The Problem Of Heroin Overdosing In The United States

Did you know that Heroin Overdose is one of the leading causes of death in the world? Some of our legendary artists have been affected by this and it has caused an uproar in our society. Heroin overdose has affected some teens as well. Some people don’t realize how bad overdosing on heroin can do the body if you survive the attack. Heroin overdoses has been rising in the United States over the last few years. Heroin is bad for your body because it is poisonous.

According to Medline Plus heroin is made from morphine. Morphine is actually a strong drug that can be found in the seedpods of opium poppy plants. You can find this plant anywhere around the world. There is actually no medical use for heroin. If you were to buy this drug from a drug dealer they would know what you are talking about if you call it “junk”, “smack”, “dope”, “brown sugar”, “white horse”, “China white”, and “skag”. All of these different ways can get the drug delivered quickly to the brain. Participating in this can contribute to the health risks and high risks for this drug addiction.

When a person is experiencing an overdose 9 times out of 10 they are also abusing prescription pain medicine and other drugs as well. It has also been proven that people who are overdosing on pain meds are also abusing alcohol as well. This can put your health in jeopardy as well because it isn’t recommended that you mix both of those together. Mixing these together can make your body start to shut down and do some things that you aren’t prepared for mentally.

In the previous years heroin use has been recognized as an inner city problem. The number of deaths from heroin is increasing everyday and some people are calling it the worst drug overdose epidemic in the United States history. Heroin overdose has been called out so much that people are not surprised about what is going on anymore.

You can overdose on heroin simply by consuming to much of it or by mixing it with another substance. You will know that a person is experiencing an overdose when their breathing either slows or just completely stops. When this occurs there will be a decrease of oxygen that reaches the brain, and this condition is called hypoxia. When the person is going through withdrawals they will experience severe muscle and bone pain. They will experience sleep problems and diarrhea and vomiting. By the time that this has happened this is when 911 needs to be called. You can also call your local poison control and they will walk you through the different steps to take during this process. If you wait any longer the person could possibly die if not treated by a medical professional.

When the person arrives to the hospital they can expect to have to do a blood and urine test, they will also have to have breathing support as well. The hospital will have to do a Chest X-ray, CT Scan, ECG, and Intravenous fluids through their veins. After they do all of this they will provide them with medicine to treat their symptoms and they will give them multiple doses of naloxone. During your hospital stay they will continue to give you medicine and fluids to treat your overdose. By the end of your stay you should be back to your normal self especially if you do everything that they say you should be doing.

Some of the things that the doctor may recommend you to do when you get released from the hospital is behavioral therapies such as cognitive-behavioral therapy and contingency management. Doing this can help the person’s drug-use expectations and behaviors it’s also supposed to help manage their triggers and stress. All of this is supposed to help the person who has this addiction and how they can better their life in the future.

After dealing with this some people or their families are able to tell about their experiences with heroin. A lot of people don’t live to tell about what they have experienced during this tough time. The people who have died due to an overdose there families have expressed how they feel about losing their loved ones. Their really isn’t a specific age group that has been affected it can happen to anyone so I would advise everyone to be careful when they are mixing these different drugs together.

Whether we know it or not there are a lot of people/families that have been affected by heroin overdose. These people range from teens and even younger and older adults. As I stated earlier there is not a specific age group that can be affected by this epidemic. Even though there isn’t a certain age group you don’t want to fall in those categories especially if you want to be healthy and live a healthy life. Stay away from drugs teens they don’t help you at all they damage your body and they affect you in everything that you do on a daily basis. If you follow everything that is listed in this paper then you can help somebody who is experiencing a heroin overdose.

According to Ian Eaccarino mother he died from an accidental heroin overdose. His mother has stated that he was a promising college student with a promising future. His friends stated that he began using tobacco and marijuana in the eighth grade. So he wouldn’t get caught up his friend helped him switch his urine sample when he had a drug test in high school. Ian had agreed to go to counseling but this did not help his drug addiction at all because he couldn’t get to his emotional problems that caused him to start using heroin.

Another incident that made it obvious to Ian’s parents that he was using drugs was in Ian’s senior year of high school his car was firebombed in the driveway of his home. Ian tried to cover it up with a different story but his parents knew that the drugs that he was using is what made his car get firebombed. Ian realized in last months that what he did was wrong but by the time he realized this it was to late and the pain that he was in became excruciating.

In some cases people have engaged in overdosing with their children. In order for this to happen the parents convince their children that it is ok to indulge in these activities. On April 10, 2016 Andrew Frye who was just 16 overdosed on heroin in a motel room with his mother and his grandmother. It was reported that Heather (his mother) told police that she had taken heroin with her son at 6am on Wednesday. Heather and her mother were charged with involuntary manslaughter. Heather was also charged with child endangering, and tampering with evidence and her mother was charged with corrupting a minor with drugs and trafficking. When the coroner did an autopsy they noticed that he had traces of drugs still in his system from times that he had done drugs before.

In other cases there are people who have survived heroin overdoses. Big name artists such as Demi Lovato have survived a heroin overdose. Artist like her have learned their lesson and tried to get help for it. Since the last time that she had an overdose she is focusing on getting better for herself and her fans. Many people that have been in her situation have not been as open as she has with her story but she is one of the few who is not shy to say that she has a problem with trying to stay sober.

Now there are stories where people have survived a heroin overdose but they have been left with longtime health defects. Unfortunately there is a young lady named Jazzmin who has survived heroin and Xanax overdose. Due to her actions she now has to suffer with short-term memory loss and hearing loss. Brayden Travis is another survivor of a heroin and Xanax overdose. Doctors told his parents that if Brayden survived then he would be a vegetable. After 4 months of rehabilitation treatment Brayden was well and he was doing better than before. The consequences that Brayden has to face is he is suffering brain damage due to lack of oxygen from the brain. But other than that his organs aren’t damaged at all. Brayden’s story is a miracle so his mom talks about his story all the time and she encourages other teens to not do drugs.

Works Cited

• Medline Plus Heroin Overdose //medlineplus. gov/ency/article/002861. htm
• The Good Drugs Guide Heroin Overdose Symptoms www. thegooddrugsguide. com
• Heroin-Adult & Teen Challenge USA https://teenchallengeusa. com/addictions/heroin/
• Drug Facts:Heroin National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) https://www. drugabuse. gov/publications/drugfacts/heroin
• Hannah Parry: Daily Mail. com “Teenage boy,16, died of overdose after doing heroin in motel room with his own mother” https://www. dailymail. co. uk/news/article-3532812/Teenage-boy-16-died-overdose-doing-heroin-heroin-motel-room-mother-html
• Ian Eaccarino Heroin Overdose Story https://www. justthinktwice. gov/true-stories/ian-eaccarino-20
• Demi Lovato Heroin Overdose Story
• https://www. cnn. com/2018/07/24/entertainment/demi-lovato-hospitalized/index. html
• Jazzmin Heroin Overdose Story
• https://www. wthr. com/article/jazzmins-journey-paralyzed-by-heroin
• Brayden Travis Heroin Overdose Story
• https://www. stltoday. com/news/local/crime-and-courts/st-charles-county-teen-who-nearly-died-from-heroin-overdose/article_ad0f8656-0868-5b3b-8bfa-bf2ebde0c2df. html