The Silent Killer Drug - Essay Example

Addictive drugs have been and are still an issue across the globe. People get addicted to the drug due to different reasons, and the dependence of these drugs is coming to levels that should be worrying. One of this addictive drug is heroin. It is a drug that wields its effect by activating pleasure centers in the brain. Most of its users are unaware of the adverse effects or the actual contents of this potent drug, and therefore they are at a risk of overdose or death. To combat this, the government and other health institutions embarked on a program to administer heroin to addicts in a prescribed manner. Conversely, heroin addiction is reaching epidemic levels in the country.

The heroin epidemic has its roots in the explosive use of morphine by soldiers during the civil war to treat their injuries. The United States was beleaguered with a major addictive drug epidemic in a span of ten years as thousands of Confederate and Northern soldiers became addicts. The discovery of heroin in Germany and the perception that the drug was safer than morphine led many into using the drug. The use of heroin is a learned behavior, being transmitted from a person to another. With no studies conducted on the impacts of the continued trend of heroin use, the epidemic speeded across the globe during the 1980s and 2000s.

When the prevalence of the drug effects became apparent, efforts by the public health, the federal and state agencies to deal with the crisis seems to have borne no fruits. According to an article in The Economist, in the year 2015 alone, 52,000 people died due to drug overdose complication. Of these deaths, 33,000 were from opioids related drugs such as heroin, meaning that a person died every ten minutes as a result of drug overdose emanating from the use of heroin and other opioids. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that more Americans are seeking treatment for heroin more than any drug. This validates the sad truth of the silent killer disease that is slowing crawling up its way into the society.

The drug menace is prominent, and most strikingly, the socio-economic effects of the drug are yet to be revealed in the public domain or policy discourse. Heroin has a devastating impact on the user and the community at large, some of the effects fall on the users physical and psychological inability to perform as required. On the other hand, studies have found out that the use of heroin puts financial pressures on families in terms of the treatment cost, and at times repaying theft-related incidents caused by the user. Heroin usage of heroin has impacted the broad social life of the family members and the community. The drug menace is associated with deterioration of family relationships, criminal activities, and conflicts.

It is imperative to comprehend that the solution to curbing the epidemic is not exhausted yet. I believe that we as the society have an obligation to ensure that the pandemic is combated. We should urge our leaders and the authorities to focus more on the adequate prevention measures, and that treatment is accessible to the ones affected in affordable ways. The heroin epidemic, unlike cancer, can be prevented through unity and dedication to the course.