America has its share of problems. Turn on the news, and new conflicts and issues arise each minute to be filtered and released to the public. There is one problem in particular that America too often ignores and replaces with the next obscure crime because it’s considered “old” to the public’s eyes. I’m not talking about animal abuse. I’m not talking about the battle for gay rights, women’s rights, or minorities’ rights. I’m not even talking about politics. America’s real problem, which is too often pushed under the rug, is drug use.

Entering the world of drugs has no age limit. It’s heartbreaking to see teens as young as 12 using a drug like heroin just because it’s cheaper than marijuana in many towns. Should teens have such easy access to a drug containing strychnine (a stimulant in rat poison) and other mysterious additives that can clog blood vessels and destroy vital organs? No human should easily be able to dangerously ingest this kind of drug, let alone a 14-year-old.

While there are countless concoctions of drugs in America, I focus on heroin because of facts. Heroin is an opioid, along with numerous other prescription pain pills, which also plague the lives of many Americans today. In 2014, approximately 28,000 adolescents had used heroin, and the leading cause of accidental death was drug overdose. Approximately 30,000 of those overdoses were attributed to opioid use, particularly pain pills. Four out of five users of simple pain pills progress to heroin use.

It seems like every time we open our Facebook feeds or turn on the news, another young person’s life was cut short because of the vicious grip of drug addiction and overdose. Yet all we see is their obituaries and honor their lives after they were already lost and gone forever. I personally have dealt with the brutal effects of drug addiction within my family and how it tears families and relationships apart. Trustworthiness of a drug user vanishes when they would do anything to get their hands on money for drugs. Reliability of a drug user disappears when they would leave at any hour to do what they need to do to avoid withdrawal. Love of a drug user hides beneath their innate selfishness when they cannot get a grip on the drug that has a grip on him or her. Is reporting their deaths after the fact worth it to replace the issue of drug use with the next shocking incident or “wow" factor? This cannot be pushed under the rug any longer.

Police do not do enough to crack down on this issue. I live in a town secretly overrun by heroin addicts. Without a doubt, police know the sketchy spots. However, everywhere, police and boroughs do not take the issue of drug dealing, drug use, and drug addiction seriously enough to attempt to put an end to it. Catching a dealer or user here and there and throwing them in prison simply will not solve any problems. Let me emphasize that again. Catching a dealer here and there and simply throwing them in prison will not solve the problem of drug use. Drug users need rehabilitation centers, support, and opportunities for success in life without drugs -- not prison.

Towns will say, “In two years, we’ll put cameras in town to observe.” Let me ask this: how many lives will be lost to drug overdose within those two years of procrastination? This isn’t a recent problem, although it has recently gotten worse. Drugs have always been an issue. Yet, when the government, the town boroughs, and the police departments simply catch people here and there or focus on other issues first instead of taking the issue of drugs seriously, they are saying that they do not see potential in thousands of lives. Why is America OK with this?

Yes, there are major issues in America. A child fell into a gorilla habitat. People are not accepting of other religions and lifestyles. In no way am I discrediting these issues. However, people die each day, even recently, in a deadly massacre of 50 citizens. What about the people slowly taking their own lives every hour of every day due to drug addiction? Yet, when another obituary pops up online for another lovable person lost to drugs, that’s all it is -- another obituary. People read, turn their eyebrows up in sorrow and maybe say a, “that’s so sad,” then continue scrolling, shaking their heads in disappointment.

Where is the concern, America? Drug use is a real and prevalent problem in America. I’ve seen too many people’s lives ruined by drugs, and I myself will forever live with the sorrowful aftermath of the effects of drugs on loved ones. America, drug addiction should not be just another everyday issue. Drug addiction is not a joke, and it needs to be handled like a serious life-threatening problem.

Sources:
http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/heroin.html

http://www.asam.org/docs/default-source/advocacy/o...