Change Your World Week Fall 2022 (Archived)

According to the article, The Dangers of Drug Abuse by Jadee Redmond, drug addiction is now thought to be a brain disorder and not a lack of willpower or something that happens only to people who are weak. It can happen to anyone at any time and any place. It is a chronic disease and the urge to abuse is a symptom

Drugs alter the way we think, feel, and behave by disrupting communication between nerve cells (neurons) in the brain. Neurons are separated by small spaces called synapses. The messages are passed from cell to cell across the synapse by specialized molecules, called neurotransmitters, which bind the receptors on the nerve cells. Prescription opioids and heroin produce effects that are similar to -but a lot stronger than- those produced by the neurotransmitters endorphin and enkephalin which reduces pain, decreases alertness, and slows down respiration.

You can find more information about this in the article The Dangers of Drug Abuse by Jodee Redmond 

1. Fentanyl: causes lung damage, oral problems, and system-wide toxicity. This drug can be inhaled through the nose, or absorbed through the skin. It can cause a threat to anyone who comes into contact with it. It takes less than .2 milligrams of Fentanyl to overdose.
2. Heroin: affects a person's sound judgment, blocks pain receptors, causes depression, along with many other drugs and opioids, and causes extreme emotional outbursts. Heroin is one of the most common reasons for drug overdoses every day.
3. Morphine: causes vision problems, can change your ability to see colors, painful urination, and extreme weight loss. Morphine, along with codeine, heroin, thebaine, and ropivacaine are all derived from the juice of opium poppy. 
4. Norco: causes constipation, lightheadedness, fainting, drowsiness, nausea, vomiting, severe stomach pain, decreased appetite, urinary tract infections, and problems breathing. Norco is a synthetic drug which means it was made in the laboratory.
5. Oxymorphone: causes visual changes, orthostatic hypertension, respiratory depression, increased sweating, and constipation. Oxymorphone is a semisynthetic drug because they are produced from natural substances that have been modified in a lab

Being an addict can make it hard on family and friends' life's just as much as your own. People start getting into drugs by hanging with the wrong people. When people hang out around drugs, they start to think I don't want to be the only one not doing it, so then they get wrapped in it.

People start with something then it just starts to grow from there. They can't get the same high or they just can't stop. Take it from Carla she goes on to say, “It’s a euphoric high, everything is O.K. with the world, and you just feel great.” (pg. 43) Once someone continues to use it becomes part of their life and if they try to stop after long periods of use it becomes hard for them. They tend to start feeling sick when trying to stop and when that happens, they go right back to using it to stop the withdraws from not using anymore.

Take it from someone that was an addict, Ron Heir says. "I was sick of living. I got tired of waking up. I got tired of putting my shoes on. I got tired of reaching for my syringe. I got tired of going and getting money for dope, and I knew I just couldn’t live without dope."(pg.45)

Park, A., & Moakley, P. (2017). The Life of an Addict. TIME Magazine, 190(21), 40–47.

Watch how Jon beats his own addiction.

​​​​​​

From July 2022, out of the 57,287 offenders,17,520 offenders were sentenced for a drug trafficking offense.