Essay about The Crack Cocaine Epidemic of the Mid 1980s

In the essay “America’s Unjust Drug War” by Michael Huemer, Huemer discusses the facts and opinions around the subject on whether or not the recreational use of drugs should be banned by law. Huemer believes that the American government should not prohibit the use of drugs. He brings up the point on drugs and how they harm the users and the people in the user’s life; he proves that the prohibition on drugs in unjust. Huemer believes that drug prohibition is an injustice to Americans’ natural rights and questions why people can persucute those who do drugs.

It is claimed to be a conspiracy theory by some. In the 1980’s the CIA was linked to the Central American drug trade and the CIA and its operatives sold crack cocaine to African-American community to raise millions to support the agency's clandestine operations in Central America but that is just a theory (Delaval). Journalist Gary Webb published several articles in San Jose Mercury News called “The Dark Alliance”. In his work he clearly refuted the claim that Iran Contra did not introduce drugs to inner cities. He said “the CIA sold tons of cocaine to LA street gangs to help fund the Contras (Hannaford).” Former LAPD detective and author Michael Ruppert has written extensively about the government’s involvement in drug trafficking around the world. He says politics isn’t the only motive. “The control of the cash from the drug trade is of vital importance to wall street, because drug profits are laundered under corporations and banks net profits,” said Ruppert (“CIA Funnels

As soon as I entered the class, there was a man sitting in our class. His name was Paul Shapiro, and he was from the Orange County Courts. He explained to us what the community court is, and what kind of effect it has on our society. During mid-1980s, crack cocaine was widespread and people kept going back to prison. To cut this infinite loop of incarceration, Orange County made the drug court. It is not like a real court, but rather similar to a program that helps drug addicts free themselves from drug dependence. Unlike other courts, the prosecutor, the attorney, the probation officer, and the judge in the drug court work as a team.

Volunteering and participating in service projects are two of the most rewarding activities in my opinion. Some people may find it was a hassle or only do it because they have to meet the minimum requirement for school or work. Helping others, for me, has always been somewhat second nature to me. Over many years of volunteering I believe I have developed qualities that will stick with me for life and benefit me in my career. As early as freshman year, in high school, I found myself looking for ways to give back. I started by looking for opportunities within school, where I came across the A+ tutoring program, and so my journey of giving back began. While tutoring, my patience for others really evolved, partly by choice and partly because

The drug epidemic in America is a growing problem and continuing to take hundreds of lives everyday, particularly opioids. These highly addictive drugs are taking the world by storm and claiming thousands of life with no remorse. The pharmaceutical industry is making millions off the addiction and pain of the American people causing a widespread of drug overdoses and deaths all across the United States. According to The New York Times, “Public Health officials have called the current opioid epidemic the worst drug crisis in American history, killing more than 33,00 people in 2015.” (Scott Morgan) Addiction, money, and the vulnerability all play a part in the opioid widespread epidemic.

Drugs have been a problem in the country for a long time. Issues with drugs even existed in ancient times. However, through the War on Drugs, the media created a panic about the issue, making citizens believe drug abuse was an exponentially growing new epidemic in the United States. Although the War on Drugs was declared in 1982 and was intended to reduce the rates of drug abuse in the US, America’s drug problem increased dramatically over the next years (Bagley, 1988).

Policies that target a specific racial group have been an issue that has been among us for a very long time. An example of this would be the high incarceration rates connected to cocaine sentences. This situation can be connected to the sentences that treat crack violations more harshly than those associated with powder cocaine. It is important to examine in the histories of this hostile guidelines in order to understand how they invited so much criticism, why they were so controversial, why they were so resistant to change, and how nonetheless occurred. The Federal Sentencing guidelines adopted in the United States in 1986 have been the subject of a variety of criticisms over the past twenty five years. During the 1800’s and early 1900’s, it was available and legal and commonly used in tonics and other medications. (Smith, 1986) Following this, cocaine became identified a toxic, addictive, and harmful. Consequently, the 1970’s and 1980’s saw a dramatic increase in powder cocaine used by the middle class (Chappell & Maggard, 2007). Both powder and crack cocaine have been proven to be addictive and to produce similar effects when used in large doses, which can increase the heart rate and result in strokes and even death. (Reinarman & Levine, 1997).

Just Say No.” This phrase was uttered in 1982 by Nancy Reagan, the first lady of the United States, in response to a schoolgirl’s question of what she should do if offered drugs (Weinraub A5). These words became the slogan for a nationwide substance abuse prevention program that followed the then recently enacted drug policies intended to discourage the manufacture, sale, and use of illicit drugs in the United States. These zero tolerance policies carried harsh penalties and strict enforcement for all drug related offenses. Almost four decades later, these policies are still in effect, as is their focus on criminalization as a means to reduce the availability and usage of drugs. Their ineffectiveness is evidenced by the facts that drug use rates have remained steady over the past four decades and incarceration rates have exponentially rose during that same period. I believe that a new course of action should be taken, and a bold new drug policy should be enacted. Decriminalization would result in a substantial decrease of the prison population, relieve the unnecessary burden that has been placed on our criminal justice system, shift the paradigm from drug enforcement to drug treatment, reduce the health risk of HIV, AIDS, and heroin related deaths; and provide unprecedented benefits from the regulation of the manufacturing and sales of substances that are currently illegal.

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 8.1% of Australians aged 14 years and over have used cocaine one or more times in their life. Cocaine abuse can lead to many harmful complications to the human body, one of the most prevalent being harm to the Cardiovascular System, as suggested by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Due to such abuse, medical complications arise, leading to experimental investigative research processes to take place that aim to discover the causes of drug abuse and the results of constant abuse to deliver a proposed treatment option. Though the research field develops, its financial sources are empowered by the government’s collection of taxes from the general public. This report

The state of Ohio has more deaths than larger states and 1 in 9 heroin overdoses happen in Ohio (Johnson). This is surprising because there's fifty states and 1 in 9 overdoses happen in a small state. There are so many people in the U.S. and these numbers show the epidemic is changing for the worse. The heroin epidemic is increasing everywhere but one place that is really bad is in Northwest Ohio.

The United States is not immune to the worldwide drug addiction epidemic. Drugs pour in from Mexico daily, then distributed to throughout the country. The economic crisis in America is creating an excuse for drug use (e.g., depression, hopelessness). This chemical fix not only creates problems for the addict, but the family and community as well. Every addict has an enabler, a person who makes the addiction possible through various venues of support (e.g., financial, denial). Addicts are only concerned with their next fix and will resort to any means to obtain it (e.g., theft, prostitution, pan-handling). Some have even resorted to extremely desperate measures; for example, murder for inheritance or life insurance proceeds.

Crack Cocaine the drug that has impacted so many lives; especially the life of rappers. Crack Cocaine is the refined result of cocoa leaves. However, crack cocaine was not developed until the cocaine boom of 1970. Large shipments of this drug was now making its way into the inner cities of the United States, and the majority of residents living in those inner cities were African American. Black on black crime was now more common than ever, incarceration within the black community was skyrocketing, abandonment of children was typical and the spread of Sexually Transmitted Diseases was devastating. Many factors were playing a part of this, and Hip Hop was a big one. Hip hop from the golden ages of Grandmaster flash and to modern day Lil

Methamphetamine and cocaine are both in the category of drugs known as stimulants. “Central nervous system are drugs that increase not only the activity of the CNS but also that of the ANS, (autonomic nervous system) resulting in both euphoria and mood enhancement” (Csiernik, R. 2014).

Where does Coca-Cola get its name? Why was it created? In 1886, the Georgia pharmacist, John Pemberton, designed Coca-Cola as a headache remedy and a stimulant. The original beverage contained cocaine and was used both as an intoxicating beverage and a medically useful tonic. The effects of the drink helped make it popular. Only in the early twentieth century was the drug eliminated from the Coca-Cola recipe and replaced with increased amounts of caffeine.[1]

There has been a recent spike in deaths due to fentanyl overdose in Canada. A recent article published by the Globe and Mail, titled “How Canada got addicted to fentanyl”, highlights the dangers associated with fentanyl, how the drug spread across the country, and the impact that it has had on Canadians. Fentanyl is an opioid that is administered intravenously or by transdermal patch when prescribed by a physician. However, the street version of the drug is sold as powder or tablets, often disguised as oxycodone. Fentanyl functions by binding to opioid receptors in the brain after rapidly crossing the blood-brain barrier due to its lipid solubility. Fentanyl is a mu-opioid agonist that is 100 times more potent than morphine (DEA 2015). In addition to being an analgesic, fentanyl also has effects on the cardiorespiratory system, such as inducing respiratory depression and bradycardia (Gutstein and Akil 2006). The opioid binds to the metabotropic opioid receptors on neurons, which triggers a G protein secondary messenger system. This alters membrane permeability, allowing more potassium ions and fewer calcium ions to pass through the membrane. This results in the hyperpolarization of the membrane, inhibiting neuronal activity (Gutstein and Akil 2006). This lack of neuronal activity is what gives the drug its analgesic effects. As a tablet, fentanyl is subject to first-pass metabolism in the liver. It is metabolized primarily through N-dealkylation by CYP 3A4 and eliminated