Currently needle and syringe exchange programs are not federally funded or supported in the United States, even though the support is growing. Generally speaking, the implementation of such programs is difficult based on the social rejection of the people the services would benefit, and the legal funding restrictions. Nevertheless, the National Institute of Health identified six characteristics of successful syringe exchange programs implementation (Downing et.al 2014). First off, the debate needs to be set in a way that is considerate of both the political and cultural norms; also, the effort needs to involve community building and involvement. Third, there needs to be sufficient leadership; and easily accessible resources; and use of research finding and supporting evidence of the programs; and lastly, the implementation process must ignore any fear of social or political hostility (Downing et.al 2014). While as a nation we have a long way to go, I think the potential for successfully implementing federally funded needle and/or syringe exchange programs, or other similar programs devoted to harm-reduction and risk-prevention, are just around the political and social corner of reforming the view on drugs. The New Opiate Addict Opiate addiction is not what it once was thought to be. At the beginning of opiate use it was socially acceptable and typically administered through smoking or snorting. However social interpretation of opiate use quickly changed as unemployment began to increase at the beginning of the 20th century as the industrial boom began to decline in the United States. At the time, millions of Chinese immigrants were employed to build the railroad. The Chinese were also known for smoking opium in opium dens. At... ... middle of paper ... ...conomic class, whose dependency most likely began after being prescribed opiates. This has resulted in a demographic shift in the subpopulation of heroin addicts, which further emphasizes the misguided stereotyping of heroin addicts in particular, but also probably other drug subculture demographics as well. Addicts need to be identified as sick individuals who deserve the same health services and treatment as other individuals addicted to other, more socially accepted habits, like eating sugar or socially acceptable alcohol abuse. We, as a country and society, need to harbor on the need for more societal, political and financial support of better, more effective, non-punitive means to rehabilitate drug addicts. Thus, both the social and legal exclusions of addiction need to be rethought, while also replacing the inherently engrained image of an opiate drug abuser.
From the inception of the Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914, the social concept of drug addicts or those recovering from abuse as “criminal deviants” is still stigmatized today even though we have gained ground and won the war on dru...
Bruce K. Alexander’s essay “Reframing Canada’s ‘Drug Problem’” is about shifting the focus from intervention to prevention. Alexander explains that in Canada there have been three major waves of drug intervention: “Criminal prosecution and intensive anti-drug” (225), “medicinal and psychological treatment” (225), and the ‘“harm reduction’ techniques” (225) being the most resent. The “’harm reduction’” (225) consisted of: clean injectable heroin, clean needles, methadone, and housing for addicts. Although each of the methods is devoted and knowledgeable, they have done little to decrease the deaths or suppress the unhappiness. While clean heroin did work well few addicts quit using and many found
This medicalized interpretation of heroin addiction heavily emphasizes a constant state of suffering for those who are affected (Garcia 2010, 18). Furthermore, Nuevo Dia employees take this framework into account when contributing their efforts to treat addicts, on the premise that relapse will soon follow recovery (Garcia 2010, 13). When detox assistants assure themselves that their patients will return to the clinic, as if they never went through a period of treatment, one can expect that the quality of such to be drastically low. The cyclical pattern of inadequate therapies, temporary improvements in health and detrimental presuppositions all widen the health inequality gap in New Mexico. Garcia shares that the “interplay of biomedical and local discourses of chronicity compel dynamics of the Hispano heroin phenomenon,” which is evident in how the judicial system handles the social issue of addiction (2010,
Perhaps one of the most pressing concerns is health and the assumption that to a certain degree criminalization is justified by preserving health. Illicit drugs are, in reality, not as hazardous to public health as accustomed views present- particularly in relation to certain recreational activities that are legal. Of the 25,000 illegal drug use-induced fatalities the National Institute on Drug Abuse has brought to light, the majority is more correctly due to drug prohibition than consumption. Also, some 14,300 of the casualties are a result of diseases like AIDS, transferred (generally) because of contaminated drug injection needles. Needle exchange programs for sterile needles are encouraged by the World Health Organization, amongst many other international organizations, as it is considered as possibly the greatest innovation for the health improvement of users. However, the federal government disallows the appropriation of its funds to these programs because the possession and sale of syringes still remain largely illegal. Furthermore, - as I explain later on- between the sellers and producers, there is no real confidence in the contents and hence, dangerousness of a given street drug. Considering the already growing level of consumption, imagine the gains of, for example, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) supervising illicit drugs, parallel to their work on food and
We are introduced to the story of Matt Schoonover, a young man who had recently obtained his masters degree from Yale. He had grown up “attending a Christian private school, and a prominent church” (2). Matt had begun abusing pills, though he was originally prescribed them by a doctor. Even after undergoing detoxification and then rehab, Matt could not curb his addiction. “Unable to afford street Oxycontin, Matt switched to black tar heroin, brought in from Mexico” (3). We are told how this is unfortunately quite common. People who are prescribed pills often end up abusing them; and once they can no longer afford the high prices of OxyContin they switch to black tar heroin. This transition is often what leads to overdoses, as black tar heroin is extremely deadly and overdoses like Matt’s are common. This is just one story out of tens of thousands of similar stories that all have the same ending. The opiate crisis is a problem that few recognize because it crept up on a majority of Americans. Young people throughout the nation were not using drugs in public, but privately in their own
Needle exchange programs are defined as a program, which intended to slow the spread of AIDS among IV drug users. It provides factual information and education for drug users and community so that the use of drugs has a minimal negative impact. (Watson 1991: 14) The first needle exchange programs began to emerge across Europe in the mid- 1980’s and have become famous health strategy around the world. In Canada, NEPs was officially opened in Ontario in 1987 and Vancouver in 1989, and a total of 28 NEPs were operational by February 1993. Today, there are more than 100 NEPs functioning around Canada, most of which earn federal and provincial funding. Needle exchange programs aim to provide injection and encourage the utilization of sterile needle syringes and other paraphernalia among injecting drug u...
She has indirectly experienced addiction through multiple family members, therefore acquiring the ability to care for addicts in her hometown. Adela feels she has a responsibility to attend to those who are in dire need of treatment, especially since there is no longer a treatment center in the area. The local detox attendant makes a devoted effort to “push back against hegemonic sociocultural forces” by redefining care as a component of understanding, compassion and love. With this transformation, heroin addicts gain jurisdiction of their own bodies and a “greater say over the shape of their own subjectivities (Kohrman 2016). Individuals are no longer treated as prisoners of the state, yet as people with an illness. This particular account signifies hope in the Espanola Valley, despite the prevailing constraints that aims to criminalize a marginalized population for their issues. Professor Kohrman restates in his lecture that “hegemony’s victories are never final,” which is due to the presence of “multitude of resistances to ideological domination” (2016). Adela’s means of care resists the power of the clinical gaze, while investing in the health of the local people. Although heroin addiction in New Mexico is still a prevalent issue in today’s society, there seems to be an improvement in the quality of treatment when home detox
Addiction is one of the hardest difficulties to overcome, yet people often find themselves caught in the world wind of addiction. We all ask the question to what makes a person an addict, or why is it so hard for drug addicts to overcome this problem. However, can we say that getting a hold of drugs is much easier in today’s society, or is it made available to easily. In this day and age, heroine seems to be a major epidemic; furthermore, opiates have been around for centuries. Therefore, people have been battling addiction for as long as opiates have been around. In Drugstore Cowboy, the film takes a look into the life of four people who rob drugstores in order to support
Young adults with opioid addictions worry what their friends, family and even doctors will think of them and hesitate to seek professional help. The result is that teen addiction often remains unaddressed, and it inevitably worsens without treatment. As a society, there is a lack of education about addiction as a disease, so most people simply don’t know how recovery works. Recovery from addiction is long and painful, and the stigma around addiction only prevents people from getting the help they need making it crucial for society to look past the stigma that people in recovery are always on the brink of relapse, a false conception that affects self-esteem and relationships. According to the Institute of Medicine, “Stigma is most likely to diminish as a result of public education and broader acceptance of addiction as a treatable disease” (The Stigma of Addiction 1). By reducing the stigma of opioid addiction, young adults will no longer fear judgement from seeking
I agreed with Johann with the fact that we have to be compassionate towards addicts rather than discriminating them. No one is perfect and it is just not right making a space goat out of an individual because they messed up. I believe that no one is perfect but with the standards that the government and public are setting, they are trying to create a perfect citizen, which is far for realistic. When looking at the former assignment we had to do, we talked about how college students abused Adderall and when thinking towards those lines, there are college students whom are addicted to various things like alcohol Or
This has been going on for generations. In the mid to late 1800’s, opium was a popular drug. Opium dens were all over the wild west back in the 1800’s. The opium came from Chinese immigrants who came here to work on the railroads. They used the drug to help them work and forget about the pain caused by the hard work they were doing. Opium were more used than saloons. Opium was seen as a cure for alcoholics by the late 1800’s. It was from opium that morphine, was developed as a pain killer around 1810. The people of the time called heroin a wonder drug because it stopped severe pain that came with medical operations or traumatic injuries. Morphine left the user high in a completely numb dream state. During the Civil War, the numbers of people
Burrow, D. (2000). Starting and managing needle and syringe programe. Sydney, Australia: International Harm Reduction Development.
Drug addiction is a problem that has been increasing immensely throughout our country. With 23.5 million Americans who are addicts and 50 to 90 percent of people who relapse after a period of time in recovery, It seems that our country should take a different approach towards substance abuse. I believe the misconception of addiction in our country has pushed addicts further away, we need to help addicts reconnect and rediscover themselves back into society. By punishing addicts and making them suffer more, we believe that would discourage them and give them the incentive to stop but it’s time we treat our drug policies as health issues instead of criminal issues.
Smoking opium was a custom for the Chinese workers after a day of work, comparable to workers today that go out for a drink after a day of work. With opium smoking came opium dens; this was where people would culminate to smoke opium, gamble, and prostitution took place there as well. Opium was now considered to be a harmful drug by the public, and they began to associate opium with the Chinese, “Public opinion toward opium was primarily based on ‘racial hatred’ by mainstream society toward Chinese immigrants. Newspapers of the time carried lurid tales of crime and debauchery in opium dens. All these accounts portrayed the Chinese in a negative light” (Hogan 40). The public became fearful of the effects of opium and the Chinese, “In 1875, the San Francisco municipal authority passed a city ordinance forbidding the smoking of opium. However, the actual importing and selling of the drug were not included in the ordinance as criminal acts” (Hogan 41). They prohibited individuals to not smoke opium but did nothing to the individuals producing and importing the drug. This clearly did not end the problem, opium was still allowed to be produced and imported wherever. This only
Illegal drug use is one of the most common problems that affect Americans every day. Joyce B. Shannon (2010) found that, “More than 35 million individuals used illicit drugs or abused prescription drugs in 2007” (p. 11). The impact can be seen in communities of all types, and people with low and high income levels. Drug use is at the root of many problems with our society. Joyce B. Shannon (2010) referenced a survey from 2004 that states, “32% of state prisoners and 26% of federal prisoners” admitted that they were currently serving jail time for offences committed while they were, “under the influence of drugs” (p. 102). The reasoning behind this issue will be explained from a psychological, sociological, and an anthropological perspective including the benefit of an interdisciplinary perspective to grasp the cause of drug use and it’s affect on society.