Maryland is known as the U.S Heroin capital and one in ten of Baltimore’s residents are addicted to the drug (Yang, 2014). Graph 1 provided by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (2014) represents the number of deaths caused by Heroin in Baltimore, MD from January through June 2007-2014: Drug abuse is a disease that is often overlooked and if left untreated it could turn into a recreational activity for the people using them. Many teens are using illegal substances and becoming addicted which can cause situations such as dropping out of school, roaming the streets, and hurting the people that care about them. Baltimore can be free from drugs by offering free mentor programs to troubled youths, enforcing random mandatory drug
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Factors such as music artists sensationalizing drug use, people seeing and hearing on the news about local and state government official’s use and traffic drugs, and mental health issues that lead to drug abuse. There have been many cases of mail carriers, police officers, government officials, and even restaurants that have abused and or traffic illegal substances. Daniel Redd, one of Baltimore City’s police officers, was arrested along with a few others for trafficking and was charged with a life sentence plus sixty years (FBI, 2011). Also, Rita’s Italian Ice in Fells Point was the location of a major cocaine ring and the 9 people involved were arrested facing drug conspiracy charges (Knezevich, 2014). How many people ate there every day before finding this out? The fact that a place that is for people of all ages, including children, was trafficking illegal substances throughout Baltimore is despicable. Music artists such as Wiz Khalifa, Lil’ Wayne and Baltimore’s own Tupac Shakur all influence the way children and young adults think about illegal substances by using lyrics that have to do with using them such as marijuana and prescription drugs; their lyrics provide the bad idea that it is normal and ok to use them. Finally, one of the main causes of addiction is being prescribed medication for certain mental health issues. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America, ADAA, (2015), shows that 20 percent of Americans with mental health issues such as anxiety and depression have substance abuse
Factors such as music artists sensationalizing drug use, people seeing and hearing on the news about local and state government official’s use and traffic drugs, and mental health issues that lead to drug abuse. There have been many cases of mail carriers, police officers, government officials, and even restaurants that have abused and or traffic illegal substances. Daniel Redd, one of Baltimore City’s police officers, was arrested along with a few others for trafficking and was charged with a life sentence plus sixty years (FBI, 2011). Also, Rita’s Italian Ice in Fells Point was the location of a major cocaine ring and the 9 people involved were arrested facing drug conspiracy charges (Knezevich, 2014). How many people ate there every day before finding this out? The fact that a place that is for people of all ages, including children, was trafficking illegal substances throughout Baltimore is despicable. Music artists such as Wiz Khalifa, Lil’ Wayne and Baltimore’s own Tupac Shakur all influence the way children and young adults think about illegal substances by using lyrics that have to do with using them such as marijuana and prescription drugs; their lyrics provide the bad idea that it is normal and ok to use them. Finally, one of the main causes of addiction is being prescribed medication for certain mental health issues. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America, ADAA, (2015), shows that 20 percent of Americans with mental health issues such as anxiety and depression have substance abuse