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VOA慢速英语2021--美国黑人吸毒死亡人数急剧增加

时间:2021-07-15 05:58:15

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Drug Use Deaths Increase Sharply1 Among Black Americans

From VOA Learning2 English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

In the United States, deaths related3 to the use of the pain-killing drugs opioids have long been described as a problem for poor white people in small towns and rural4 communities. In the past several years, however, opioid deaths have increased greatly across the country. And the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened opioid deaths in some of the most at-risk communities of Black Americans.

The Associated Press reports that, in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, deaths among Black people increased at three times the rate of white people last year during the pandemic. Black men in Missouri are now four times more likely than a white person to die of an overdose.

One of them was Craig Elazer.

Elazer struggled all his life with anxiety, a feeling of fear and nervousness. He was never treated for it. So, at a very young age, he started taking drugs and depended on them to calm himself. The addiction6, or drug dependency, led him to homelessness and time in prison.

Last September, his sister, Michelle Branch, found her 56-year-old brother dead in a poor neighborhood in north St. Louis. She looked down at his body, saying, "Society failed him. And I had a sense that he'd finally been set free."

Branch said that her brother was a bright student but struggled to pay attention. Had his condition been treated, Branch said she believes he would be alive today. She added that back then they did not catch many types of mental illness, "...especially not in little Black kids."

Dr. Kanika Turner is a St. Louis doctor who leads an effort to stop the crisis7. She describes the increase in opioid deaths as a civil rights issue as urgent8 and important as any other.

She said the hardest-hit communities are the same ones being destroyed by unfair drug sentencing. Black men are more likely to be sent to prison instead of treatment, Turner said.

Last year, the death of George Floyd under a police officer's knee in Minneapolis, Minnesota led to protests9 around the world. Those who defended the officer claimed that the drug fentanyl, found in his body, had caused his death. But the officer was found guilty of Floyd's murder in a trial last April.

Fentanyl – a dangerous man-made opioid

Fentanyl is a man-made opioid with 50 to 100 times the strength of a controlled substance like morphine. The U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse10 says that man-made opioids, including fentanyl, are now the most common drugs involved in drug overdose deaths in the United States.

The drug flooded the streets of St. Louis last year. Rachel Winograd, a professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, followed the state's overdose information. She said in the first six months of 2020, deaths increased 64 percent among Black people from the same period the year before. Deaths increased 40 percent among white people.

Other northeastern states in the U.S. experienced11 similar increases. Doctors in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania found that in the first few months of the pandemic, overdoses increased more than 50 percent for Black people while decreasing for white people. In Massachusetts, health officials announced that overdose deaths among Black men increased in 2020 by nearly 70 percent.

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, also found an overall12 increase of 42 percent in overdose deaths across the U.S. in 2020. The largest increase was for Black people, with a sharp increase of more than 50 percent.

Dealing13 with drug problems

Narcan is a medicine that can bring people back from a drug overdose before it is too late.

In a crisis, many in St. Louis are slow to call 911, the emergency help number. This is because they fear the police. So, now activists14, like Jerome Anderson, pass out the medication. He is trying to get as much Narcan on the streets as possible.

He calls out to people walking by: "Hey, take some Narcan. Save a life. I'm tired of going to family funerals."

Anderson himself was a drug addict5 and has been in recovery15 for 26 years. In the last six months, he has sung at three family members' funerals. They all died from an overdose.

He carries around a letter saying that he is not a police officer. Sometimes drug dealers16 let him stand next to them, to hand their customers his Narcan medicine.

Jamilia Allen was once a top student and the captain of her high school cheerleading team. Back then she judged people who used drugs. But now she is fighting her own drug addiction.

Allen has also used Narcan to save her friends, more than once. She said, "I'm not going to let this kill me, and if I can help anyone else, then that's one less person like me."

On the night Craig Elazer died last September, the emergency workers stood over his body and pointed17 to a white substance on his bed. "Fentanyl," they said.

When Michelle Branch sat down to write about her brother, she wrote that he was a kind soul, but addiction destroyed him. It took his family. It took his freedom. She wrote, "It would take and take and take until it took his life."

Words in This Story

overdose – n. an amount of a drug or medicine that is too much and usually dangerous

anxiety – n. fear or nervousness about what might happen

addiction – n. a strong and harmful need to regularly have something (such as a drug) or do something (such as gamble)

kid – n. a young person

smuggle18 – v. to move (someone or something) from one country into another illegally and secretly

pill – n. a usually medicinal or dietary preparation in a small rounded mass to be swallowed whole

customer – n. someone who buys goods or services from a business

cheerleading – n. a person who is a member of a group (typically a group of young women) who shout out special songs or chants to encourage the team and entertain the crowd during a game in sports like American football and basketball

soul – n. the spiritual part of a person that is believed to give life to the body and in many religions is believed to live forever


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1 sharply UiRziL     
adj.锐利地,急速;adv.严厉地,鲜明地
参考例句:
  • The plane dived sharply and rose again.飞机猛然俯冲而后又拉了起来。
  • Demand for personal computers has risen sharply.对个人电脑的需求急剧增长。
2 learning wpSzFe     
n.学问,学识,学习;动词learn的现在分词
参考例句:
  • When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时,常会从车上掉下来。
  • Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。
3 related vkGzSv     
adj.有关系的,有关联的,叙述的,讲述的
参考例句:
  • I am not related to him in any way.我和他无任何关系。
  • We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。
4 rural OC8za     
adj.乡下的,田园的,乡村风味的
参考例句:
  • He lived a rural life.他过着田园生活。
  • We left the city for a rural home.我们离开城市,去农村安家。
5 addict my4zS     
v.使沉溺;使上瘾;n.沉溺于不良嗜好的人
参考例句:
  • He became gambling addict,and lost all his possessions.他习染上了赌博,最终输掉了全部家产。
  • He assisted a drug addict to escape from drug but failed firstly.一开始他帮助一个吸毒者戒毒但失败了。
6 addiction JyEzS     
n.上瘾入迷,嗜好
参考例句:
  • He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
  • Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。
7 crisis pzJxT     
n.危机,危急关头,决定性时刻,关键阶段
参考例句:
  • He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明,在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
  • The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。
8 urgent fjSwT     
a.紧急的,急迫的,紧要的
参考例句:
  • He asked to see the manager for something urgent. 他有急事求见经理。
  • A part of this urgent task was allotted to us. 这项紧急任务的一部分分给了我们。
9 protests 5b355aeb26f04b1eea895170dca5ca48     
n.[体]抗议;抗议,反对( protest的名词复数 )v.声明( protest的第三人称单数 );坚决地表示;申辩
参考例句:
  • The protests have forced the government to back-pedal on the new tax. 抗议活动已迫使政府撤销新的税目。
  • Plans to build a new mall were deep-sixed after protests from local residents. 修建新室内购物中心的计划由于当地居民反对而搁浅。
10 abuse dy1z0     
vt.滥用;辱骂;诋毁;n.滥用;恶习;弊端
参考例句:
  • You can't make personal abuse on her.你不可对她进行人身攻击。
  • She screamed abuse at me.她尖声责备我。
11 experienced ntPz2t     
adj.有经验的;经验丰富的,熟练的
参考例句:
  • Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather.有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
  • Perhaps you and I had better change over;you are more experienced.也许我们的工作还是对换一下好,你比我更有经验。
12 overall vJQxS     
n.工作服,工装裤;全面的,全体的
参考例句:
  • The shop assistant was wearing a white overall.那店员穿着白色的工作服。
  • How much will it cost overall?一共多少钱?
13 dealing NvjzWP     
n.经商方法,待人态度
参考例句:
  • This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
  • His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。
14 activists 90fd83cc3f53a40df93866d9c91bcca4     
n.(政治活动的)积极分子,活动家( activist的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
  • Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》
15 recovery fUkx6     
n.恢复,痊愈;追回,寻回,收复
参考例句:
  • The doctors said that his recovery was a miracle. 医生们说他的复原是件奇事。
  • The quick recovery was truly in response to medication.这次迅速康复确实是对药物治疗的反应。
16 dealers 95e592fc0f5dffc9b9616efd02201373     
n.商人( dealer的名词复数 );贩毒者;毒品贩子;发牌者
参考例句:
  • There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
  • The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败,与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。
17 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
18 smuggle 5FNzy     
vt.私运;vi.走私
参考例句:
  • Friends managed to smuggle him secretly out of the country.朋友们想方设法将他秘密送出国了。
  • She has managed to smuggle out the antiques without getting caught.她成功将古董走私出境,没有被逮捕。

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