Katie F.                                         Letter To The Next President

Dear President,

Over the course of a few years, the over use of heroin and prescription drugs have been on the rise. There are hundreds of overdoses every single day among the United States, how is this okay? When will you step up to the plate and help make a change for this country wide pandemic? Not only are we losing so many precious lives, but were also losing approximately 193 billion dollars because of drug related crimes, treatment, prevention, and research. I bet you didn’t know it was costing you that much, did you? Instead of increasing our taxes, you could be saving lives by giving more attention to drug abuse!

This is a very big problem in the United States and it affects many people, and their families. My best friend and her family has to wake up every single day, in hopes that their loved one is alive and safe, because he can easily get his hands on a very addictive prescription drug. He has overdosed more times than I can count and has had his stomach pumped to get rid of those awful toxin. Wouldn’t you be working much harder to spread awareness to make a change if it were your children caught up in what seems to be a never ending cycle? Drugs don’t only hurt the user, they hurt the family of the one suffering with this addiction. It tears families apart! How is that okay? How is this problem merrily just pushed to the side, like it is no big deal? Parents should not have to bury their child, or find them dead because there was no more anyone could do. There should be more options, you need to do something about this!

In the United States, there are currently estimated to be about 2.1 MILLION people suffering from substance abuse, anywhere from pain relievers, prescription drugs, and heroin. In 2012, it was said that there were 467,000 people addicted to heroin, but that has quickly raised a lot more since then. The numbers have skyrocketed in the past 25 years. The number of prescriptions being written for prescription drugs like oxycodone or hydrocodone have escalated from 76 million in 1991, to a whopping 207 million in 2013. When is this going to stop? In 2011, 4.2 million Americans aged 12 or older had used heroin at least once in their lives. It is estimated that nearly 23 percent of people who tried heroin at least once, became dependent on it. It only takes one try, you never know if, or when, you will become addicted to it. Both heroin and prescription drugs can leave you with impending neurological disorders, if they’re lucky enough to beat their addiction. Heroin can cause long lasting problems like arthritis (for users who used needle injection), AIDS (from sharing needles, or using a needle that was not clean). You can be left with loss of memory, depression, insomnia, and many more other problems with no real cure, other than medicine to suppress the symptoms. Prescription drugs can cause very similar long lasting effects. Nobody wants to go through that, when will there be a change? When will you decide enough is enough? Something needs to be done about the helpless lives lost of our people.

Of course, it is your decision, and I know you are very well capable of making the right one. You have much more knowledge than I do, and I believe in you, and so does the rest of the American people. But, when will you realize our people are dying and the numbers are just going to increase? Our lives are in your hands, and you are slowly, but surely letting us down. Will there be a change in the near future? Or will our people continue to die everyday because of your lack of consideration on a very, very frightful and important topic.

Sincerely, Katie F.

Citations-

"Watch Truth About Drugs Documentary Video & Learn About Substance Addiction. Get The Facts About Painkillers, Marijuana, Cocaine, Meth & Other Illegal Drugs." Foundation for a Drug-Free World. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Nov. 2016.

Https://www.facebook.com/NIDANIH. "Trends & Statistics." National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). N.p., 20 Aug. 2015. Web. 01 Nov. 2016.

Https://www.facebook.com/NIDANIH. "Heroin." DrugFacts:. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Nov. 2016.