Drug Addiction and Overdose: A Global Public Health Problem

RUNNING HEAD: DRUG ADDICTION
DRUG ADDICTION
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DRUG ADDICTION1
Drug overdose and drug addiction is a public health problem. Various peer reviewed
literature have found different variability ratios of mortality prevalence that is attributable to
addiction and overdose. The studies on the longitudinal trends of overdose hospitalizations or
the overdose deaths has spiked over time. Overall pattern of growing deaths from the
prescribed opioid use and illicit drug use has elevated over the past years and have found a
singular attention in recent literature. With elevation of opioid overdose mortality rates –
nowadays the drug overdose is seen as a dire urban problem and rural areas have shown
increased cases of overdose deaths. Prescribed opioid are the drugs which are associated with
the unintentional overdoses of drugs worldwide while the demographic causes and the
psychiatric causes resulted in unintentional overdoses of drug and this has been reported
globally. These problems are deeply underpinned with the barriers to achieve a common
good. The severities are based on drug history, drug source, psychiatric and demographic
history characteristics, social and cultural history.
Nagelhout et al., (2017) studied how the economic recessions and social situations
like unemployment have an effect on drug abuse. The study supports that economic
recessions can lead to an illegal drug use via the various mechanisms like psychological
distress (Dave et al., 2015), anxiety or due to low income and limited purchasing power. The
study reviews the concerned literature about economic recessions, unemployment effect and
illegal drug use(Caetano Vaeth & Canino, 2018) in the adults. They conducted a systematic
literature review with explanatory method which focused to comprehend the underlying
mechanisms which underlines the sociological problems leading to and associated with drug
addiction and that with violation of CST’s common good. The study found evidences is that
supported the study’s aim. The study concluded by showing that increasing recession leads to
increase in drug abuse because unemployment causes psychological distress leading to a
freedom seeking behavior from drug use. During recession times, a psychological support for

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unemployed or jobless people is imperative and the study emphasized on relapse prevention
as the implication.
Moore (2004) did a critique of heroin overdose prevention in Australia – The study
critically analyzed the current approaches to heroin overdose prevention in Australia. The
study focused on ethnographic researches with experiences of street-based sex workers,
street-based injecting drug users (IDUs) and the service providers in the second largest city of
Australia – Melbourne (Roxburgh, 2017). Recent sociological work and anthropological
researches on drug addiction and overdose were studied by the research too. The study makes
the following conclusions about the prevention of drug related issues- (1) prevention of
heroin overdose in Australia involves explicit or implicit assumptions about personal
autonomy and rationality – emphasizing on an behavior change at personal level that renders
a self-disciplined, self-regulating subject (2) social, economic, cultural realities - ‘lived
experience’ of the street-based injecting drug users and sex workers that hinder a effective
adoption of the overdose - prevention plans. The research study conclude by mentioning that
‘chaotic’ practices which is undertaken by the street-based sex workers and IDU’s emanate
from the ‘risk environments’. The study encourages overdose preventive strategies which can
be accompanied by the measures addressing micro- and macro-aspects present in the risk
environments.
Drake and Hall (2004) identified the risk factors related to the drug overdose. This
study supports the less controversial ways of minimizing the opioid overdose pressure that is
by increasing the number of heroin users, enrolled in the treatment programs. According to
this research –the enrollment in the opioid replacement treatment has considerably decreased
the danger of overdose. Demographics of the overdose have showed that the priority group
happens to be older heroin practitioners and this group is at highest risk. After motivating
these people over a long period of time- these heroin users finally became willing to this drug