In 2021, more than 106,000 people died of a drug overdose. Over 80,000 of those were from opioids (NIDA, 2023). These tragic numbers are only getting larger. However, overdose rates are affecting minority and impoverished communities at an alarmingly disproportionate rate. People are dying from substance abuse driven by a lack of medical treatment, food insecurity, low political and social support, and more. Drug and alcohol addiction is a severe problem in low-income/low-socioeconomic communities. The relationship between poverty and addiction is complicated. Yet, studies have shown that lower-income people are more likely to experience stress which can cause people to turn to substances. Existing research and scholarship indicate that poverty places individuals in precarious situations, making them more susceptible to substance use disorders. A lower income can result in heightened stress, feelings of hopelessness, reduced social support, and restricted healthcare access, all contributing to a cycle of addiction and poverty.
Stress affects everyone regardless of their socioeconomic status. Still, for impoverished individuals, the stress sources tend to be more critical and life-threatening. Worrying about being able to feed and keep oneself and their family safe while trying to keep a job and pay for a house is so anxiety-inducing that getting high may sound like a fair outlet and means for release. Unemployment may cause the addict/alcoholic to become desperate for substances and money, leading them into criminal activity and potentially jail. This is where the cycle becomes almost impossible to break, and poverty can lead one to substances. Those substances will keep them in poverty.
The act of “self-medicating” is exceptionally prevalent in marginalized communities because these communities have limited access to medical treatment, and many cannot afford it. Professor Proudfoot at Durham University explains that “self-destructive drug use by marginalized people should be understood as a form of self-medication for the psychosocial injuries of oppression: an attempt by the marginalized to cope with the hidden and overt injuries … of poverty, discrimination, social ostracism, toxic living, and working conditions, [and] breakdowns in community social life,” (Proudfoot, 2019). This “self-medicating” offers these suffering people a temporary escape. However, this can provoke a vicious cycle of addiction and exacerbate their financial hardship.
Poor and marginalized communities also do not receive adequate mental health and social support. Mental health issues are a leading factor in substance use, and addiction and poverty significantly impact these mental problems in one’s life, such as emotions and relationships. Social support can play a huge role in one’s life and the happiness and success one achieves. Poverty decreases social support because of social stigmas and the difficulty of supporting others when struggling to sustain themselves. Experiencing financial problems can lead individuals to develop unhealthy coping mechanisms, which can have various negative impacts on their well-being. Feeling hopeless becomes a daily negative mindset; when one cannot find help, they turn to drugs.
Why should we care about addiction rates in low-socioeconomic communities? Substance abuse and overdose rates have become a severe epidemic and humanitarian crisis in the United States. While substance abuse affects everyone, it really highlights many neglected aspects of life in these poor areas. It can have serious health consequences, including addiction, overdose, and chronic health problems. Treating substance use disorders will improve the health and well-being of these individuals and communities. There are also justice, equity, and social consequences, such as increased homelessness rates, incarceration, and broken families. At the bare minimum, every person has value and is worth helping. Impoverished and marginalized people are already at risk for many negative life impacts. Substance use disorder may completely strip them of their dignity. Poverty and addiction are a cycle that cannot be broken without outside help.
What can we do about it? It is our responsibility as privileged members of American Society to ensure that everyone has equal access to the help and resources that they need. Much of the action must be taken through drastic policy change and creation. However, what we, as members of the public, can do is spread the word about these injustices and hold the government accountable to step up and create new policies to combat the severity of this pattern of substance use disorder and poverty.
Addiction and Low-Income Americans. Addiction Center. (2022, October 26). Retrieved December 1, 2022, from https://www.addictioncenter.com/addiction/low-income-americans/
Proudfoot, J. (2019, March 15). Traumatic Landscapes: Two Geographies of Addiction. ScienceDirect. Retrieved December 1, 2022, from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.03.020
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2023, March 8). Drug overdose death rates. National Institutes of Health. Retrieved March 2023, from https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates
