Heroin Epidemic- Michael Cody

Project 1 Heroin

Heroin Epidemic

Imagine going in and out of consciousness, vomiting and sweating in the fetal position

with nothing to help your pain. There is no medicine to ease your agony, there is no magic

surgery to prevent this suffering, all you can do is wait it out and hope that you survive. This is

what it is like to withdrawal from abusing heroin. This powerful hallucinogenic took the lives of

38,329 people in the year 2010, and has affected countless others in the process (Al). And the

death rate has only continued to rise as time has gone on.

Where does the heroin epidemic reside- in bad parts of town, in poverty stricken areas, in

drug houses? Well it may seem like it only affects poverty stricken neighborhoods, when in-fact

it has affected all walks of life, from Hollywood millionaires to the local junky. It is possible it’s

in your life as well, maybe a neighbor, maybe a friend or even a loved one. The addiction of

heroin has no prejudice. Many may continue to believe they are safe from the effects of heroin,

but statistics clearly show that the use of heroin is only on the rise (Al).

History

To understand the history of heroin it is important to know what it comes from and where

it started. Heroin comes from the opium poppy, and was harvested as far back as 3400 B.C. in

Mesopotamia (Booth). Drug abuse from opium has been around for centuries and all over the

world from India to America to Rome and everything in-between. The peak of opium use would

be during the opium wars in China, when approximately a quarter of the male population was addicted to opium (Dalrymple). So why did people pursue creating something else from such a

harmful drug?

Well in 1874 an English chemist by the name of C. R. Alder Wright thought it could be

refined and used as a cough suppressant (Heroin History). However, the harmful effects were not recognized until after the wide distribution of heroin in 1898, the beginning of the heroin epidemic (1). The pharmaceutical company Bayer commercialized it across the world as a less potent, less addictive replacement for morphine, a miracle drug (1). It is easy to imagine how fast addictions spread across the United States with such advertising. It was being sold over the counter and given to children and adults alike as if it were Tylenol. From there the heroin addict was born (1).

It wasn’t until 16 years after the wide distribution of heroin that the laws were changed.

It had to be prescribed in the U.S. after the passing of the Harrison Narcotic Act (Edwards). This

had a minor decrease in users but there remained many addicts. Finally, by 1924, the

distribution, manufacturing and use of heroin was made illegal by the Heroin Act (1). But by this

time there were already an estimated 200,000 addicts in the United States alone (Heroin History). Ever since, it’s legal status has remained the same and is very unlikely to change. Even with this ban in the United States its popularity and death toll has only continued to grow (1).

Effects on Society

The effects of heroin throughout society has been quite drastic. Although heroin seems to

be on the news every chance it gets, Texas has been handling the threat of heroin very well for

many years. Since 2008 the number of users from grades K through twelve was a little less than

1 in every 100 students (Texas Department of State Health Services). This is quite reassuring

considering that much of Texas is on the border between the United States and Mexico.Mexico

is a very large distributor of heroin. However, Texas can never be satisfied with where it’s at

because heroin is on the rise almost everywhere else.

Over the last ten years, heroin use in the United States has increased by about sixty-three

percent and the amount of heroin overdoses has quadrupled (Siffelin). If these statistics aren’t scary enough, think about it this way. That is a little over half a million people reportedly abusing heroin every year, and that’s just the ones reporting that they do it. Of those half a million about 8,200 of those die from overdosing (Sifferlin). Well that may not sound bad considering the United States population is roughly three hundred and nineteen million, but that is only heroin overdoses.

The real killer of heroin abusers is the addictions of other opioids (painkillers) and the

sharing of uncleansed needles which can cause hepatitis c. In-fact, while researching this topic it

became very hard to find statistics on purely heroin. Many of the websites had joined together

heroin with other opioids. However, it is very tricky to determine how many hepatitis C and

other opioid deaths are directly related to heroin, the broad consensus is that it is very high (Abuse).

With these deaths being related to heroin, it important to know who it is primarily

affecting. Research from USA Today shows heroin is making its way into the middle class, affecting more women and every ethnicity (Szabo). This is a huge problem. To give an example of how large this problem is, the United States makes up only 4.6 percent of the world’s population but the United States consumes about 80 percent of the world’s heroin supply (Abuse). The middle class makes up most the population and women clearly make up about half of the population, that is a very large pool of victims to choose from. Not only that think about all the children that could grow up without a mother or father due to a heroin related death or even worse not even get the  chance to live at all.

Although it is important to focus on the United States’ battle with heroin, it is even more

important to know where the global community stands on such a disturbing issue. Well you

might be glad to hear that only 9.2 million people worldwide use heroin (Tracy). This is very low

considering that that is only .012 percent of the entire world’s population (1). However, the world is quite lucky it is this low. It is only this low because there is only one large distributor of heroin, Afghanistan. They produce about eighty-seven percent of the world’s heroin which is estimated to cause about one hundred thousand deaths annually (1).

But no matter how many deaths are related to heroin any death related to it is one to

many. Therefore as a state, as a nation and as a global community it is important to work

together and put aside differences to help solve such a complex problem before this epidemic

grows. Before it grows to a size which cannot be controlled or regulated and before it hurts even

more fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, etc. Everyone must work together for this change to

happen and it starts with you.

Heroin Project 2

Solutions

Since the beginning of heroin’s wide spread abuse there has yet to be one real solution to stop it from being distributed. There are different methods all over the world from different countries, states and even cities to try and control this horrible drug from making its way into society and none are 100% successful. Therefore if the spread of heroin will never completely stop then what can be done to at least slow its escalation and get rid of its addiction in frequent abusers?

To stop the distribution of heroin it is important to understand where it's made and who distributes it first. Heroin is primarily made in Afghanistan with sources estimating that it makes up to 93% of the world’s heroin (Bowman). This means that a black market industry worth billions of dollars is predominantly within one country (1). Therefore one solution to getting rid of the majority of heroin would be to stop this mass production in Afghanistan. This would the  leave the world with only 7% of its heroin supply left. With this large percentage gone the price of heroin would have to skyrocket up with it becoming such a rare drug on the market (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica)  This would then take away the affordability of  the substance and force people of lower income to leave the drug or find something to replace it.

Another solution to help in ending heroin abuse would not be what most people call a traditional plan. However far fetched it may sound, it may be more beneficial to decriminalize heroin instead of making it illegal. Portugal decriminalized all drugs in 2001 and the world watched in amazement as the number of drug addicts went down, especially in heroin use, where the number of heroin abusers dropped to by more than half of the average amount and it continues to fall to this day (Szalavitz). What is Portugal's secret to such a seemingly easy partial solution to this heroin problem? Instead of making heroin illegal and spending money on a larger police force and housing inmates, they decriminalize it (Hollerson). This means that if the police catch someone using heroin they simply give them a ticket of x amount or offer them drug abuse therapy to help them become unaddicted. Before you begin to ask how much therapy is well it is actually cheaper to do than house an inmate, which costs anywhere between $20,000 and $40,000 to house an inmate each year in the United States (Herby).

However the start to ending an epidemic is curing the people already affected by it. So, what is the best way to end someone’s addiction to heroin? For starters there are several different ways to help cure someone’s addiction to heroin ranging from counseling to medication assisted treatment. The first and most painful way an addict could become unaddicted is to quit cold turkey. This is the toughest way to end heroin abuse do to the severe withdrawals which can include cold flashes, vomiting, and even death if the addiction is strong enough (Hopson).

The second and most common way to end heroin addiction is through medication assisted treatment. The main drugs used in this form of treatment are methadone and burprenorphine which help to counteract the addiction. The average result for this treatment was a 90 percent decrease in the rate of heroin used (1). But the even more incredible thing about these drugs is that they have about a 72.7 percent success rate (1).  However successful these drugs are there are still even more successful ways to end heroin’s grasp on a person. According to research it is most beneficial to have medical treatment along with counseling (1). Not only are those two important but a stable support system is an important piece to the recovery as well. These things backed by family and friends who want to help and understand what the addict is going through are the most likely to become free of addiction again.

Absurdity and Heroin

Albert Camus was an absurdist writer and lived his life rather absurd as well (Simpson). This simply means that he believed the world was too complex for a man to rationalize. Therefore he would believe that the heroin epidemic had no real reason for happening or being there it was just something that sort of happened. His thinking could be backed up too. Heroin abusers come from all walks of life and all over the world and have seemingly no correlation what so ever.  It could be argued that there is no real rational reason to begin using such a hazardous drug to begin with.  However people nowadays try to rationalize the use of heroin. Society says that people do it because they are depressed, want to be more creative, are seeking a greater high, or even just bored (Watch Truth About Drugs Documentary Video & Learn About Substance Addiction. Get The Facts About Painkillers, Marijuana, Cocaine, Meth & Other Illegal Drugs).  

Camus would have been sad at the amount of people who lose their lives to heroin every year. I don’t believe that he would have been pleased to see so many people waste their lives away on heroin. However he never in his many years described his philosophy on such a topic as a heroin abuse or other drug abuse. With that said he did encourage people to revolt the normal standard of things and doing heroin could be considered revolting against the average way of doing things (Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews).

Conclusion

The heroin epidemic has taken the lives of hundreds of thousands  (Heroin History). No one is safe from the grip of its addictive qualities and its appearance in every walk of life. However terrifying this drug may be it is important that society never backs down from its reign over so many people. Society as a whole must work to end this epidemic, it can be done and it is very possible. If everyone works together it will save the lives of hundreds of thousands even millions and the risk of this epidemic will be a thing of the past.

Works Cited

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Al, Paulozzi E. "Annual Causes of Death in the United States." Annual Causes of Death in the United States | Drug War Facts. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2017.

Booth, Martin. "Opium Throughout History." PBS. Public Broadcasting Service, 1998. Web. 01 Mar. 2017.

Bowman, Tom. "Afghan Governor Wants Government To Control Poppy Crop." NPR. NPR, 06 July 2016. Web. 13 Apr. 2017.

Dalrymple, William. "The East India Company: The Original Corporate Raiders | William Dalrymple." The Long Read. Guardian News and Media, 04 Mar. 2015. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.

Edwards, Jim. "Yes, Bayer Promoted Heroin for Children -- Here Are The Ads That Prove It."Business Insider. Business Insider, 17 Nov. 2011. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.

ENR // AgencyND // University of Notre Dame. "Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews." Albert Camus: From the Absurd to Revolt // Reviews // Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews // University of Notre Dame. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.

Gusovsky, Dina. "Americans Still Lead the World in Something: Use of Highly Addictive Opioids." CNBC. CNBC, 27 Apr. 2016. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.

Herby, J. "What Is the Average Cost to House Inmates in Prison." The Law Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2017.

"Heroin History." History of Heroin. Heroin Addiction, n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.

Martin, Booth. "Heroin Timeline Info." Narconon International. Narconon, n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.

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Sifferlin, Alexandra. "Heroin Problem in U.S. Reaches Epidemic Levels." Time. Time, 15 July 2015. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.

Simpson, David. "Albert Camus (1913-1960)." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.

Szabo, Liz. "Heroin Use Surges, Addicting More Women and Middle-class." USA Today. Gannett Satellite Information Network, 07 July 2015. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.

Szalavitz, Maia. "Drugs in Portugal: Did Decriminalization Work?" Time. Time Inc., 26 Apr. 2009. Web. 14 Apr. 2017.

Texas Department of State Health Services. "Substance Abuse Data, Research, and Reports." Texas Department of State Health Services. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.

The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. "Supply and Demand." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.

Tracy, Natasha. "Heroin Facts, Heroin Statistics." HealthyPlace. N.p., 12 Aug. 2016. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.

"Watch Truth About Drugs Documentary Video & Learn About Substance Addiction. Get The Facts About Painkillers, Marijuana, Cocaine, Meth & Other Illegal Drugs."Foundation for a Drug-Free World. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.