Heres a rather eye-opening finding from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health:
https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUH-FFR1-2016/NSDUH-FFR1-2016.pdf
There was a quick quote/fact that I thought I would share: "According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 50 percent of those who reported abusing pain medication also said they have a full-time job, while an additional 15 percent said they work part-time."
I think there is a stereotype that someone who is addicted to opioids in an unemployed low-income/poverty "drug addict", who is usually seen as a lesser being. I believe this statistic among others will help the general population understand that this epidemic affects all kinds of different people, just not the stereotypes.
Feel free to comment and leave your opinions about the prejudices and stereotypes of the opioid epidemic.
I definitely think there is an issue with low income/impoverished people and drug addiction, but they are definitely not the only ones affected by addiction and the Opioid Crisis.
ReplyDeleteInteresting read. The conditions of being employed and being impoverished come with different factors. As Dr. Apps mentioned, jobs can cause physical and mental stress that influence people to take opioids. Attaining opioids is thus easier for them because now people have access to prescriptions and money they can spend to support their addiction. There is more, but in targeting drug addiction, I feel it is crucial to take note of this.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Josh about low income job workers having to need opioids to help relieve pain. I used to work as a medical scribe. There, the people I saw that were prescribed opiate painkillers were usually the mechanics, truck drivers, and factory workers, who had lifting and straining work built into their job. As we can see here, these are the people who most rely on the drug. Wall street workers are just there for the "high". Low income workers are there because they need painkiller.
DeleteChapter The molecule in Dreamland also mentioned that more and more people (who working at Wall St.) began to consuming huge quantities of the morphine molecule. I don't think there is a stereotype regarding drug addicts come from low income group. It would be a consensus that low income and high income groups both consume drugs for different reasons,
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