U.S. Centers for Disease Control Announces Heroin Deaths Overtakes Gun Homicide Deaths in 2016 - Wha
Introduction
According to the Centers for Disease Control 12.5 million Americans report “misusing prescription pain killers.” [1] Opioid addiction has become an epidemic in the United States. Drug Enforcement Administration acting administrator Chuck Rosenberg reports that 4/5 heroin users begin their abuse cycle with prescription drugs. [2] With stricter federal regulations on pharmaceutical companies and the medical practitioner community, people are turning to heroin use. [3] The increase in heroin abuse prevalence is due to “high potency combined with low cost of pure heroin and prescription opiates.” [4] Moreover, Mexican drug cartels have taken advantage of this market, data from the DEA expose significant surges in Mexican opium cultivation [5]. The FBI Director James Comey claims that the Mexican drug cartels are “fueling the heroin epidemic.” [6] It is evident, that opioid addiction plagues those addicted, their families, and communities. It is difficult to manage the epidemic seeing it affects every region and socioeconomic class in the United States.
Cause
There are various factors that have contributed to the exacerbation of the opioid epidemic in the United States. Pharmaceutical painkiller manufacturers intensely promoted the prescictiption of pills in the 1990's by minimizing the adverse possibilities for addiction. [7] According to the Washington Post, the Rand Organization blames OxyContin as the “chief driver of the explosion of heroin”. [8] The reformulation and increased regulation of the drug in 2010 made the pill more difficult to misuse. [9] Moreover, the Rand Organization correlates that states with the greatest incidence of OxyContin abuse dealt with the highest increase in mortalities cause by heroin. [10] It is obvious that opioid dependency is causal with Big Pharma’s economic success as a priority rather than the health of the American public. Additionally, Fentanyl addiction has greatly contributed to the overdose rate in recent years. Fentanyl is less expensive and has greater strength than most pain killers. [11]
Mexican drug cartels needed to make up the decrease of profits from Marijuana sales and noticed the American opioid addiction trend. [12] Thus they developed poppy cultivation sites in Mexico. [13] This methodology decreased production costs seeing that marijuana and cocaine are usually produced in southern Latin American countries. [13] The high potency of Mexican heroin combined with the low cost in comparison to prescription pills tremendously contributed to the surge in U.S. overdoses. [14] Therefore, these factors have caused the opioid epidemic to reach beyond mere concern. To alleviate and prevent further misuse the U.S. government and public must intervene.
Reaction
The medical enterprise, federal government, state governments, communities and families are distressed by the current state of the opioid plague. Robert Anderson, Chief of the Morality Statistics Branch of the CDC declared, “I don’t think we have seen anything like this in modern times.” [15] Every region in the United States is affected by this epidemic, “2/3 of Americans who took prescription opioids for two months or longer became physically dependent on painkillers.” [16]
Since the federal government has put in effect stringent enforcement of illegal opioid prescription dissemination, the causal effects have led abusers to transition to heroin due to lower prices and accessibility. [17] FBI Director James Comey attributes this surge in heroin usage to Mexican Cartels’ new found monopoly. [18] Comey suggests that drug and law enforcement agencies must utilize economics, claiming that, “We cannot arrest our way out of the problem.” [19] He recommends that enforcement agencies must increase the price of heroin, to make it “less attractive for people addicted to pills to move to heroin.”[20]
The Northeastern region of the U.S. is the most affected by the opioid epidemic. Community initiatives have been imperative to helping those suffering from addition. A recent event in Johnstown New Jersey is among many towns who have held town meetings to bring this issue into conversation. [21] It was recommended at the meeting that the increase of treatment programs such as drug monitoring and treatment must be increased through the expansion of healthcare facilities among other solutions. [22] The federal government promotes “Prevention, Outreach, and Education” to combat the war on opioids. Treatments must address brain changes, detoxification medicine, and ongoing treatment plans to successfully revitalize the lives of those suffering from this harrowing addiction. [23]
Conclusion
It is clear, that stricter regulation of illegal substances along with the expansion of treatment programming will alleviate some of the plaguing effects of the opioid epidemic. While there are several contributing factors and circumstances that led to the exacerbation of this nationwide pandemic it is crucial that we adopt effective policies and solutions to save the lives of millions of Americans.
Citations
[1] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/heroin-deaths-gun-homicides-last-year-opioids_us_584ada87e4b0e05aded38bec?utm_hp_ref=heroin-epidemic
[2] http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/03/02/fbis-comey-mexican-drug-cartels-fueling-us-heroin-epidemic.html
[3] https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/10/the-new-heroin-epidemic/382020/
[4] http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/03/02/fbis-comey-mexican-drug-cartels-fueling-us-heroin-epidemic.html , https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/10/the-new-heroin-epidemic/382020/
[5] http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/03/02/fbis-comey-mexican-drug-cartels-fueling-us-heroin-epidemic.html
[6] http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/03/02/fbis-comey-mexican-drug-cartels-fueling-us-heroin-epidemic.html
[7]http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/heroin-deaths-gun-homicides-last-yearopioids_us_584ada87e4b0e05aded38bec?utm_hp_ref=heroin-epidemic
[8]https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/01/10/how-an-abuse-deterrent-drug-created-the-heroin-epidemic/?utm_term=.9d35c255a344
[9] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/01/10/how-an-abuse-deterrent-drug-created-the-heroin-epidemic/?utm_term=.9d35c255a344
[10]https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/01/10/how-an-abuse-deterrent-drug-created-the-heroin-epidemic/?utm_term=.9d35c255a344
[11]http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/03/02/fbis-comey-mexican-drug-cartels-fueling-us-heroin-epidemic.html , https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/10/the-new-heroin-epidemic/382020/
[12] http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a46918/heroin-mexico-el-chapo-cartels-don-winslow/
[13] http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a46918/heroin-mexico-el-chapo-cartels-don-winslow/
[14] http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a46918/heroin-mexico-el-chapo-cartels-don-winslow/
[15]http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/heroin-deaths-gun-homicides-last-year-opioids_us_584ada87e4b0e05aded38bec?utm_hp_ref=heroin-epidemic
[16]http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/heroin-deaths-gun-homicides-last-year-opioids_us_584ada87e4b0e05aded38bec?utm_hp_ref=heroin-epidemic
[17]http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a46918/heroin-mexico-el-chapo-cartels-don-winslow/
[18]http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/03/02/fbis-comey-mexican-drug-cartels-fueling-us-heroin-epidemic.html
[19]http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/03/02/fbis-comey-mexican-drug-cartels-fueling-us-heroin-epidemic.html
[20]http://wjactv.com/news/local/town-hall-on-heroin-epidemic-brings-community-together-to-find-solutions
[21]http://wjactv.com/news/local/town-hall-on-heroin-epidemic-brings-community-together-to-find-solutions
[22]https://www.drugabuse.gov/about-nida/legislative-activities/testimony-to-congress/2016/americas-addiction-to-opioids-heroin-prescription-drug-abuse
[23]https://www.drugabuse.gov/about-nida/legislative-activities/testimony-to-congress/2016/americas-addiction-to-opioids-heroin-prescription-drug-abuse