Heroin: Differences Between The 1960s And Present Day

Written with the purpose to inform its audience about the very real and very serious Heroin epidemic spreading through our country, using expert storytelling and exhaustive detail, Quinones chronicles the perfect storm of circumstances that cleared the way for Heroin to infiltrate our communities over the last two decades. His story centers on Portsmouth, Ohio, home to the nation’s first pill mill*. Following the release of OxyContin in 1996, corrupt physicians seized the opportunity to get rich quick. Addicts traveled to pain clinics by the carload, bearing forged MRIs and false complaints of pain, sometimes trading sexual favors for pills. Soon, Portsmouth had more pills per capita than any other city. “If you see lines of people

After 40 years at peace, the heroin crisis comes back and once again begins to cause problem in modern day society. The video, Heroin and the War on Drugs, describes the problems heroin has caused and the struggle to find a cure to this opioid pain killer. To begin, Retro Report included a statistic from a New York City prison. This statistic states that in the 1960s, 44 percent of the prisoners in the New York City prison resulted positive from a urine sample; a sample used to find out how many people were on heroin. The video also talks about how doctor tried out alternative treatments, such as Methadone.

This literature review will focus mainly on the drug use of heroin, the scary numbers behind the drug and the sudden rise of overdosing on the drug across the United States. Issues that will be discussed are what is Heroin, what’s in Heroin that makes it addicting, how it can increase the users risk of contracting other life threatening diseases and where it’s use and abuse are most popular across the United states and we will take a look at multiple studies that show examples of our new drug problem in the United States. While we looked at how homicide rates have dropped while in class, the flip side to that is that the amount of drug usage has risen.

Many articles I have read say that both law enforcement agencies and state officials suspect that the rise of heroin abuse is due to many reasons. One theory is that because local and federal drug agencies have been shutting down illegal prescription pill mills, and that drug abusers that were hooked on prescription opiates are seeking out cheaper alternatives such as heroin (Kounang, 2015). “Heroin seems to be the drug of choice right now for a number of reasons. Users can inject it, they can snort it and it’s very, very inexpensive and easy to obtain. We’re are seeing that it is cheaper in Providence than it is here in Massachusetts.” stated Ramos when I asked him why it’s so popular. In my opinion, one thing is clear. Both national and local authorities are making an effort to combat this growing issue. They are not turning a blind eye to this epidemic.

Nonmedical Prescription-Opioid abuse in the United States and Michigan has continued to rise, and with it, the devastating results that accompany it. Research has shown that increased opioid abuse leads to an increase in overdose and death, increases in crime and increased incidences of costly blood borne diseases like HIV, AIDS and Hepatitis. It also leads to increased societal costs, such as an increasing number of children in foster care and increased healthcare, workplace and criminal justice costs that can decimate communities and local budgets. Many communities were caught with their heads in the sand, as they were overwhelmed by the influx of prescription opioids into their communities. When policies were finally implemented to curb the amount of prescription opioids in their communities, rates of heroin use (also an opioid) began to skyrocket and people began realizing they had an opioid epidemic on their hands. How to combat this heroin epidemic has been the topic of many debates. This article will attempt to examine the relationship of nonmedical prescription-opioid abuse and its effects on heroin use.

Nonmedical Prescription-Opioid abuse in the United States and Michigan has continued to rise, and with it, the devastating results that accompany it. Research has shown that increased opioid abuse leads to an increase in overdose and death, increases in crime and increased incidences of costly blood borne diseases like HIV, AIDS and Hepatitis. It also leads to increased societal costs, such as an increasing number of children in foster care and increased healthcare, workplace and criminal justice costs that can decimate communities and local budgets. Many communities were caught with their heads in the sand, as they were overwhelmed by the influx of prescription opioids into their communities. When policies were finally implemented to curb the amount of prescription opioids in their communities, rates of heroin use (also an opioid) began to skyrocket and people began realizing they had an opioid epidemic on their hands. How to combat this heroin epidemic has been the topic of many debates. This article will attempt to examine the relationship of nonmedical prescription-opioid abuse and its effects on heroin use.

Clinics providing access to readily available prescribed heroin will equal to less criminality acts showing that the individual has no need to commit further drug related crimes. Rather than their days being preoccupied with obtaining the drug, they are provided directly with it so they can work on the other issues that got them into a destructive lifestyle that not only hurt themselves but their relationships with family and friends as well. Furthermore, it seems likely that the improved contact with family, friends, and healthcare providers that comes with heroin prescription improves the chances of a healthy productive lifestyle for the individual. In addition, it provides them with the time to seek counseling, secure housing, and ability to find

Hence, the heroin addict was born and has been present in American culture ever since. From the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s the reputable drug companies of the day began manufacturing over-the-counter drug kits. These kits contained a glass barreled hypodermic needle and vials of opiates, morphine or heroin, and/or cocaine packaged neatly in attractive engraved tin cases.

Opioid epidemic have led to the use of heroin. Heroin and Opioid are silent killers that effect all levels of society and economic status. Prescription drugs alone is a 25 billion dollar business. “They are prescribed and sold illegally through street style pharmacists or “doctor shopping” by individuals who visit numerous physicians to obtain

Heroin is making a comeback in the United States and is highly prevalent in certain areas. The heroin epidemic is sweeping across the Midwest, and claiming the lives of young white males. It is very different from the 1960’s use of heroin, and is now typically used because of its low cost and previous opioid addictions to other prescription drugs. Young white males in many different communities are becoming hooked because of the careless use of pain pills prescribed or taking them from parents’ medicine cabinets. The communities include rural towns, big cities, and suburbs all across the country.

Across the country social shifts of the twenty first century has been the drug use migration. It goes from centers of urban poverty to places that are suburban, white and or middle class. Over the recent years, a third of all DEA heroin seizures took place in the state of New York. Drug abuse is rising and becoming deadlier than ever. Staten Island has become a particular nexus of affliction. In the 1970’s and 1980’s, heroin was considered to be a plague in some of New York City’s poorest neighborhoods. A New York Times report indicates that the new face of heroin addiction in the state consists mostly of middle class, working class, and upper middle class citizens. Staten Island currently leads the city in the number of heroin related deaths, totaling seventy three in 2012, many of which are individuals from the younger generation and in their twenties.

An additional factor that lures people towards heroin is the use of prescription opioids. People who are prescribed opioids for health treatments may use these drugs to create the feeling of being high. Many have transitioned from using prescription opioids to illicit drugs such as, heroin, because they are able to access it without a prescription and for a lower price. One site states, “The increased availability, lower price,

However, I argue these changes are motivated by the changing face of heroin or its increasing use among the white suburban middle class. For instance, more social resources have been allocated to today’s Heroin epidemic compared to harsh crime laws issued in the 1990’s used to combat the Drug War. One can argue that the United States has taken steps to improve the treatment of drug users, but this overlooks the fact that there is an

Heroin users and overdose deaths are on the rise. Especially among young middle-class white citizens (Seelye, 2015). Why is the amount of heroin users rising and how is the government handling this epidemic? There is a strong correlation between the increase of prescription painkillers and the amount of heroin users. “People who are dependent on prescription opioids are 40 times more likely to abuse or be dependent on heroin” (Seelye, 2015). One of the main reason there has been a recent increase of heroin users in the last decade is because there has also been an increase of prescription opioids such as OxyContin. And the government has never tested a way to stop the increase of drug users other than harsh

Reachers say that prior to 1980, whites and nonwhites were equally represented among first-time heroin users. However, now nearly 90 percent of the people who tried heron for the first time in the past decade were white. And a growing number of them are middle-class or wealthy. The image of needle using inter-city junkies is no longer the case, these “new users” are our suburban neighbors, sons, daughters, fathers and mothers. Most opioid users first try pills from the family medicine cabinet. The pill bottles that all of us keep around long after what they were originally prescribed for has been forgotten. Law enforcement, specifically local law enforcement needs to be at the forefront of programs to combat the rising use of opiates.