In the past several years heroin has killed a record number of people in Long Island. The statistic is frightening heroin use has exploded in Long Island. The number of heroin users and heroin-related deaths has been steadily rising over the past few years. And the most rapid growth is among those under age 21. Four out of five new heroin users said their addictions started from prescription pain medication, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a federal agency.
Many insurance companies’ policies require that a heroin addict have a mental illness or another addiction to be covered. And without the insurance company behind them, patients face paying steep out-of-pocket costs. On Long Island, the typical heroin abuser is from a middle-class, suburban family that is too wealthy to qualify for state or federal subsidies and too poor to pay up front.
The drugs are coming from foreign drug trafficking organizations that had a …show more content…
The war on drugs has not been effective, once we have identify where the heroin is coming from then, the entire community need to come together and work as a team to try and get drugs out of our neighborhood. Parents need to educate their children from a young age on the consequences of using drugs. In addition, middle school children need to be informed of the danger of using drugs. Parents need to get involved and look for signs from their teenagers of possible drug use before it happens. Furthermore parents need to talk to their children about their day, put down the cell phone, turn off face book twitter and all electronic items and communicate with their children. Children and teenagers need to be involved in activities at school sports, theater dance whatever interest the child may