Heroin Epidemic
A thick molasses type drug being heated up and injected into those who are stressed, overworked, in crises just to become another statistic for a government run website on drug abuse. Heroine, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine is 2–3 times more potent than morphine, tolerance and physical dependence occur on repeated use (emcdda 1). A lethal dose can be from just 200mg for a non-user or new user of diamorphine, but a standard user or addict can inject or take in 10 times that number (emcdda 1). The number of heroin overdose deaths increased from 1,960 in 1999 to 15,469 in 2016. The number of deaths has been decreasing since 2016, with 13,165 deaths reported in 2020(NIH 1). The epidemic has been on the decline since 2016 but that does mean that the number will continue this trend. The epidemic that started in the 90’s erupted after a two-year decline of the opioid’s use. The drug is easy to get and dangerous, especially in the more tolerant users who are more than likely addicts. The next major increase could be tomorrow, or next month, or the following year a crackdown on this potent poppy-seed drug needs to happen or the statistics will continue to rise.
The solution is to crackdown on heroine and try to get it off the streets in the U.S. Former members of drug enforcement and crime enforcement, used a way to go to the source of where the opioids is being produced; Peter G. Bourne who was President Carters Drug policy chief in the late 70’s had a plan in Mexico, spraying operation that appeared to be successful. And believed that crop replacement schemes in the Golden Triangle, along with government support for efforts to abolish cultivation, might considerably reduce the amount of heroin entering the global market. He had also set up a satellite system that allowed us to keep track of where opium was being farmed. He believed and stated, “that we could gradually tighten the noose around heroin cultivation and bring the level down to a significant level.” (Bourne 1)
Today In the Golden Triangle, they are producing close to around 715 tons of opium in just a year (Ruth 1). But progress shows that the number was higher a few decades ago because the United States Office on Drugs and Crime states that the work being done in the golden triangle “Since 1998, opium poppy cultivation in the region decreased from an estimated 157,900 hectares to only 24,160 hectares in 2006. The Golden Triangle’s share of world opium poppy cultivation has fallen from 66% in 1998 to only 12% in 2006. Laos and Thailand are opium free.”(Unodc 1). The Golden triangle is slowly falling off the production chain of poppy cultivation due in part to having a tight hold on foreign countries where they are growing the poppy plants and producing heroin and other opioids; also working together with these countries' law enforcement to put an end to the cultivation of the plant and harvesting of the dangerous drugs that are ridden on our streets. The head of the department also claims It was highly successful in the beginning. On the global market, the availability of opium and heroin has decreased. The price was exorbitantly raised(Unodc 1). This rise in price causes the drug to become less affordable on the streets driving the market down for heroin. The market down means fewer deaths and overdoses caused by the drug. But this study and crackdown were also conducted in the 1970’s, meaning that newer ways and statistics are in play.
The DEA conducted a census of sorts on highly dangerous and addictive drugs, writing an article on each of them reporting on recent findings. Heroin continues to remain a severe public health and safety hazard in the United States, despite early signs that demand for the drug is stabilizing (DEA 1). Heroin use and overdose mortality are still at high levels, albeit being constant in comparison to 2017. Domestic heroin and fentanyl markets are intertwined, with both narcotics disproportionately harming the United States' Great Lakes and Northeast regions. To stretch supply while producing a high-quality, highly addictive, and extremely potent product, traffickers combine fentanyl into white powder heroin and/or press the powders into counterfeit pills at the regional and retail levels (DEA 1). It's difficult to estimate the availability and prevalence of white powder heroin because some markets are still primarily heroin markets, while others claim that fentanyl is largely replacing traditional heroin sources. The DEA also claims that “The overwhelming majority of the heroin available in the United States is produced in Mexico and is trafficked across the SWB by Mexican TCOs.” (DEA 1). The focus seems to need to be on Mexico now rather than the Golden triangle now, especially if fentanyl is in play, fentanyl is a highly dangerous chemical that even with the smallest dose can cause an adult to die.
In the United States, the Heroin Epidemic has been a relatively recent and complicated drug war. Because this narcotic has one of the greatest overdose and mortality rates of any other drug, it has to be removed off American streets. A battle that began in Asia's "Golden Triangle" is now being fought not far from the country's border. Fentanyl, a new hazardous substance, is implicated. The fight against the opium epidemic must be taken to the source of the poppy plants, which must be burned out of existence before another epidemic erupts and more innocent people become victims of this heinous addiction.
Works Cited
Author Taswell Ruth. “Heroin - an Overview.” Cultural Survival, 1 Dec. 1985, https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/heroin-overview#:~:text=Today%20Burma%20is%20the%20world's,tons%20of%20opium%20this%20year.
“Crackdown on Heroin - Bourne | the Opium Kings | Frontline.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/heroin/crackdown/bourne.html.
Drug Profiles, https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/drug-profiles_en.
Opium Poppy Cultivation in the Golden Triangle - Unodc.org. https://www.unodc.org/pdf/research/Golden_triangle_2006.pdf.
“Overdose Dea
th Rates.” National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1 Feb. 2022, https://nida.nih.gov/drug-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates#:~:text=Drug%20overdose%20deaths%20involving%20heroin,13%2C165%20deaths%20reported%20in%202020.
Albert Camus and Heroin Epidemic
Albert Camus was not a practical person and did not think like a normal human being. He wouldn’t rationalize life and didn’t think that everything happened for a reason in fact there was never meaning to anything “My dear, In the midst of hate, I found there was, within me, an invincible love. · It takes time to live. · You will never be able to experience everything.”(Albert Camus). The heroin epidemic is a good exam
ple to compare to Camus's thought process. He was an author of absurd fiction, and epidemics and heroin are absurd and cannot be ra
tionalized with or have an excuse for why it has become such a problem in society and the way it is dealt with. Dr
ugs create chaos in society, families, and friendships, they rip and tear apart the bonds of kin, just for a few seconds of euphoria.
Albert Camus is thought that there is no meaning to life, no purpose as do those who choose to take drugs, they lose all touch with this world physically and mentally. Heroin is a Hallucinogen drug that renders the mind in a state where the mind makes up images and it seems as if your world is a fantasy, a lot like how Camus thought about this world, not that it was a fantasy but that there was nothing that this life is fake and has no meaning to it. It is said or interpreted by Camus that it is difficult to face meaninglessness without retreating into the loving arms of religion, science, society, or even producing meaning ourselves. Drugs are risky and people who take them usually are willing to
give up this thing we call life because they see it as meaningless, and drugs can take them to a place to try to find meaning or get even more lost in this confusing life. They are the same and opposite of Camus, while he thought life was meaningless, he still wants us as people to live it and enjoy what we can while we are here.
The heroin epidemic is bad and getting worse, the people included in the forsaken use of the drug are lost, trying to find happiness and meaning that is not there. They are losing their lives because of it, it is absurd, just like the fiction Camus wrote about.