Examples Of Heroin In Vietnam

HEROIN: It’s Not Addictive
Many young Americans were involved in the Vietnam War, being a major conflict of their time, and was at its peak in the late to mid-sixties. With over half a million American troops in Vietnam, many ventured into drug use to cope with the stresses of war. Drug abuse was on the rise due to the major paradigm shift in social norms, on the battle field, and the home front. Heroin use among servicemen was high, using heroin as a mental and physical crutch is an effective escape from the tension and stresses of war. Many of these men used for extended periods of time, far beyond what would be considered occasional use and well within range of addiction risk. With so much heroin being used, one might assume that we would
The rumored heroin use by service men was confirmed when two congressman went to Vietnam finding that many were addicted. 1971 President Nixon declared heroin the nations number 1 public health problem (Robins, Lee N. p1041) Nixon later created the “Special Action Office on Drug Abuse and Prevention, (SAODAP)” to combat what he thought was the ever growing addiction problem in Vietnam. When returning service men would be required to take a drug screening before boarding the plane, if they failed they couldn’t leave. Some might argue that forcing them to abstain in order to go home is the reason for these low relapse rates, as if they could just break their habit and move on. However heroin is extremely hard to just drop and not resume use. Heroin addiction consists of two parts, physical dependence and mental addiction. Physical dependence can be overcome fairly easily, withdrawal symptoms are harsh but short lived (no more than a week or two). On the other hand mental addiction is extremely difficult to overcome. Mental withdrawals can last for up to six months, consisting of depression, cravings, anxiety, and insomnia. In my opinion it is nearly impossible to say no to the overwhelming desire, almost as if there is a massive void once filled by heroin. Keeping this in mind, it is unlikely to assume service men were able to quit the use at the drop of a hat. “Nearly all shared
A drug is anything that can evoke heightened emotions or emotions we wouldn’t feel naturally. Music could be a drug, food could be a drug. Exercise is a drug, releasing endorphins to give us a heightened sense of accomplishment and wellbeing. Drug addiction is the mental need of a stimulus to feel normal. Drug dependence is the physical need of stimulus to feel normal in the way your body has come to expect. Now having an understanding of addiction we can now try to understand why addiction and relapse rates were so low. Servicemen were using the drug as an escape, a way out of the stress. Research has found a relation between addiction and the environment the drug was being used. The findings of Lee Robins suggest a behavioral relation to addiction as heroin use is an anomaly in the everyday life of servicemen in America (Robins, Lee N. p1053). As he does make a valid point one might recognize a larger relation to the environment of drug abuse. All too often drug abuse takes place to escape an aspect of life or emotion we may be feeling. Vietnam was a stressful unescapable environment with the looming threat of death around every corner, servicemen used heroin as an escape from this environment. For them heroin was a coping mechanism, a release of stress and worry in the midst of the terrors of war. Compared to war, home is a safe