One social problem that my community, and the surrounding areas of Philadelphia, has been dealing with is a drug crisis. This city is known to have the worst urban opioid crisis in all of America. An article written for the Inquirer states that there have been more than 3,000 deaths from drug overdoses, just over the last three years (Whelan, 2020). Unfortunately, the city’s health department has estimated that there will continue to be tens of thousands of Philadelphia residents that will be addicted to drugs. This problem will continue to impact the local area until its properly addressed by outreach organizations and healthcare professionals.

We learned throughout chapter 3 in our textbook that utilitarianism is the theory that morally right actions are those whose consequences have the greatest positive value and least negative value, compared to available alternatives (Thames, 2018). In my own opinion, when it comes to addressing the opioid problem, we need to consider the consequences that come from people’s actions. In other words, taking a closer look at how people (or addicts) are getting their hands on these pills in the first place. Are doctors prescribing medication without considering alternative forms of treatment first? Are people not utilizing their resources ethically?

This particular moral theory differs from the way the city has been handling the issue thus far. Officials are looking at the “user” as the problem, instead of ethically advocating to find them help or treatment. When it comes to monitoring drug usage, a starting point could be reviewing the prescription sales throughout the pharmacies in the city. Those results could show where any illicit usage is coming from.