Is the New Heroin Epidemic Really New? Racializing Heroin

National Medical Association. Journal

RobertFulliloveEd.D.¹  CarlWord²  BenjaminBowser³ 

[1] Clinical Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 W. 168 St., New York, NY 10032, USA;Department of Psychology, Alliant International University, San Francisco, California, 512 Jean St., Oakland, CA 94610, USA;Department of Sociology and Social Services, California State University, East Bay, 25800 Carlos Bee Blvd., Hayward, CA 94542, USA

关键词: Heroin;    Epidemic;    Pain-killers;    Supply-side;    Racial discrimination;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.jnma.2016.11.004

学科分类：医学（综合）

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Heroin abuse as an outcome of the prior use of painkillers increased rapidly over the past decade. This “new epidemic” is unique because the new heroin users are primarily young White Americans in rural areas of virtually every state. This commentary argues that the painkiller-to-heroin transition could not be the only cause of heroin use on such a scale and that the new and old heroin epidemics are linked. The social marketing that so successfully drove the old heroin epidemic has innovated and expanded due to the use of cell-phones, text messaging and the “dark web” which requires a Tor browser, and software that allows one to communicate with encrypted sites without detection. Central city gentrification has forced traffickers to take advantage of larger and more lucrative markets. A second outcome is that urban black and Latino communities are no longer needed as heroin stages areas for suburban and exurban illicit drug distribution. Drug dealing can be done directly in predominantly white suburbs and rural areas without the accompanying violence associated with the old epidemic. Denial of the link between the new and old heroin epidemics racially segregates heroin users and more proactive prevention and treatment in the new epidemic than in the old. It also cuts off a half-century of knowledge about the supply-side of heroin drug dealing and the inevitable public policy measures that will have to be implemented to effectively slow and stop both the old and new epidemic.

【 授权许可】

Unknown