the rising problem of drug abuse in the United States

Introduction

Drug epidemics are the crises in the United States where people are using excessive prescription and non-prescription drugs. The practice of overdose started in the year nineteen ninety and is still operating in different parts of America. Those drugs that are for the purpose of painkillers like oxycodone, which is very strong in relieving pain, are excessively implied in the states of Maine and New Hampshire. The availability of overdose drugs has made them popular both through medical interventions and recreational drugs. The worse effects on the parts of the body and on the brain lead to the smoothness of breathing and subsequently cause respiratory depression. It may also be caused by death through the failure of respiratory functions. There are a number of intervention and prevention programs adopted by the state machinery in order to eliminate the rising problem of drug abuse.

Discussion

The state can imply the number of methodologies to decrease the death rates, which are primarily influenced by the factor of overuse of drugs. The United States has seen around 6400000 deaths from overdose users, which is more than the death causalities done in Afghanistan and the Iraq war. The problem is not simple, and it requires the attention of the presidency along with an effective policy on drug control. From the years of 1999 to 2008, the sale, use, and admission of individuals with opioid pains significantly increased. By the year 2015, the ratio of overdose deaths with one substance of heroin has crossed the deaths that are due to accidents and guns. Hence, the leading cause of death in Americans is drug overdose. The average death ratio of these people is under 50, and two-thirds of them are caused by opioids.

In the same way, in the year 2030, around 200 people in Maine have lost their lives due to overdose. Similarly, 2016 was also the worst year for the Mainers, wherein they lost 400 citizens. The loss of lives was more than one loss of individual life per day (Achilefu, 2017). The situation in western Virginia is more alarming, with deaths increasing from 600 to 900. The founders of Maine Works, which is the agency that operates to help those addicts struggling for rehabilitation, also find steady work. The organization of Maine Works is consistently helping overdosed individuals. According to the founder of Maine Works, the purpose of helping people is not just to give them jobs or to provide them with certain food. It is actually to let them know what the purpose of life is.

The founder of the organization retrieves that the opposite of overdose and addiction is the association of one with society and the feeling of connection. The daily routine and the rituals of any company must include its daily start by gathering the employees and ensuring them to everyone that they assign their jobs on time. Standing with each other, they can see and realize that the individual is not alone. They will ultimately realize that they have bigger and greater tasks than themselves. In the state of Maine, the highest rise in drug abusers is a serious condition for the authorities. Multiple programs and awareness continue to address the increasing number of addicts in Maine.

The problem of overdose individuals is not limited to the state of Maine, but it is a national crisis and requires immediate actions to prevent it from further expansion. In New Hampshire, the rates of death by drugs are continuing to rise. The increase ratio is slower than that of Maine (Kostygina, 2016). A report by the Office of Chief Medical Examiner suggests that necessary steps must be taken to counter the rising rates of death by the excessive use of drugs. The report further explains that 500 people died in 2016, with the comparison of decreased deaths in 2015. The slow speed of increase has been going on since the advent of the crisis in 2012 when 200 people died. The years between 2015 and 2014 have seen the biggest loss of human lives in Hampshire. The secretary of health has announced an increase in grants for the ten medical centers of New Hampshire to combat the problem of substance abuse and treatment of health services.

Most of the reported deaths are due to the combination of certain drugs by the individuals along with heroin. The heroin alone leads to the death of three persons. Around 400 loss of lives were lost due to the use of fentanyl. The legislators, especially those belonging to the Democrats, are criticizing the commission on combating drug addicts for not outlining the proper and effective strategy to eliminate the problem of increased deaths. One of the representatives from New Hampshire is hopeful about recovery and finding long-term solutions against the crises of drugs and opioids (Rudd, 2016). Research for New Hampshire has revealed that fentanyl users are increasing along with death. The data was collected through interviews and from the first responders of opioid users.

The National Institute of Drug Abuse has also alarmed the citizens of Hampshire to stay away from the use of opioids. In the same way, the spread of drugs in Manchester also increases the number of drug users. The healthcare and the emergency responders have to use a high amount in treating and dealing with the patients of drug users. The director of the National Institute of Drug Control revealed that he was surprised by reading the research that most people do not care about overdosing. They must think of their health. He was alarmed that seeking the dealers of the drugs was destructive for all the citizens living in the state of Hampshire. The thoughts of the director are further explained and supported by the idea that a new kind of drug, which is stronger than fentanyl, emerges, and people are consistently using the said drug. The difference between the carfentanil drug and the fentanyl is like the difference between life and death.

The study reveals that those individuals using fentanyl first start their drugs with a prescription from a physician. However, some take the drug for the purpose of recreation. People complain about the drugs and argue that while having opioid therapy, they are spurred by prescription to seek more drugs, which makes their behavior habitual. Similarly, the state of New Hampshire has a lower rate of spending on the prevention of substances. It does not provide facilities and resources to the patient of opioids, which certainly harms the recovery of the individual (Soelberg, 2017). Harm to the prevention and rehabilitation of drug users provides a way for the local populace to initiate private steps for the saving of humans residing in New Hampshire.

The fire department in Manchester has started a program named the Safe Station. The basic purpose of the program is to rehabilitate those individuals who have destructed their lives via the use of excessive drugs. For the intervention and the treatment, the department is offering twenty-four-hour services to patients and those who need help. The program started by the fire department has unexpectedly helped the patient and expanded its services to other hospitals for support to the psychologically needy person. Similarly, the department has a different policy for those who are enough to get treatment from other centers. They were sent to the serenity centers after a thorough examination. The center is a behavioral health treatment agency and receives those individuals having no serious mental or health issues.

The data and the research on drug users in the two states, Maine and Hampshire, reveal that drug addiction is not an ordinary problem but encompasses a national crisis in the United States. Other than US opioids like heroin and morphine, the prescription of those drugs for pain relievers is a serious problem (Volkow, 2015). It is increasingly affecting the social, economic, and health of the globalized world. Opioid abuse severely harms the mental and behavioral aspects of the individual body. Attachment to the effects of the particular protein, which harms the spinal cord, cells inside the nerves, and the gastrointestinal tract. The United States government is describing the dilemma of overdose as a very serious national issue.

The strategy of the National Institute of Drugs Abuse is comprised of the three approaches that best define the issue and its solution. The first approach entails that patients must understand and manage their pain appropriately. The primary move comes from the pain a person is feeling. The research and the funding by NIDA to change the approach towards relieving the individual’s pain and use those drugs that must not harm the body of the patient. The research identified certain new pain relievers that are tolerance, the risk of dependence, other delivery systems, and the formulation of fewer abuse drugs. Researchers are also trying to introduce non-opioid medicine and drugs for the prevention of excessive pain. The hospital and the healthcare staff are also implying non-medication strategies like that of neurofeedback. The patient will regulate certain parts of the brain by acquiring feedback from the images of the real brain.

The US state is trying to prevent overdose death by applying effective means like the use of the antidote naloxone, and more recently, the healthcare sector is introducing the naloxone nasal spray. The new medication will effectively counter any influence of the overdose on the body of the person. Similarly, the new hand auto-injector is applied to reduce the opioid overdose, it is meant for the family, and responsible person who will give it to the patient (Volkow, 2014). The NIDA a government agency tackling with the overdose problems along with other health-related issues is applying effective intervention tools, which changes the brain condition. The innovation of buprenorphine in the intervention of addiction is a wonderful contribution by the State Department of Health. In the same way, prescription drugs are safe if applied and used properly. There is a need for focused research in order to interpret the communication strategies between the public and practitioners. Education is one of the important tools to curb the abuse of drugs. It will help people understand prevention and intervention practices along with the action, which can reduce and eliminate the need for overdoes.

Conclusion

To conclude the discussion on drug abuse, it is to say that the challenges of the prescribed drugs in the United States are consistently underlying the attention of policymakers to resolve the matter with the cooperation of the overdose community. An increased number of people are dying, and there is a strict need for the implementation of a drug policy along with awareness through rigorous educational tools. The states of Maine and New Hampshire will be continuously hampering drug abusers if the authorities have not concentrated on the national crises of drug epidemics.

References

Achilefu, A., Joshi, K., Meier, M., & McCarthy, L. H. (2017). Yoga and other meditative movement therapies to reduce chronic pain. The Journal of the Oklahoma State Medical Association, 110(1), 14.

Kostygina, G., Huang, J., & Emery, S. (2016). TrendBlendz: how Splitarillos use marijuana flavours to promote cigarillo use. Tobacco control, tobaccocontrol-2015.

Rudd, R. A., Aleshire, N., Zibbell, J. E., & Matthew Gladden, R. (2016). Increases in drug and opioid overdose deaths—United States, 2000–2014. American Journal of Transplantation, 16(4), 1323-1327.

Soelberg, C. D., Brown Jr, R. E., Du Vivier, D., Meyer, J. E., & Ramachandran, B. K. (2017). The US Opioid Crisis: Current Federal and State Legal Issues. Anesthesia & Analgesia, 125(5), 1675-1681.

Volkow, N. (2015). What is the federal government doing to combat the opioid abuse epidemic? Natl Inst Drug Abuse.

Volkow, N. D. (2014). America’s addiction to opioids: heroin and prescription drug abuse. Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, 14.