The Consumers Union Report on Licit and Illicit Drugs, Research Paper Example

Dope Sick Love is a HBO documentary that follows heroin and crack cocaine addicted users that are New York City residents. The film captures the troubles that fall upon individuals that fall into drug use. Overall, the director proves his point by capturing the actions of these couples without maximizing the use of dialogue. Since New York City locals observe these people on a daily basis, this is an interesting way to capture their interest in the lives of those they see living on the streets.

The film captures issues that drug addicts living in the city typically have that are secondary to their need to acquire drugs. For example, one of the women that is being observed typically offers sexual services for money. She also takes advantage of these exchanges to steal additional money from these clients. This emphasizes that drug use is a larger social problem than many city inhabitants typically notice. Its impacts are far more detrimental than many non-users could understand.

Even though this documentary was released in 2005, drug use is still a relevant issue in New York City today. There are many homeless individuals living on the streets that are stuck in the same vicious cycle as the individuals that are featured in the film. While the documentary does not delineate a specific action plan to its viewers, it aims to bring awareness and eliminate some of the judgment that we feel towards these people. Ultimately, drug users need help that they are not receiving. It is necessary to allocate public funds in order to ensure that less and less city residents fall into this habit. It is important that we protect the health interests of all individuals living in this city, and understanding that drug addicts need our help is a great start.

While this documentary brings to light the drug problem that exists in New York City, it highlights an issue that is becoming more and more prevalent across the world. Since young people are a high risk population, it is important for us to gain a greater understanding of why more and more individuals are turning towards drug use. As the video explains, many of these individuals became users because they wanted a sense of belonging. It was possible that their lovers are friends used the drug first, which then persuaded them to try it. Even though they did not intend to become permanent users, heroin and crack cocaine are highly addictive, which caused them to fall into the vicious cycle (Brecher).

It is important to also highlight that many of the young drug users that live in the metropolitan areas of the United States did not have a particularly damaging history that contributed to their tendency to use drugs. Rather, many of this individuals came from good backgrounds, which is not something we typically think about when we see someone asking for money on their streets. We often think of the person we see before us, rather than what the person did or had potential to be. In addition, we automatically assume that these people want money for drugs, not food. The video demonstrates that this understanding is detrimental, because it locks these young drug users into a cycle that is difficult to escape from. Even if they want to make permanent change in their lives, they often don’t have the resources necessary to them to be able to do so.

While the goal of the film is to send an important message, that it is detrimental to start using drugs, it also intends to show us that drug users are human too. Without meaning to, we often demonize them for their poor choices, when in reality, the decision to use drugs is often entirely out of their control. This film highlights this by demonstrating the passion that is shared by the two young couples in the documentary, who intend to stick together despite the troubled times they encounter. Even if they would have a greater chance in surviving if they were to split up, they wouldn’t because it would be too emotionally challenging.

It is important to understand what social and governmental actions can be taken in order to facilitate change. Since many young people have fallen victim to drug use, it is important to consider what we as a population can do in order to help cure them of their addiction and to prevent other young people from harming themselves by participating in this habit. Interestingly, research has shown that the use of gateway drugs, such as marijuana, has contributed to the use of harder drugs, such as crack cocaine and heroin (Sullum). However, the act of simply taking these drugs is not enough to cause young people to become addicted to heavier substances, nor does it make them way to try these products more. Rather, drug dealers specifically target young people by lacing softer drugs with these substances, which will cause them to crave the harder drugs, cementing their likelihood to become addicted.

It would be impossible for the government to intervene directly into such a process because there is no regulation of drugs sold on the black market. Therefore, a possible solution to this issue would be to legalize gateway drugs to ensure that they are safe and less likely to contribute to the use of harder drugs (Vanyukov 1). Even if this does not occur, governmental action does need to take place in some regard. The authorities need to do a better job in ensuring that drug cartels are unable to enter the country to sell their products to the nation’s youth.

In conclusion, Dope Sick Love attempts to humanize the drug users so that society has a more positive opinion of them. This will help because it will allow the nation to gain a greater understanding of the people that are behind the abuse, so that we may pool our efforts together in order to help them. It is necessary to begin taking action to prevent drug use so that we can protect the nation’s youth against beginning drugs to begin with. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of all members of society to ensure that we push our lawmakers towards drug legislation that will benefit us. Ideally, this means it will be illegal altogether or that it will be legalized and regulated. The video allows all viewers to relate to the couples documented, and states that we have an obligation to help individuals in trouble. Therefore, we should make this issue more apparent to cause others to take beneficial action.

References

Brecher EM. “The Consumers Union Report on Licit and Illicit Drugs”. 1972. Web. November  2014.

HBO. “Dope Sick Love”. 2005. Web. 3 November 2014.

Sullum J. “High Road”. 24 January 2003. Web. 23 November 2014.

Vanyukov MM. “Common liability to addiction and “gateway hypothesis”: Theoretical, empirical and evolutionary perspective”. 17 March 2013. Web. 23 November 2014.