What causes America’s high drug death rates compared to other countries? Are there specific factors driving this issue? Let’s explore the root causes behind the alarming statistics. #drugproblem #USAdrugcrisis #drugdeathrates #drugabuse #addictionprevention
Understanding America’s High Drug Death Rates
Factors Contributing to the Issue:
– Availability of prescription opioids
– Lack of access to treatment programs
– Cultural norms around drug use
– Socioeconomic disparities in healthcare
Exploring the Root Causes
1. Easy Access to Prescription Opioids
– Overprescribing by healthcare providers
– Proliferation of online pharmacies
– Lack of regulation in the pharmaceutical industry
2. Limited Access to Treatment Programs
– Long wait times for rehabilitation services
– High costs of treatment
– Stigma surrounding addiction
3. Cultural Acceptance of Drug Use
– Glamorization of substance abuse in media
– Influence of peer pressure and social circles
– Misconceptions about drug addiction
4. Socioeconomic Disparities in Healthcare
– Limited access to quality healthcare in low-income communities
– Lack of resources for addiction treatment
– Cycle of poverty exacerbating drug abuse issues
By addressing these key factors, we can work towards combating America’s drug crisis and saving lives. Let’s continue the conversation on how we can make a positive impact in our communities. #drugprevention #fightaddiction #savealife
Lack of socialized healthcare, treating addicts like criminals instead of sick people and big problem with homelessness
if you count Scotland as an independent country, they’re very close.
The USA has had some really bad political decisions made by people “waging a war on drugs”.
People looking for a way out of this depressing place.
Variety of factors:
– increasing lack of social cohesion and societal trust
– leading to more people try and stick to drugs
– massive over prescription of opioids and other medicine
– lack of support
– an atrocious war on drugs
– political unwillingness because of pharmaceutical lobbies
– lack of health care measures fighting addicting
– lack of education (about pharmaceuticals)
– often treating addiction as a crime
– over the counter medicine (basically no other country advertises drugs as “ask your doctor if drug is right for you)
– profit orientation in medicine and health care
– probably others
Best drugs in the world.
america doesnt give a flying fuck the “druggies” are dying and the more dead the better . less of a drain on society they say.
so literally nothing is being done to stop it and everything is being done to escalate it
we started the war on drugs and Americans do not care that the “losers” of that war die in it.
They don’t hide their numbers like (some) Asian countries do.
Don’t get yourself fooled.
Read up on opioid epidemic. It is heart breaking.
Also, demon copperhead is a great book set durign that time.
I saw a clip on tik tok of a recent CNN interview with the President of Mexico he blamed the US drug epidemic on the disintegration of the family unit and the hyper-individualism of the USA.
Whether he’s right or not is a mystery, but regardless I agree those are two bad things that are happening in America right now.
The CIA 🤷♀️
I imagine America actually records their drugs deaths too. A lot of less developed countries probably have high drugs death maybe not the same scale as the US, maybe more who knows cos they aren’t as interested in recording things like that
Mental health
Maybe the disparity between expectations and reality
There’s a lot of reasons, but let’s be honest, we Americans love our drugs. Look at the cocaine trade or even alcohol during prohibition. We love mind altering substances and we love them even more when we are told not to do them
Scary article on BBC today about how the Chinese government are actually making the fentanyl (and other drugs) epidemic worse across the west including the US
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68669244
A self destructive amount of competition, no sense of social cohesion or common good.
Because it generates super major tons of money for pharmaceutical-industry (aka Big Pharma) and for Prisons/Police/Courts/Judges/Lawyers.
Add the absolute corruption of our society (keeping most people poor) and you have poor people turning to selling/using drugs just to survive (in their mind).
Kids (and adults) also hooked on drugs (prescribed) by Big Pharma (which includes your local hospital/doctors as the drug-dealers).
Because drugs are pumped into our country. There’s a lot of money here so they sell drugs here. Not the drug dealer on the street but big organization selling millions at a time.
My primary theory is work addiction leads to drug addiction. We put a lot of professional pressure on ourselves here. We’re told from kids our jobs matter most and if we’re not first, we’re last and it’s our fault. Ricky Bobby was not a happy person. Neither are a lot of us and we’re not Nascar drivers. We get disillusioned from the constant pressure and too often hurt from all the overwork. We seek some respite from it all when we often just need rest and to give ourselves a break, but we can’t. Many of us will lose our homes and families if we slow down even a little bit. This is where the drugs come into play. They start as a temporary reprieve then become a problem themselves. There are other factors, but I feel this is the main one
“Last year alone the drug companies spent over $375 million to lobby Congress. Further, over the last 25 years, the pharmaceutical industry has made massive amounts of campaign contributions to both political parties and almost every member of Congress.”
“Pill mills,” or clinics where doctors unscrupulously hand out prescriptions for powerful opioids like oxycodone, oxycontin, hydrocodone, and fentanyl at volumes far exceeding the need of the patient population, began proliferating in the early 2000s, and have since been one of the main targets of a federal crackdown.”
We like to party.
Check out “The Pharmacist” on netflix
Beyond the drugs themselves. Quality of living is only good in America if you are rich to Uber rich, everything costs too much and everyone is trying to be a millionaire off screwing everyone else over. No safety net for health, or living, and the absolutely atrocious mental health crisis. We like to self medicate.
Well I can speak to the specifics of how it got so bad, but I think part of it is that we criminalize drugs use and ownership so harshly, while having very few drug rehab centers and/or clean drug injection sites (but those are newer so im not as surprised by it. It means that very few people will go for help for their addiction in fear of dealing with the law, a lot of the stuff is gotten off the street and is likely spiked, and since it can so easily destroy your life and it costs so much money, it’s unlikely people are doing it safely. This is made worse because to this day, a lot of the American population doesnt look at drug use as what it is, a mental health problem, but a moral failing on the individual. And that just worsens all of this. All of this worsens the death toll and rates faced by people with drug addiction, and the addition of newer and deadlier substances ain’t helping. There are more factors but that’s just what I know. I’m sorry if it doesn’t exactly answer your question but it’s the best answer I can give
Capitalism
Americans, particularly white Americans, with a high school degree (or less) are dying from deaths of despair due to health (obesity, chronic disease) and lack of social support and programs. Deaths of despair are specifically related to poisoning and suicides related to drugs and alcohol.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35107578/#:~:text=The%20US%20National%20Academy%20of,cardiovascular%20effects%20of%20rising%20obesity.
Personal thoughts? It was prescribed too much and then rather than regulating it we, as a country decided to swing the other way and make it difficult for anyone to get pain relief which meant people went the illegal route to get that same pain relief even though they never had issues before.
Personal example, I had a really bad ear infection years ago and got enough painkillers to last me a couple of months! I didn’t use them all and didn’t get my refill. Fast forward 10+ years and I had surgery and got 2 days of painkillers. Figured it was what it was and 2 days worked for me and then less than 5 years later I had a nerve issue, I literally couldn’t function without pain. Sitting hurt, moving hurt and frankly all I wanted at the time was to be able to do my damn dishes cause I’m anal retentive about it. Nope, just take advil.
So I had a friend who had painkillers who gave me some and after taking them for 3 days I could finally do my damn housework. Now I am the type that would only take them as needed, period but I was doing it without a doctor supervision whereas not everyone can do what I did.
We went from over prescribing to not prescribing at all so people looked for alternatives and those that couldn’t help it abused it which is why doctor supervision is important. We can regulate Sudafed so why not pain medication?
Not sure if it is a cause or symptom or just money…
But the US southern border, and drugs almost manufactured and industrialized as a major export through Mexico and South America.
Despair. Basically our society isn’t built for people, it’s built for profit so people have to do drugs to cope
lack of meaningful mental health help, lack of universal Healthcare for at least that and other basic needs.
Those that are homeless are often there due to mental health crisis and some turn to drugs from there, because seeking help and getting the help they truly need all costs money they don’t have.
I feel it’s a lack of mental health care and the availability of good prescription drugs.
We’re a nation that would rather medicate than cure or treat with virtually any other means.
We Americans love to be first at everything
America declared War on Drugs spent Billions of dollars, locked up thousands of people Just for weed alone (not mentioning Crack ) and thats legal now in many states. All that and congratulations to Drugs cause they won the war.
Blaming big pharma will be the popular opinion here as everyone loves an easy scapegoat plus the evil corporation corrupt government narrative.
It’s far more complex than pinning it all on one entity or one time period.
Lol at people blaming China because they make cheap drugs. China also makes *checks notes* EVERYTHING we use in the US.
The treatment of pain was actually developed by Purdue Pharmaceuticals (the makers of OxyContin) when they developed the 1-10 pain scale with corresponding pictures. Yes, pain relief is vital but some pain is normal and expected and we shouldn’t be giving out heroin to treat it. As a 16 year old in 2007, I don’t think I needed a week’s worth of hydrocodone for a wisdom tooth removal, but after I started getting irritable when I didn’t get my pill at the exact time, my mom essentially said “no more hydrocodone for you – you can have Tylenol” because she could see I was becoming entirely too dependent on it. OxyContin is an offshoot of MS Contin, which was developed as end of life care for people suffering painful terminal diseases (cancer, etc) and was not supposed to be a drug that was taken for long periods of time. But, Purdue found that marketing the normal human pain and then over-medicating it, they could make beaucoup bucks. People shouldn’t have been prescribed to be on Oxys for years of their lives and there not to be a development of an addiction (especially for ailments such as arthritis, backaches, what have you).