Comparable City Analysis Literature & Language Essay

COMPARABLE CITY ANALYSIS
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For the comparable town analysis, we shall look into the extent of opioid use and its documented impacts on the populations in Kingsbridge, a town in the Bronx neighborhood in the outskirts of New York City. Research done by New York City Health and Mental Hygiene Department in 2017 showed that Kingsbridge town was ranked as the 15th worst out of forty-two regions concerning opioid overdose-related deaths that year. It recorded 18.3 fatalities for every one hundred thousand residents (Cox, K. S., & Naegle, M. A. 2019). Kingsbridge town’s neighbor to the east is New York City which has the 5th worst opioid death rates having 31.2 fatalities for every one hundred thousand city residents (Ranapurwala, S. I., et al 2019).
The opioid crisis in Kingsbridge has largely affected three categories of vulnerable populations which include newborn babies and pregnant women, injection drug users, and those involved with the criminal justice system.
Newborn babies and pregnant women
Overdose deaths among pregnant women in the city rose by 20% with opioid use disorder increasing almost four times among them. Approximately four times as many newborn babies were born with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) in 2014 as compared to previous years because of a significant rise in misuse and overdose of opioid drugs (Stone, A. B., et al 2017). Opioid abuse may cause health hazards to both unborn babies and their mothers during pregnancy and even after delivery. Mothers can give birth to infants with feeding and breathing difficulties, low birth weight; preterm births, and causes of maternal mortality can also occur hence posing danger to both baby and mother (Ranapurwala, S. I., et al 2019). Centre for Disease Control (CDC) in the city has been developing measures to curb misuse of opioids among expectant and lactating mothers and also women who are still within reproductive age. CDC has ensured that pregnant women with opioid disorder have access to appropriate treatment and correct prescriptions (Stone, A. B., et al 2017).
Those involved with the criminal justice system
This section of the population is also vulnerable to the opioid crisis because of the significant prison population in the neighborhood which is highly connected to drug trafficking and related crimes (Stone, A. B., et al 2017). Although the exact proportion of prisoners affected by Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) is difficult to determine, some research shows that about 65% of inmates in the town have an active substance abuse disorder (Cox, K. S., & Naegle, M. A. 2019). Prisoners with opioid disorders are at risk because, during their jail period, if untreated they will experience decreased opioid tolerance since they will have stopped using opioids while serving their sentences. They are likely to go back to opioid use upon release and consume the same proportions used before being jailed without realizing that their bodies can no longer tolerate the same prescriptions hence increasing the chances of overdoses which may lead to death (Cox, K. S., & Naegle, M. A. 2019).
Those who inject drugs
People who injec...