The document summarizes key aspects of the opioid crisis in the United States. It begins by defining the opioid crisis as the misuse, overdoses and deaths caused by both synthetic and natural opioids like morphine, heroin and prescription drugs. It then discusses how the crisis gained national attention in 2010 and was exacerbated by pharmaceutical companies misleading doctors about the addictiveness of prescription opioids. The document outlines some of the social and economic costs of the crisis and efforts being made to address it. It also analyzes related cultural beliefs, social roles, inequalities and conditions, finding relationships between the crisis and these factors are often negative or strained.

1. Milestone Two: Mapping the Issue
SOC 112: Introduction to Sociology
Nicole Stinger
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2. Social Issue
The Social Issue that was chosen is Drug Abuse with a focus on the opioid crisis. The
opioid crisis, also known as the opioid epidemic, is the misuse, hospitalizations, and death
caused by opioids including Morphine, Heroin, and Prescription drugs to name a few.
Opioids are classified as drugs that have been synthetically made or derived from opium.
Even though this crisis has been going since the 90’s, it gained the most attention in 2010
when death tolls in the US hit about 115 a day (Parisi & Smith, 2021). Pharmaceutical
companies ill-informed doctors that these opioid prescriptions, like OxyContin and
Percocet, were non addictive forming and safe to use for patients suffering from pain.
After the prescriptions run out, patients are only then made aware that they have an
addiction to the medication. The brain craves these “feel good” chemicals and when
without, withdrawal symptoms occurs, and the user seek more even if comes down to
using heroin. According to Florence (2013) “this is a serious national crisis that affects
public heath as well as social and economical welfare”(54). In 2018, Economic Advisors
of the U.S Council says that the opioid crisis cost our nation “700 billion dollars in social
and economic costs” (Felbab-Brown et al., 2020). There have been great strides in the
effort of battling this terrible disease including doctors having strict guidelines that must
be followed before prescribing an opioid.
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3. Cultural Beliefs and Biases
•An example of a cultural bias is many Americans believe that those who use opioids are junkies, of lower class
only, and deserve to have drug related charges on their criminal record permanently. Many Americans believe
that addiction is a choice not a disease therefore you can choose to stop whenever you want which would put end
this Epidemic. Community bias has an impact on many levels for example, there is a lack of community support
for treatment centers for users. The relationship between the two are negative.
•An example of cultural beliefs is many Americans believe that if the government provided more treatment
centers and supplied institutions that help with preventing opioid addiction, there would be a decline in the
number of deaths and overdoses. Some Americans critique a person's decision to use Methadone or Suboxone
leaving those trying to seek help misinformed or embarrassed to take that first step towards recovery. The stigma
surrounding maintenance programs have a negative impact on this opioid crisis.
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4. Social Roles
• Family members can play a negative and positive role in a person's addiction. If a child is
brought up in an environment where parents are using, then there is a higher chance that the child
will have a substance use disorder, like using opioids. For an example, a parent's role can be
strained because it can be both negative and positive depending on their role in their children’s
life. The family can have certain roles within the addict’s life including the escape goat, the hero,
and an enabler. Getting employment and receiving health care can be hard for a person,
especially a parent on drugs like heroin.
• An opioid abuser, especially those who experienced trauma, are at risk to use drugs, specifically
opioids. Victims may use opioids as social connection, self medicating, and/or by force from
their abuser. Opioids release pleasure chemicals giving the victim relief from the psychological
and physiological pain they are encountering. The relationship between the victim and opioid use
is negative. Although to the victim, using may feel positive but it ravages relationships that are
critical to a person’s wellbeing, especially their mental health.
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5. Social Inequalities
• A social inequality related to the opioid crisis is race. Researchers have found that White
Americans make up about 80% of the opioid related overdoses and lack of treatment is
contributing to the rise in overdoses in the African American community (Murray, 2019).
Low incomed White Americans tend to suffer more from opioid addiction and opioid
addiction is partially because of lack of treatment for the colored communities. This is an
example of a negative relationship between race and the opioid crisis
• Social economic status such as the upper class, judge all opioid users in a way Wood &
Elliott (2020) described as harsh. Social class has played a crucial role in the opioid crisis
and due to the stigma and judgment, many Americans have psychological issues which is
part reason why they use opioids in the first place. Social inequalities within social class
keeps Americans divided but reality is all social classes have some relation the opioid
epidemic. This is an example of a negative relationship between social class and the opioid
crisis.
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6. Existing Social Conditions
• When it comes to crime rates, opioid use does not have a drastic effect. There are not many studies done adequately to say opioid use
causes users to commit crimes. However opioid users like heroin addicts, commit crimes sometimes daily in order to get high. The opioid
epidemic has lower crime rates than it did in the 70’s mostly because woman are using opioid more than men and they say crimes are
mostly committed by younger men (Szalavitz, M., & Rigg, K. K. , 2017). Typically, when heroin addicts commit crimes, they tend to
already have pre-existing charges or a past of committing crimes. The relationship between crime rates and the opioid crisis is strained due
to the lack of data but it sways more towards negative than positive.
• The opioid crisis impacts the unemployment because according to the OECD “ labor participation has declined in the U.S” (Currie &
Schnell, 2018). Surprisingly, the unemployment rate is at an all time low and hasn’t been like thin years. The article shows that most people
who abuse opioids are employed. There will be correlations between opioid use and unemployment, but it depends on the are or state you
live in. As the epidemic continues, employment will most likely be the lowest thing this crisis will reek havoc on.
For each example above, be sure to indicate whether the relationship between each example and the central issue is positive, negative, or strained.
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7. References
Currie. J & Schnell. M (2018). https://hbr.org/2018/08/a-closer-look-at-how-the-opioid-epidemic-affects-employment
Felbab-Brown, V., Caulkins, J. P., Graham, C., Humphreys, K., Pacula, R. L., Pardo, B., Reuter, P., Stein, B. D., & Wise, P. H. (2020, June 22). Overview: The opioid crisis
in America. Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/research/overview-the-opioid-crisis-in-america/#footnote-7.
Florence CS, Zhou C, Luo F, Xu L. The Economic Burden of Prescription Opioid Overdose, Abuse, and Dependence in the United States, 2013. Med Care. 2016;54(10):901-
906. doi:10.1097/MLR.0000000000000625.
Murray, K. (2020, November 20). Racial Disparities in Opioid Addiction Treatment in America. Addiction Center. https://www.addictioncenter.com/news/2019/10/racial-
disparities-opioid-addiction-treatment/.
Parisi, T., & Smith, C. (Eds.). (2021, March 29). The Opioid Epidemic: What Is It and What Can You Do? Addiction Center.
https://www.addictioncenter.com/opiates/opioid-epidemic/#search.
Szalavitz, M., & Rigg, K. K. (2017). The Curious (Dis)Connection between the Opioid Epidemic and Crime. Substance Use & Misuse, 52(14), 1927–1931
Wood, E., & Elliott, M. (2020). Opioid Addiction Stigma: The Intersection of Race, Social Class, and Gender. Substance use & misuse, 55(5), 818–827.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2019.1703750.
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