drug
A drug is any substance or rather a chemical substance that, when taken, alters the normal physical or psychological functioning of the body. Most of the widely known drugs derive their originality from naturally occurring or planted substance. The food chain is proof of how humans correlate with plants. The world has organisms that a complete food chain. Drugs can be harmful or useful, depending on the use. Hospitals use these drugs as a form of treatment to the various ailments. A study of the effects of drugs to the human body has enabled the proper dosage issued to patients. The administration of an appropriate dosage is dependent on the condition of the patient and the immunity. When a physician has information regarding the patient, there is an administration of the right amount of dosage. If the correlation of the strength is not well established, the patient can get overwhelmed by the drug. This brings an issue called drug abuse into the subject.
Even though drugs originate from plants, they have been exploited to an exponential number of uses. These uses have been made possible by the available chemistry and technology. Processing has widely contributed to the change of the original form of substances. There has been an frightening rise in the illegal use of drugs. These processed substances have chemical elements that lure addiction. Addiction comes into existence when there is an overstimulation of a nervous impulse through repeated action. One drug that has proved to be a menace that needs in-depth addressing like climate change is heroin. Heroin originates from morphine, which has roots in a poppy plant — one of the largest growers of poppy plants in Afghanistan. The youth has widely experienced the effects of heroin. The next generation should be conserved and protected from such vise.
Heroin has been proved to be illegal in most states all over the world. In the United States of America, the drug has not been approved to be used by the general population, thus illegal. Psychology says that if you prevent a person from something, the persistence to use it grows. Although the government has done this to prevent the misuse of the drug, the drug is still rampantly used. The users have come up with names that law enforcers would not understand to continue to use it. These names do change with season and time since the police also come to understand these names. Heroin has different names such as; Brown sugar, Dope, H, antihistamine, Cheese, Horse, Skag, China White, Skunk, Smack, White Horse With OTC cold medicine, and junk. These street names have evolved to promote the heroin business. Also, the drug exists in various forms, which differ in preference and location. Some of the types of the drug are: White or brownish powder, or black sticky substance known as “black tar heroin” After looking at how the drug has been promoted to spread into the market, it is useful to understand how the users administer it. There are various forms of administering the drugs into the body of the user, depending on the preference and addiction level. Injection using the needle, taking them as capsules, inhaling the crushed particles of the drug, and smoking it are some of the formats used.
Studies have been conducted to investigate the extent of the menace caused by the drug. The issue is so alarming that tears might flow when reading the reports. One study by the center for disease control (CDC) suggests that every eleven minutes someone in the United States of America dies of an opioid overdose. As stated earlier, heroin is an opioid drug derived from morphine. Morphine is a natural substance gotten from seed pods of poppy plants. The rate at which people die because of heroin is not fathomable. In 2017, there was an estimation that 47000 people died because of heroin overdose from manufactured fentanyl and prescription opioids. Also, an additional number of 1.7 million people were reported to suffer from opioid-related substance disorder. In terms of percentage, roughly 21 to 29 percent of patients in opioid medication misuse the drug.
The overdose of opioids has increased by 30 percent in the year 2016 to 2017 in 45 states of the United States of America. The most affected region of the United States of America is the cities, which contribute to a 54 percent rise in 16 states. The reason why the towns pose to be a lucrative group in promoting the use of heroin is as follows. Cities are populated, making it possible for a ready market. For economic reasons, the realization of huge profits is when drugs are sold fast and in vast quantities. The correlation of the risks and costs involved in carrying out such a business to the rate of sales, the cities are essential. Also, the people living in towns are affected by depression since there is a need to satisfy the wants inhibited by the high cost of living. As the population strives to achieve satisfaction, a percentage turns to drug abuse as a form of stress reliever. Cities like Omaha and Oklahoma have shown a massive case of opioid use. An example of Oklahoma provides evidence on the use of heroin. The existence of Hispanic and African gangs in the city has provided grounds for the distribution of the Mexican brown tar heroin.
Figure 1. Oklahoma rate of overdose deaths involving prescription opioids and the opioid prescribing rate. Source: CDC and CDC WONDER
In every drug use, there are health effects that result in their misuse. Since a drug causes an alteration to the normal functioning of the body, there is a profanity that users tend to misbehave after taking the drug. The short term effects include dry mouth, a warm flushing of the skin, heavy feeling in the arms and legs, nausea and vomiting, severe itching, and clouded mental functioning. The long term effects include sexual dysfunction for men, irregular menstrual cycles for women, abscesses (swollen tissue filled with pus), constipation and stomach cramping, liver and kidney disease, and pneumonia.
Apart from misbehaving, these are an aspect of the hygiene that is prevalent in the injection administration of the drug. Unprotected sexual intercourse is another resultant issue. These contribute to the occurrence of human immunodeficiency virus, which spreads as parties misbehave. People who have suffered from addiction might want to detach themselves from the substance, causing addiction resulting in withdrawal. The symptoms of withdrawal include severe muscle and bone pain, sleep problems, diarrhea and vomiting, and severe heroin cravings.
Figure 2. Oklahoma: Estimated percent of male vs. female with new HIV diagnoses, by transmission category, 2016. Source: CDC and www.AIDSVU.org.
As a result of the acquired diseases contacted in the process of heroin use, there are costs to incur. Treatment is an expensive procedure to undertake. It has cost several states tonnes of money to cater for the health and well being of the parties infected with diseases related to drug abuse. An example of how Oklahoma has been affected by the liability of heroin abuse is as follows.
Figure 3. NAS/NOWS Incidence Rate and Hospital Costs for Treatment in the United States. Source: T.N.A. Winkelman, et al., 2018.
Even though the above issues have menacingly affected society, some policies and practices have been formulated by the government, NGOs, and institutions to combat it. The United States of department of health and human service is one department that has prioritized solving drug abuse. The department is promoting the use of overdose-reversing drugs, improve access to treatment and recovery, supporting research work, advancing practices for pain management, and strengthening understanding through public health surveillance. Another institution is the national institute of health. The institution is a component of the health and human service. The national institute of health had a meeting with academic research centers and pharmaceutical companies to discuss various issues. The discussion involved non-addictive, effective, and safe ways to manage chronic pain, new innovative and technological methods to treat opioid use ailments, and improved overdose prevention and reversal interventions.
In conclusion, heroin has turned out to become a menace that needs world attention. It is crucial to come up with methods to solve this issue. Most of the addicts are innocently lured into the malpractice. The world needs to seek preventive options even if it means cutting off poppy producing zones. Human health should come before every aspect of money-making practice since prevention is better than cure.