pain.…
This article was published as a press relies by the Centers for Disease Control. The name of this article is named Opioids drive continued increase in drug overdose deaths. It discusses how drug overdose deaths have increased over the past eleven years. This article discusses the abuse of and addiction to opioids such as, morphine, and other prescription pain relievers. This journal also provides a large amount statistical research.…
Opioids are a class of drugs that include the illegal drug heroin, a synthetic drug called fentanyl, and pain relievers available legally by prescription, such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, morphine, and many others. Opioids work by binding to the body’s opiate receptors; highly concentrated in areas of the brain that control pain and emotions. When opiate drugs bind to these receptors, they can drive up dopamine levels in the brain’s reward areas, producing a state of euphoria and relaxation, some people get the urge to use the drug again and again. Kentucky in the past four years has had over 800 overdoses from heroin alone. Boone County has had almost 300 in the past four years.…
There is a heroin epidemic sweeping across the country; how can one believe this will impact on the United States! The heroin epidemic is affecting people's everyday lives. It will continue to affect them throughout the future. In the articles “Safe heroin injection sites get OK from King County health board”, by Seattle Times; also in the article, “Issue Overview: Heroin Addiction” by Lauren Etter, Bloomberg; finally in the article, “Soaring overdose deaths cut U.S. life expectancy for 2nd year” by Mike Stobbe, Associated Press. Heroin is a dangerous substance to use and it will affect the future; with heroin injection sites, overdose (OD), and life expediency.…
The immediate concern for T.J are the ABC’s (airway,breathing, circulation) and preserving vital organ functioning (Silvestri, 2017). The priority nursing actions are to assess for airway patency, administer oxygen as prescribed to perfuse tissues and organs, obtain vital signs (as well as carboxyhemoglobin levels) to assess a baseline and compare subsequent vital signs once fluid resuscitation is initiated, initiate an IV line and begin fluid replacement as prescribed to prevent hypovolemic shock, elevate the extremities if no fractures are obvious to assist in preventing shock, keep her warm and place T.J her on and NPO status because of altered gastrointestinal function that results from a burn injury (Silvestri, 2017). A foley catheter may be inserted so that the response to the fluid resuscitation can be monitored (Silvestri, 2017). The nurse should stay with the patient and monitor TJ’s status closely. Administering pain medications IV route to treat pain (5th vital sign) is also a priority (Silvestri, 2017)..…
Naloxone’s Role In Opioid Overdose Prevention In 2013 an estimated 16,000 American citizens died from an opioid overdose (CDC, 2014). This number has also quadrupled since 2001, when opioid overdoses had only amounted to 4,000 deaths a year (NIDA, 2015). Nurses Saving Lives aims to educate Doctors, Policy makers and the general public on Naloxone and its life saving abilities to counteract the harmful effects of an opioid overdose that have often led to death. We believe that with the right information on the safety and efficacy of Naloxone, and clarification on common misconceptions that have plagued the subject, we can help make this life saving drug available over the counter to families, caregivers, and communities to help battle the growing…
A lifeless mother suffers a heroin overdose. She lays comatose amid the aisle of a Massachusetts Family Dollar, and the morose ululation of her daughter erupted upon social media, for a bystander recorded the distressing incident. A hopeful young man, one week following his rehabilitation discharge, died inside of his Colorado home, allegedly overdosing on a fatal sedative and opioid overdose. (The Opioid Crisis, Peter Katel). The heroin and opioid crisis continually fluctuates within the United States, and this specific dilemma has spawned catastrophe.…
The opioid epidemic has been an issue that the United States has struggled with since the early 1900’s. Opioids are drugs commonly used in medical practice to relieve pain. Before the knowledge we have currently on opioids, opioids were an essential in curing a range of symptoms; from relieving pain to being used as cough suppressants. Today, the war on opioids is at an all time high. In 2014, 14 thousand people died from an opioid overdose.…
“In 2010, approximately 46 Americans died per day from an overdose involving prescription opioids” (moving beyond) Pharmaceutical opioids addictive properties leave patients needing another script even though their symptoms are gone. Big pharmaceutical companies push these drugs; therefore, doctors feel pressured to over prescribe them. “Millions of people in the United States report nonmedical use of prescription drugs, and recently drug overdoses have surpassed motor vehicle accidents as the leading cause of injury death” (moving beyond) Our government spends billions of dollars for the war on drugs, but only a small percentage of it focuses on pharmaceutical opioids that are being misprescribed and abused.…
IV. Preview: This topic was chosen for a couple reasons: numerous police officers are now carrying reversal medications for individuals who overdose, deaths from overdoses and/or calls for overdoses in my career have become a daily occurrence, and the local medical examiner’s office has become so inundated with overdose deaths that it is…