Drugs have always been an issue in the United States, the battle against drugs truly began in 1971 when the Nixon Administration coined the term “War on Drugs.” This War on Drugs was the campaign for the prohibition on illegal drug and fought to reduce the illegal drug trade using military aid and intervention. This program is still in effect today with the federal government spending $51 billion annually (A Brief History…, 2017). Today we are in a middle of another epidemic, a heroin and opioid epidemic. It is considered an epidemic because there is an extremely sharp increase in the number of Heroin and Opioid users in the United States. Heroin is the most commonly used of the opioid family, it is a highly addictive drug that is naturally processed from morphine and derived from poppy seeds. Heroin blocks signal to the brain that allows an individual to perceive pain, creating an overall feeling of well-being and euphoria (Heroin Abuse Causes…, 2017). Heroin and opiate abuse is on the news every night saying that another person has passed away from drug abuse, we are truly in a epidemic and the public needs to become more aware to see the signs and help with prevention.
The impact of heroin use is felt all across the United States, with heroin being identified as the most or one of the most important drug abuse issues affecting almost every region from coast to coast specifically 18-25 year olds. Since there is so many new users, drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death. There was over 52,404 lethal drug overdoses in 2015. Opioid addiction is driving this epidemic, with 20,101 overdose deaths related to prescription pain relievers, and 12,990 overdose deaths related to heroin in 2015. Both opioid addiction and heroin go hand and hand because of the fact that 4 out of 5 heroin addicts begin as opioid abusers (American Society of Addiction Medicine, 2017). There is a number of reasons on why people become addicted to drugs such as heroin. Many scientists believe there are four main reasons on why a person may become addict and those reasons are biological, genetics, environmental and psychological. A person may actually be genetically more susceptible to substance abuse than others. If a person’s family members are addicted to heroin or any other substance, it appears that that person will be much more likely to be addicted than those whose family member has never had a issue with substance abuse. Biologically, a person may not be producing enough natural endorphins which in turn makes than person more likely to turn to heroin to balance out the imbalances. Another reason how people get addicted is environmental because children that live with addicts learn that drugs are the way to cope with any kind of stress rather than getting professional health. The fourth reason in physiological, which is where someone uses drugs to cope with the symptoms of their undiagnosed, or untreated, mental illness(Heroin Abuse Causes…, 2017).
There is a number of different reasons why a person may become addicted to heroin but there is one key element that adds fuel to that fire and that fuelling element is prescription drugs. Three out of four people, or 75% of all heroin addicts started out as addicts to prescription pills. It is proven that if someone is addicted to prescription opioids, they are 40 times more likely to try and be addicted to heroin. (The Numbers Behind…, 2015). This is not a centralized problem in just one part of the United States, the entire nation is affected even right here in Western New York. There is not a night on the news where heroin or opioid abuse is not featured. On March 30, 2017, WGRZ reported that a bad batch of heroin was sold in Erie County that killed 7 people in just 24 hours. This is a huge spike seeing as though on average, 6.8 people passed away from an overdose a week so this single day surpassed the total for the week. (Tegna, 2017). The United States considers heroin abuse as a epidemic because such a large population is being addicted to it at an alarming rate. From 2012-2013, not even at the high on the epidemic, there was a 39% increase in the number of deaths due to heroin. At this time, more people die of heroin overdoses in a year than car accidents. 35,369 people die of car accidents each year while 46,4721 died of drug overdoses, in the year 2012-2013. It is believed that someone dies of a overdose on an opioid drug every 19 minutes. (Rettner, 2016).
The United States realizes that heroin is a huge problem but most states still do not know what to do to help. Across the nation, President Obama allotted $1.1 billion in federal funding to help battle the heroin and opioid addiction. Michael Botticelli the National Drug Control Policy’s Director, stated that with the money that was allotted the federal government will be increasing access for treatments for opioid-use disorders. Another way that the opioid epidemic is trying to be contained is by implementing medication-assisted treatments through drugs like buprenorphine and methadone. Using these drugs along with behavioral treatment helps manage the recovery road and easing the withdrawal symptoms (What Is Being…, 2017). New York is attempting to do a lot of preventive methods to help that state’s heroin and opioid problems. The state was just awarded a whopping $8.1 million dollars of federal funding to help the battle of opioid abuse in NYS especially within 12-25 year old age group. The state will be using this money to increase public awareness through statewide and community media campaigns, increase the number of anti-overdose medication trainings, and reduce heroin use and heroin/prescription opioid overdose deaths among the 12- to 25-year-old population (Governor Cuomo Announces…, 2016).
Narcan, the name brand of Naloxone, is an opiate antidote that reduces the effects of an overdose. If a person has taken opioids and has overdosed and is then given Narcan, the medication will work by knocking the opiates out of the opiate receptors in the brain. After a dose of Narcan the person should begin to breathe more normally and it will become easier to wake them. Narcan generally begins to work in about 5 minutes but after 30 minutes it begins to wear off and by 90 minutes, it is totally out of the affected persons system. Though a person may seem normal after the Narcan kicks in, it is absolutely necessary to seek further medical attention, immediately call emergency services once the Narcan is delivered due to the fact that severe sudden withdrawal symptoms can occur. These side effects/ withdrawal symptoms include increased heart rate, high blood pressure, severe trembling and vomiting, these are all why professional medical attention needs to be alerted (Power to help…, 2017). In an effort to decrease the number of overdoses, law enforcement and emergency medical services now carry and are trained to use Narcan in case emergency. Also, because the number of people either using or dying from heroin and opiates is so incredibly high, many counties are even handing out free narcan and STD testing since many STDs are acquired through shared contaminated needles. Though the people getting this free prescription need to be trained how to use it, this is yet another method to help control our modern day opiate epidemic (WKYT, 2017)