In the recent years, there has been an increase and rise in the number of deaths associated with heroin overdose. Heroin overdose occurs when large doses of heroin are taken by individuals and this could often lead to lethal effects such as death. With the increase in heroin overdoses over the years, the risks for drug-related deaths also increase. It is vital for the government to confront the heroin crisis as more and more Americans die every day due to heroin overdose and more families are left to suffer the painful consequences of these deaths.
The epidemic of heroin-related deaths must therefore be resolved by the American government before it threatens every individual in the nation. Solutions Raising public awareness about heroin addiction and its medical treatments and prevention programs Provision of recovery and maintenance centers for heroin abusers Prosecution of manufacturers and distributors of heroin Imprisonment of heroin users Efforts should be made by federal agencies, in cooperation with the healthcare system and state governments, towards the increase of public awareness regarding heroin addiction and its medical treatments and prevention programs especially since federal agencies have the ability to expertly study heroin addiction and the power to educate the public about the heroin epidemic. Solution # 1 By raising public awareness about the treatment and prevention of heroin overdose, heroin overdose-related deaths could decrease gradually. Supporting evidence sentences A study by Jones, Lurie, and Compton presents the fact that prescriptions of naloxone, an antidote used to treat heroin overdose, have increased in the last few years (2016, p.
689-690). This shows that through the growth of naloxone prescriptions, the heroin epidemic can be fought; as by making naloxone accessible through retail pharmacies, the general public can be made aware of treatments available for overdose. Correal, in her article, also talks about how people have expected to be able to acquire naloxone from retail pharmacies easily as the government and the city public awareness campaigns have stated that people are allowed to get naloxone from certain pharmacies without the need for prescription (2018, p. 1). However, Correal says that the reality is different since it is quite difficult to obtain naloxone from pharmacies since pharmacies refuse to dispense without prescriptions thereby leading the city’s health commissioner to resolve this conflict with the pharmacies (2018, p. 1).
Correal’s article shows the efforts of the city and government in making the public aware about naloxone treatments for drug overdose as well as the challenges faced by the city in making naloxone publicly accessible. The efforts of the healthcare system and the state governments show the importance of public awareness which is also discussed by the federal agencies. Federal agencies, like the FBI and DEA, also value the significance of awareness among the public as attempts have been made to inform the public about heroin addiction. Supporting evidence sentences Shapiro’s article states that the film, titled Chasing the Dragon, targets teenagers specially, contains testimonies from addicts who survived overdose, and is to be distributed by FBI and DEA to all their field offices in order to be used for educational purposes in classrooms nationwide (2016, p. 1). As Shapiro (2016) mentions the concern regarding drug addiction, the article provides information about the awareness of federal agencies and the steps they take in order to inform teenagers of drug addiction in the hopes of reducing and solving the heroin epidemic by convincing them of the detrimental effects of addiction (p.
1). While effort and time have been dedicated by various agencies, researchers, and governments in trying to inform the people about heroin addiction and its treatments to reduce deaths, there are also other ways that could possibly resolve the problem.
