Neiko Serrecchia
Government action on drug use in America.
Drug use has become a major problem all over the world, but has the American government exacerbated the problem? Firstly, America has one of the highest populations of convicted criminals in prisons. It has been shown that prisoners who return home are at a much higher risk of relapse and overdose. Second, there are plenty of residential rehabilitation programs in America but fewer than three percent of these programs offer the types of medications needed in overcoming an addiction, specifically to opioids. Last, it is important to note that a majority of drug related deaths are a result of opioid overdose. These opioids are not necessarily being smuggled in from out of the country, but rather are prescribed in excess to the American population. This makes medicine cabinets and parent’s purses a potentially deadly thing in a family household.
America has the highest population of prisoners in the world with 179 prisoners for every. 25000 people. This relates to drug use in the United States because of the response to drug users. Drug users are more often prosecuted than given the opportunity to find treatment or another means of creating a healthier life. (17% of all the people in jail in America are there on drug related charges). This effect is made worse by the statistics that follow incarceration. In washington state someone released from prison was twelve times more likely to die from overdose than a drug user in the same demographic who had not gone to prison. Prisons experience having an abundance of drugs in the prison itself making the environment one that promotes usage. Less than 10% of the prisoners released from prison that had been diagnosed with substance use disorders actually received treatment.
Residential treatment has not necessarily been helping people stop doing drugs. There are many medications to be prescribed that can help one not suffer so violently from addiction, however fewer than three percent of United States rehab programs will prescribe the needed medications to people in the program. Another thing impacting the drug using demographic is the quality of rehabilitation program. Many rehabilitation programs suffer the same fate as prisons do in creating an environment that endorses drug use instead of denying it. Drug rehab success rates are as...
