Illegal substances have always been an issue in the United States. However, Appalachia is an area of the United States that suffers especially. Oxy-Contin was marketed heavily in the Appalachia area due to work-related injuries. This made the drug more accessible. Soon, people were addicted and it just continued to spread. Since 1999, opioid overdoses have quadrupled. This is horrifying and many people have lost loved ones to the disease of addiction.
Being from Appalachia, I have seen the issue get worse over the years. All over America, opioids are a problem. However, Appalachia has been hit the hardest and not just by opioids. I have seen my own family members be addicted. It completely alters people. Drugs ruin lives and rip families apart. Most people feel like there is nothing they can do to help their family’s addiction. So, the problem continues to progress with the victims becoming younger and younger.
According to the CDC, there were 47,055 drug overdose deaths in 2014.
“Drug baby” is a common term used in Appalachia. It refers to a baby born to a drug-using mother. The babies are frequently born with an addiction themselves and are forced to carry the burden of their mother’s mistakes. It is extremely sad to watch people be controlled by a substance. I think the saddest part, though, is listening to people say there is nothing they can do. There has to be a solution to the problem, and it is not giving more drugs to solve drug addiction.
I live in a small town in Tennessee that suffers heavily from addiction. According to the CDC, from 2014-2015, the percentage of deathly opioid overdoses in Tennessee has increased by 12.8 percent. That’s 12.8 percent more families destroyed, lives torn apart, and children left without parents. The foster care system is overloaded with children that are left by drug-addicted parents. I have been friends with several kids in the system and their stories are truly saddening. Sometimes children are found in deplorable conditions during a meth lab bust, and sometimes kids are killed due to tragic circumstances brought onto them by drug-addicted parents.
Appalachia is a beautiful area that suffers from ugly issues like poverty and addiction. Poverty can drive people to try to find ways to escape. Sometimes drugs are the only thing that keeps people afloat. Things have to change in Appalachia. It is unfortunate when parents have to bury their children. People aren’t being offered the resources they need to overcome their addictions, and the worst of the epidemic may be yet to come.
President Trump’s recent budget cuts funding to many programs that help Appalachia. Appalachian Regional Commission and Economic Development Administration would be affected. These programs helped many communities after coal companies left and have continued to help. Appalachia was highly supportive of Trump, including my hometown. Understandably so, as Trump promised them all kinds of great things and catered directly to their concerns. He was very strategic in doing so. If Trump decides to cut Welfare, Appalachia would be completely devastated. Many people, even in my community, depend upon the government to live. They collect food stamps and Welfare checks every month. This system is heavily abused, but a lot of people are so dependent upon it, they would not know how to live without it. Regardless of your political stance, I hope you can see why cutting these funds would be an issue.
It’s easy for people to say that cutting funds to these programs would have no effect on the drug epidemic. Drugs cost money and without it, how will people buy them? If people are poverty-stricken and drug-addicted, they will resolve to crime. The crime rates would increase as people do whatever they need to do to get their fix. The solution to the drug epidemic is not tough love and just taking away the addicts means of purchasing. It has to be deep-rooted knowledge and effort. Affordable, legit rehab facilities need to be opened. Instead of sending an addict straight to jail and then letting them out to let the cycle continue, perhaps we should send them off to rehab. Personally, I don’t know the solution, but all I know is that things have to change. My love for beautiful Appalachia will forever remain, but I do hope things can change for the better.
