英語講座リポート5

Date : October 8, 2011

Topic : ‘ Drug use in America '

On October 8th, Jens gave a report on the new drug epidemic in America. He began with the unsettling fact that in 2009, approximately 37,000 Americans died from drug overdoses, a number that exceeded deaths from automobile accidents (36,000). And surprisingly, most of these deaths were from prescription drugs. This situation is sometimes known as Pharmageddon, a word derived from pharmaceutical and Armageddon. There have been a number of celebrity deaths, such as Anna Nicole Smith, Heath Ledger, and Michael Jackson.

He then outlined the traditional view of drugs and the history of drug epidemics. We tend to think of the opium epidemic of the 1920s, the heroin epidemic of the 1960s and 1970s, and the cocaine epidemic of the 1980s. But in some aspects, today's "Pharmageddon" is more serious. It appears that because these drugs are not illegal, people find them easily and often do not realize they have a drug problem.

Jens gave an explanation of different classes of drugs, such as "uppers" (methamphetamine, cocaine, crack), downers (alcohol, barbiturates), mood enhancers such as marijuana, psychedelics such as LSD, and painkillers like vicodin and oxycodone, which are commonly abused today.

In closing, he mentioned some alarming quotations, such as Gil Kerlikowske (Director of National Drug Control Policy): "Prescription drug abuse is our Nation's fastest-growing drug problem, with shocking consequences measured by overdose deaths, emergency room visits, treatment admissions, and increases in youth drug use."

In the question and answer session, the students asked a number of questions about the various types of drugs and what effects they have.

Neo Patwa
http://patwa.pbworks.com

Book from the Ground
http://www.bookfromtheground.com/yishu.htm