In Timothy Williams’ article, “Opioid Users are Filling Jails. Why Don’t Jails Treat Them?”, the methods through which the criminal justice system deals with drug addiction are discussed. By examining how a former drug addict, Dave Mason, dealt with his heroin detoxification process whilst incarcerated, it becomes quickly apparent how jails and prisons may end up encouraging many people to relapse. With the recent national emergency declaration on opioid abuse, there is no doubt any question on how opioid use is becoming a major issue in American society. Therefore, it is necessary to question why many jails and prisons have yet to implement or even allow drug treatment programs, such as the methadone treatment program Mr. Mason completed.…
Doctor education is just another way this crisis could have been avoided. Those impacted the greatest is palliative care patients on top of family and friends of those who have overdosed. Consequences because of the opioid crisis are being faced by the loved ones of those who passed along with the public, with the government having to spend public funding on resources to solve this problem. The opioid crisis Canada is currently struggling with can only be solved if all levels of society acknowledge this as a crisis and come together to find a national strategy to resolve this…
The Opioid Epidemic is a social justice issue that needs to be given awareness…
Treatment vs. Incarceration for Opioid Abuse There are more than 15 million Americans that suffer from opioid abuse disorder (WHO,2014). This paper looks at treatment options verses incarceration. Out of the 2 million people in federal and state prison more than one-quarter of them suffer from drug abuse (Common Sense for Drug Policy, 2016). What is more astonishing is that most of them do not receive the treatment they need to recover from their opiate addiction.…
Stopping the spread of opiate crime is not going to be like crack or meth, as more affluent communities will not allow that level of patrolling, so just increasing the amount of enforcement is not a viable option. There needs to also be a strong focus on abuse prescription pills as that is a prime suspect of opiate addiction and…
Opioids are psychoactive substances derived from the opium poppy, or their synthetic analogues. They are natural, semisynthetic or synthetic narcotic drugs used as painkiller such as morphine, meth or methadone, oxycodone, fentanyl, hydrocodone, codeine, hydromorphone and buprenorphine. They are legal only when prescribed. Opioid overdose (OOD) occurs by accident or on purpose. OOD depresses central nervous and respiratory systems leading to drowsiness, slow breathing, pinpoint pupils, bluish lips or fingernails, limping, vomiting, loss of consciousness and death.…
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 opioid crisis has reached epidemic levels and is going to require just as large a response from national, state, and local resources and must begin now. Opioid addiction has already reached epidemic proportions and it is not going to change without…
Personally, I haven’t been affected by this issue and my family hasn’t either, I wanted to research why opioid abuse is such a huge problem and what efforts are being put in place to combat this. Lately, on the news, many stories of how the opioid crisis is draining America’s workforce…
America has had an ongoing problem with drug epidemics, we are currently in the middle of a country-wide heroin epidemic. To slow or stop the epidemic we need to look back on our past drug epidemics, specifically the cocaine epidemic, for it is relatively modern. During the cocaine epidemic, America and the people in it did some things well, but also a lot of things bad. The only way for us to move forward is to look back and learn. We need to check ourselves right now for what we have already done in the epidemic and make sure we are not making the same mistakes.…
Prevalence of opioid abuse varies based on age and gender. Men are at higher risk for opioid abuse than women, for instance, but are more likely to seek treatment. Men also account for more opioid overdoses than women, although this gap is closing. Women are more likely to be prescribed pain relievers, be given higher doses, use them for longer, and may become dependent faster.…
As awareness of the opioid crisis in America has grown, so has awareness over one of its most visible side…
As heroin has become an epidemic crossing all social classes and ethnic groups, it is vital that education and prevention programs be accessible to all. As a society, we are in a state of reacting to crisis instead of being proactive in understanding the causes that lead us here. People need to understand the dangers of the drug to realize that trying it only one time can lead to a lifetime struggle. It is very important that education programs be implemented into all schools rather than having it there for people as an option. To further awareness, there needs to be increased coverage through all forms of social media as that is the best way to convey information.…
Opioids have been used in pharmaceutical drugs as a painkiller. Opioids are in medications like morphine, hydrocodone and oxycodone, which have been praised for their effectiveness for patients suffering extreme pain However, there have been downsides to using opioids in drugs. The use of opioids has lead to addictions and to deaths in the United States. After people take opioids as a painkiller, they can become addicted to the drug. This addiction they get can lead them deeper into addiction or even death.…
Anyone and their addiction to opiates can lead them to being incarcerated possibly in the future. And this is a problem that needs to be addressed because these our the future generations we are…