Question

Discuss how society might solve the heroin epidemic on Long Island. Where are the drugs coming from, and has the so called "War on Drugs" been effective at all?

Answer 1

Long island is essentially population dense and tends to have a lot of young people in it. People are prescribed opiates as well. Another issue is the easy access and availability of drugs in this context. The major issue is that the young population is willing to try these drugs and get addicted as a result of their obsessive high and we have a population of doctors that is more than willing to over prescribe drugs due to the need base as well as the commercial purposes. Another factor is that the whites originating here are more likely to be able to afford these expensive drugs even though they are illegal. All these factors have together in collaboration culminated into the devastating impact on long island and its drug problem. Moreover a new synthetic drug fentanyl has now increased the death toll and made this impact worse. The war on drugs in this region has not been beneficial since the perpetrators have not made a genuine effort to reach out and mend the damage. This can only be done when the various parts of the community take the onus of bringing change upon themselves. The doctors along with the prescriptions need to educate people and spread awareness on how it is to be disposed and the effect of such over dosages can have detrimental impact an individual's life, their family, and community in totality.