The Time Period

In this post, I will write about what else was going on in the world around the time of my controversy.

Open Clip Art Library, "News" 27 November 2005. Public Domain.

Local News:

“Billion-dollar OxyContin verdict rests on disputed misseddeadline.”

“West Virginia allows painkillers addicts to sue prescribing doctors”

National News:

History “Barak Obamaelected as America’s first black president” 

Forbes “Tackling The Real Unemployment Rate: 12.6%”

Global News:

ABC News “ISIS Trail of Terror”

NBC News “Abuse of Prescription drugs surges across globe”

What else was going on?

America’s prescription drug epidemic has been an ongoing issue for almost a decade now. During this time period, several major events have taken place in the world. For example, Barack Obama was elected president, and with that came Obamacare. This made prescription drugs more affordable. Also, there was a Boston Marathon terrorist attack in 2013; this traumatic event obviously could have led to the increase of drug abuse in America. The outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011 made ISIS much moe of a threat. This stress all over the world could have also led to drug abuse in a way of coping with misery.

Locally, the state of Kentucky had filed a lawsuit against the Purdue Pharma company for releasing false information about their drugs. Additionally, West Virginia allowed painkiller addicts, specifically Willis Duncan, to sue their doctors. Also happening nationally, Barak Obama was elected as president in 2008. This might affect my controversy because Obama has a specific plan devised to tackle the prescription drug overdoes problem in the United States.  

Additionally, a news article was released regarding United States unemployment rate over the past decade. According to the article, there are countless discouraged workers not currently looking for work because they have lost all hope in actually finding one. This relates to my controversy because the unemployment rate could be a factor of the increased drug abuse, drugs being a way to cope with unemployment or maybe even being the cause of it. 

Regarding global news, ISIS has emerged significantly over the past decade and has affected several American troops. This could be another cause for the increase of opioid abuse, initially being prescribed to these troops for their chronic pains, then resulting in abuse. Also globally, NBC News released an article concerning drug abuse in parts of Europe, Africa and South Asia. Also the ‘date rape drug’ spike in Scandinavia has resulted in several deaths. This relates to my controversy because it provides insight on drug abuse in several different countries compared to drug abuse in America alone.