America's Opioid Crisis: How Children Are Casualties

America is in the midst of a deadly crisis that is killing people by the thousands.The opioid epidemic in the United States claimed more than 33,000 deaths in 2015, as public health officials call it the worst drug crisis in the nation’s history. Indeed, the deaths from heroin alone have surged and have claimed more lives in 2015 than homicides by guns. These drugs, these opiods, that are used to often block out pain. Whether illegal, such as heroin, or prescribed by doctors yet are also finding their way on to the black market, such as Vicodin and OxyContin, the rise in opioid use in America is both dramatic and disturbing.Yet, perhaps more disturbing is the number of children being affected by the increase of opioid use in all 50 states. The images of parents passed out in cars from drugs while their children are sitting in back seats have gone viral through social media. The video of a 2 year old toddler in a store trying to wake up her mother who had passed out an overdose, has also been seen by millions online. As more and more parents become addicted to opiods, thousands of more children are being placed into a foster care system throughout the nation; a system that is struggling to properly assist these children due to lack of resources, foster parents, and funding. According to Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin, “All of those involved in the child protection system are doing heroic work, but they need additional resources.” The larger number of children being...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news