Black heroin, mainly produced in Mexico, has been described as feeling like sticky tar, or having a hard coal-like body. The color and consistency of black tar heroin result from the crude processing methods (Types of Heroin).
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We describe drugs by their physical appearance and classify their users by a variety of attributes as well. Asking the question, “Why a particular drug devastates some communities more than others?” requires a complex answer. Factors such as, race/ethnicity, age, gender, and the socio-economic status of users must all be taken into consideration when examining the prevalence of drugs within a given community. For example, America’s 1980s crack cocaine epidemic devastated neighborhoods, destroyed families and led to the imprisonment of thousands from Black communities.
When thinking of our country’s current epidemic, the explosion of heroin, a new face comes to mind. The face of heroin is young, white, and Midwestern. Heroin is affecting a group of people who historically disassociated with the dirty lifestyle of drug abuse. Painkillers — increasingly prescribed and abused — are regulated and expensive. Heroin is a cheaper and more accessible alternative. Users, chasing the painkiller high can get what they want from heroin at a cheaper, but deadlier, cost. I like to call this group of users “the working wounded,” hardworking family people with a legitimate injury and access to pain medication. Across the country heroin use is skyrocketing, our suburbs are flooded, and teenagers are dying. Below is one example of heroin addiction taking captive the most unexpected of victims.
Heroin-related deaths in the U.S. quadrupled between 2000 and 2013, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Whites between 18-44 ranked highest among heroin poisoning deaths. Decades ago, heroin addicts were overwhelmingly older, black, and heroin was considered a problem of urban America. As middle class demand increases, so does supply from Mexico. Now that our suburbs are plagued will the heroin epidemic finally be treated as a national crisis? The old social and economic stereotypes no longer holds — heroin addiction can strike in any home, white or black.
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Last year, Hamilton County alone averaged six fatal opiate overdoses a week (Bach). That’s more than 300 families a year planning a funeral and burying Cincinnati’s sons and daughters, most of them in their 20s and 30. The wave of heroin overdose death has sparked new prevention efforts and controversial programs. The Cincinnati Exchange Project is a local advocacy organization that promotes education and aims to make the drug using community healthier while increasing drug treatment enrollment (How CEP Works). Essentially, participants, usually heroin addicts, turn in a used syringe and are given a sterile syringe in return. Supporters of the syringe/needle exchange hope to combat the spread of hepatitis C and HIV amongst users. The key to reducing the spread of these diseases among injection drug users, experts maintain, is to educate users and equip them with clean needles. Judith Feinberg, a UC doctor, is personally taking on heroin epidemic by upstarting her own needle exchange program. Here is one example of Dr. Feinberg explaining why society needs to stop judging heroin addicts and let their preconceived notions about addiction go. [listen here]
The Cincinnati Exchange Project, and programs alike, is giving addiction survivors and their families hope. Exposing the dark realities of substance abuse may be prevention in itself, but only time will tell. For now, one idea is clear; the cure for America’s heroin epidemic will not be a quick fix. It will take more than two years and it will take more than four years to fix this societal failure. Our nation’s heroin epidemic has taken years to create and it will take years, and an array of approaches, to discover a solution to our brown, white, and black heroin problem.
Bach, John. Injecting Hope. University of Cincinnati. Web. 27 Oct. 2015
“Types of Heroin”. Heroin. Ws. 2011. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.
“How CEP Works”. Cincinnati Exchange Project. 2014. Web. 27 Oct. 2015
We describe drugs by their physical appearance and classify their users by a variety of attributes as well. Asking the question, “Why a particular drug devastates some communities more than others?” requires a complex answer. Factors such as, race/ethnicity, age, gender, and the socio-economic status of users must all be taken into consideration when examining the prevalence of drugs within a given community. For example, America’s 1980s crack cocaine epidemic devastated neighborhoods, destroyed families and led to the imprisonment of thousands from Black communities.
When thinking of our country’s current epidemic, the explosion of heroin, a new face comes to mind. The face of heroin is young, white, and Midwestern. Heroin is affecting a group of people who historically disassociated with the dirty lifestyle of drug abuse. Painkillers — increasingly prescribed and abused — are regulated and expensive. Heroin is a cheaper and more accessible alternative. Users, chasing the painkiller high can get what they want from heroin at a cheaper, but deadlier, cost. I like to call this group of users “the working wounded,” hardworking family people with a legitimate injury and access to pain medication. Across the country heroin use is skyrocketing, our suburbs are flooded, and teenagers are dying. Below is one example of heroin addiction taking captive the most unexpected of victims.
Heroin-related deaths in the U.S. quadrupled between 2000 and 2013, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Whites between 18-44 ranked highest among heroin poisoning deaths. Decades ago, heroin addicts were overwhelmingly older, black, and heroin was considered a problem of urban America. As middle class demand increases, so does supply from Mexico. Now that our suburbs are plagued will the heroin epidemic finally be treated as a national crisis? The old social and economic stereotypes no longer holds — heroin addiction can strike in any home, white or black.
Last year, Hamilton County alone averaged six fatal opiate overdoses a week (Bach). That’s more than 300 families a year planning a funeral and burying Cincinnati’s sons and daughters, most of them in their 20s and 30. The wave of heroin overdose death has sparked new prevention efforts and controversial programs. The Cincinnati Exchange Project is a local advocacy organization that promotes education and aims to make the drug using community healthier while increasing drug treatment enrollment (How CEP Works). Essentially, participants, usually heroin addicts, turn in a used syringe and are given a sterile syringe in return. Supporters of the syringe/needle exchange hope to combat the spread of hepatitis C and HIV amongst users. The key to reducing the spread of these diseases among injection drug users, experts maintain, is to educate users and equip them with clean needles. Judith Feinberg, a UC doctor, is personally taking on heroin epidemic by upstarting her own needle exchange program. Here is one example of Dr. Feinberg explaining why society needs to stop judging heroin addicts and let their preconceived notions about addiction go. [listen here]
The Cincinnati Exchange Project, and programs alike, is giving addiction survivors and their families hope. Exposing the dark realities of substance abuse may be prevention in itself, but only time will tell. For now, one idea is clear; the cure for America’s heroin epidemic will not be a quick fix. It will take more than two years and it will take more than four years to fix this societal failure. Our nation’s heroin epidemic has taken years to create and it will take years, and an array of approaches, to discover a solution to our brown, white, and black heroin problem.
Works Cited Page
Bach, John. Injecting Hope. University of Cincinnati. Web. 27 Oct. 2015
“Types of Heroin”. Heroin. Ws. 2011. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.
“How CEP Works”. Cincinnati Exchange Project. 2014. Web. 27 Oct. 2015
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