Immigrants Falling Victim to Opiate Addiction

Posted by azdrugrehabctr on July 30, 2016 under Addiction Trends, AZ Drug Rehab News, Opiate Abuse, Prescription Drugs | Comments are off for this article

Drug or alcohol addiction does not discriminate. White, Black, Muslim, Christian, Asian or any other race or religion can fall victim to substance abuse. Immigrants can be particularly susceptible to opiate abuse because of the culture shock and overwhelming feelings of living in a new country. Heroin and painkillers can be a way to escape these overwhelming feelings. While there are apparently no current studies that effectively break down drug use by ethnicity, there is evidence that minority groups all over the country are suffering from increased use of heroin and prescription drug use.

In order to include immigrants and minorities in substance abuse prevention and education, it is important for the public to understand why these groups can turn to drugs in the first place. Unlike white suburban teenagers, immigrant teenagers are likely to turn to heroin or other illicit drugs because their new lives in America can be very overwhelming. Many other countries do not create public service announcements or programs to educate children on the dangers of certain drugs, so when people immigrate to the United States they are often unprepared to deal with the temptations of drugs.

One woman explained just how different it is to raise children in America. “It’s the transformation of how you raise your kids back home and the whole village is taking care of your kids to here. You’re in America; the only village taking care of your kids is the street,” explained Kathy Khatari, a Muslim immigrant.

Some experts have also pointed out that families of immigrant drug users are also not likely to come forward and discuss a drug addiction. The threat of shame and embarrassment that falls onto the family is often too much to allow parents and family members to speak out and educate other immigrants. Treatment and prevention efforts should be much more all-inclusive to be able to catch all of the people that are affected by addiction.