Orange+is+the+new+black-+the+life+of+drugs

Name: Nyomi Paczkowski Student Number: N8864039 Tutor: Abbey Diaz

__Cultural Artefact__ The artefact chosen to represent my public health issue is a television series/documentary that was aired earlier this year titled “Orange is The New Black.” The series is based on a true story about a woman who is an accessory to a major drug circle a decade ago, and when named she gets sentenced to 15months in prison. Each episode gives an insight to the lives of the prisoners before and during prison and the struggles they face each and every day with drug addiction. Whilst in prison women are still using drugs, allowing society to view the drug epidemic not just as a crime, but as a health concern which needs further policies.

__The public health issue__ Orange is the new black demonstrates the struggles drug addicts in jail face to overcome their drug addiction and the hardcode reality of some prisoners finding ways to continuously use drugs in jail. When sentenced for drug use, there is no proper realisation of the treatment needed to recover. Drug abuse is seen as only a criminal offence and not seen as a health problem that needs to be addressed accordingly, instead of punishment as justice. But whilst in jail those that are abusers need adequate programs and treatment facilities in order to recover and not relapse once released. Therefore prison drug user policies and programs need to be changed, and those with addictions need to be treated in an empathetic and compassionate way. Those running the programs should have knowledge in depth of the underlying facts of addiction.

__Literature review__ Illicit drugs was defined by the online dictionary as one that is disapproved of and/or not permitted for moral or ethical reasons, one that is not legally permitted or authorised and it is unlicensed and unlawful (Dictionary, 2013). In 2010, the national drug strategy household survey reported that around 15% had used one or more illicit drug within the past 12 months with cannabis accounting for 10.3%, being the most common drug used. Cannabis was followed by ecstasy (3%) and amphetamines and cocaine each accounting for 2.1% of people (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2011). The age that is most common for drug use is those amongst the ages of 17-29, with those of the higher age to mostly being using sleeping pills or tranquillisers for non-medical use. Males are also the more dominant gender to be using drugs, with the exception of pharmaceuticals which is equal across both genders (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2011). In 2004-2005, an estimated $56.1 billion was the cost to the Australian society of alcohol, tobacco and drug misuses. Illegal drugs accounted for $8.2 billion of this amount, this included costs to the health and hospital systems, lost workplace and productivity and road accidents and crime (Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy, 2011). In 2003, 2% off the total burden of disease in Australia was accounted for by illicit drug use. Majority of which was attributed by Hepatitis C contracted from the sharing of unsafe injecting equipment amongst multiple people (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2011). Like death, there are many impacts and outcomes; both health and life related that drug use has on one’s life. These can vary from HIV/AIDS, cancer, heart disease and many other body born disease, but they can also impact your life and leave you with the outcome of homelessness, crime and violence (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2008).

Drug use is an important issue to combat within our society due to it rising to become one of the most critical problems afflicting all countries worldwide. Health, social, economic and security respects have sought to be major dangers, forcing countries to fight such a problem which is no longer confined to any type of drugs nor related to a certain country, social segment or ethnicity.

There are many methods that are being approached when in recovery from drug use. Some methods available are abstinence and harm minimisation. Hunt (2003) explained harm reduction as referring to policies and programmes aiming to reduce harms associated with the use of drugs (Hunt, 2003). Some of the harm minimisation programs for drug use are medically supervised injecting centres, needle and syringe programs, the methadone program and prison; all of these methods adequately still involve the use of drugs (Hunt, 2003). Russell brand explained in his documentary “I took drugs everyday” that he preferred the method of abstinence over harm minimisation. Abstinence is defined by The Dictionary as the act or practice of refraining from indulging an appetite or desire (The Free Dictionary, 2009). In his documentary, when asked to do the methadone program he replied with “Methadone is a drug, if you’re on methadone you’re on drugs and that with methadone I would still be using other drugs” (Wyatt, 2013). Both harm minimisation and abstinence are programs that have negatives and positives and limitations to their programs. Hunt explained that some positives of harm reduction are; the reduction of sharing injecting equipment and injections, the reduction of using street and prescribed drugs and the increase of abstinence from all drugs (Hunt, 2003). Some negatives are like brand said, it does not work because you are still stuck on drugs, methadone is a drug and you’re still using drugs and can encourage drug use. Some limitations to these programs are that they are government funded and become of high costs to maintain and distribute, availability of vaccinations to prisoners varied, the methadone program or similar opiate-type drugs only help to reduce heroin use and there are no needle exchange programs available in Australian prisons (Australian Institute of Criminology, 2010). Positives of abstinence is not using any sort of harmful drugs and less chance of infections although users may become unsuccessful in abstinence due to social, emotional and psychological reasons.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4G7TEyJkfw These methods both work accordingly, but they can only work when defining the type of drug use; whether it be problematic or recreational and the predisposing factors of the addicted person and mind. The American society of addiction medicine (2011) defined addiction as “A primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory and related circuitry.” The concept of addiction has changed over various years and was once defined as a dependence on a psychoactive substance, but has now grown to include behavioural addictions. To be able to define the type of method of recovery one should pursue, the concept of addiction should firstly be considered. Addiction is about the neurobiology of the addicted mind and the reward sensation that is achieved when activated. Highly addictive drugs such as cocaine amphetamines and heroin are direct activators to this “reward” sensation and reinforce these pleasurable experiences (Tieu, 2011). However, it’s not just the feeling of reward that creates the addicted mind. When using drugs, memories are created of past highs, and elicit strong responses, thus facilitating relapse and future use. Addiction is not just acquired by the drug itself. Theories explain how there are many predisposing factors that contribute to drug use; biological, psychological, physiological and behavioural. These factors contribute to whether the addiction then becomes problematic or recreational. Problematic drug use is defined as using drugs in a way that causes someone harm, not how much drug is used but how the drug affects the life of the user and the lives around the user, whether these harms effect their mentality, physical factors, judgements, relationships and/or work and financials. (Whitesell, Bachand, Peel & Brown, 2013). In comparison, recreational drug use is a mixture of multiple drugs with irregular use patterns and has multiple long term affects rather than short term which problematic use constitutes to.

__Cultural and social analysis__ (500 words) Junkie, Drugo, Drug Addict are all common terms used by today’s society to describe someone who is addicted to drugs. But the sad reality of society is they do not fully understand how the addicted mind works and the drug addiction is a disease. Within society drug users are criminals, but when does it come down to the thought that their mind is addicted and they now have a disease rather than an addiction, and why does society continue to treat them as criminals. Decriminalisation is not the word for those who are addicted for drugs, as this would create controversy within society, and create the belief and thought that doing drugs became okay. However Russell Brand said in his documentary “I took drug everyday” that “I don’t think drug laws are working because people take drugs all the time. For me it’s not about the drug laws, it’s about treating people with addiction issues in a compassionate and empathetic way”. He went on to say “if you criminalize them, you marginalize them, you place them in an industry in the hands of criminals and you make it difficult and shaming for them to get treatment”. (Wyatt, 2013)

Within the society drug use becomes a major concern due to the harms a drug user can put on society and thus is why society is a major aspect when discussing drug addiction. People become affected by drug user immediately when they are relatives or people you may know, society becomes affected when it becomes a public nuisance, accidents and aggression occur, and crimes that occur under the influence. There are many ages, genders and culture within societies and by not approaching society when discussing drug users, becomes an underlying development of harm towards everyone within society.

Current trends within society is the use of cannabis, with 10.3% of people aged 14 years or older having used it in the previous 12months and 35.4% having used it ever (Australian institute of health and welfare, 2011). According to Australian institute of health and welfare (2011), in 2010 about 2 in 5 people in Australia had used an illicit drug at some point in their lifetime, and 8.3% of the population had used an illicit drug in the past month. This leads to the fact that not only do experts need to focus on programs that are more compassionate and empathetic towards addiction, but also need to create programs that target the younger generation to allow them the ability of abstinence of drugs.

//__Analysis of artefact and Reflection__ (250 words)// //The artefact chosen to use represents the reality the reality the drugs will be used no matter the location and that drugs are becoming a major issue within society and this problem needs to be dealt with accordingly. People of all ages are dying daily due to the use of drugs and although there are many programs the issue is still inclining rather than declining. This series is a good point as it shows how a woman is convicted after a decade of committing a crime. This piece has meaning personally as I know people who have done drugs and the effects it had on them frightened me. This piece has allowed me to have in-depth knowledge about addiction and how the addicted mind works. It has allowed me to open my eyes and realise that drug addiction becomes an uncontrollable disease. Although I already knew come of what drugs does to you and to never touch drugs, it has allowed me to have knowledge to help people and can help me in the future if I ever have to help someone who has an addiction.//

//__Reference__// //Australian Institute of Criminology. (2010). Australian responses to illicit drugs: Harm Reduction strategies. Retrieved from [|www.aic.gov.au/crime_types/drugs_alcohol/illicit_drugs/harm_reduction.html]//

//Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2011).// 2010 National Drug Strategy Household Survey Report. //Retrieved from Australian Government website [|www.aihw.gov.au/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=10737421314]//

//Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2011). Drugs in Australia 2010: tobacco, alcohol and other drugs. Retrieved from [] //

//Chapter 14: Harm Reduction. (N.D).// Prevention of Substance Use Risk and Harm in Australia. //222-236. Retrieved from []//

//Collins, D., Lapsley, H. & University of New South Wales. (2008). The Costs of Tobacco, Alcohol and Illicit Drug Abuse to Australian Society in 2004/05. Retrieved from [] //

//Dictionary. (2013). Illicit. Retrieved from Dictionary.com: []//

//Goode, E. & McGraw-Hill. (2012) Theories of Drug Use.// Drugs in American Society, //(8). Retrieved from [|www.umsl.edu/~keelr/180/theordrg.html]//

//Hunt, N. (2003). A review of the evidence-base for harm reduction approaches to drug use.// Irish Penal Reform Trust. //Retrieved from: [|www.iprt.ie/files/huntharmreduction.pdf]//

//Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy. (2011).// National Drug Strategy 2010-2015. //Retrieved from [|www.nationaldrugstrategy.gov.au/internet/drugstrategy/publishing.nsf/Content/DB4076D49F13309FCA257854007BAF30/$File/nds2015.pdf]//

//National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2008). The effects of drug abuse are wide ranging and affect people of all ages.// Addiction Science: From Molecules to Managed Care. //Retrieved from []//

//Parliament of Victoria, Drugs and Crime Prevention Committee.(N.D)// Harm Minimisation: Principles and Policies Frameworks. //Retrieved from Parliament of Victoria website []//

//The Free dictionary. (2009). Abstinence. Retrieved from []//

//Tieu, M. (2010). Bioethics Research Notes.// Understanding the Nature of Drug Addiction 22//(1), 7-11.//

//Whitesell, M., Bachand, A., Peel, J., & Brown, M. (2013). Familial, Social, and Individual Factors Contributing to Risk for Adolescent Substance Use.// Journal Addiction. //Retrieved from http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jad/2013/579310///

//Wyatt, D. (2013). Recovering drug addict Russell Brand calls for ‘compassion, not drug laws’. Retrieved from [|www.independant.ie/entertainment/tv-radio/recovering-drug-addict-russell-brand-calls-for-compassion-not-drug-laws-29365167.html]//

//Youtube. (2012, August 11).// Russell Brand BBC Documentary ‘I Took Drugs Everyday’.// [video file] Retrieved from []

__Reflection__

Reflection 1 http://healthcultureandsociety2013.wikispaces.com/share/view/64704428 Reflection 2 http://healthcultureandsociety2013.wikispaces.com/share/view/64704652