The impact heroin addiction has on men 20-50 years old in the USA

The impact heroin addiction has on men 20-50 years old in the USA

Introduction

Heroin is a highly addictive, illegal drug that is the most abused as well as the most expeditiously acting of the opiates. It is synthesized from morphine, a natural substance extracted from the seed pod of some poppy plants. It is usually sold as a brown or white powder or as a black sticky thing known as “Black Tar Heroin” on the streets. Heroin can be smoked, injected or snorted. Using any of these three means of administering heroin can result in addiction and many severe health issues. According to the survey conducted by World Health Organization (WHO), the United States of America leads the world in the illegal use of drugs like Heroin, Cocaine and Marijuana. A total of 17 countries including Netherlands and countries with flexible drug laws were surveyed amongst which Americans reported the utmost level of heroin use. (Schneider, 2008)

Discussion

The negative consequences of any drug abuse adversely affect not only the individuals but the abuser's family, friends, government resources and several businesses as well. Heroin addiction severely affects the lives of men belonging to the age of 20 to 50 years. One of the most observable effects of drug abuse includes sickness, ill health and eventually death especially the contraction of syringe borne illnesses which includes HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis. According to CDC, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 123,235 adults suffering from Aids in the United States in 2008 contracted this disease from injecting drugs and the rate of survival for those individuals is much lesser than those who got AIDS from some other methods of transmission. (Musto, 2007)

Heroin addicted men belonging to the age group of 30 to 50 often abuse and neglect their children. National level studies show that heroin addicted men frequently put their want to attain and abuse heroin before the welfare and health of their children. This is the reason why children whose fathers or any other family member abuse heroin are mostly emotionally or physically abused and also lack suitable immunizations, dental care, medical care and basic necessities like water, shelter and food.

The economic impact of heroin addiction on businesses where employees are heroin addicted can be highly considerable. Majority of the employees or workers in an organization range from 20 to 50 years of ...