Running head: OPIOID ADDICTION
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OPIOID ADDICTION
Opioid Addiction
Opioids refer to a class of drugs including heroin and prescription pain reliever drugs
such as hydrocodone, morphine, fentanyl, oxycodone and codeine. America is currently facing
an opioid epidemic as a result of the increase in doctors prescribing pain-relieving drugs. Drug
overdose is now a major leading cause of accidental deaths among persons below fifty years.
Following a misleading reassurance of the medical community by the pharmaceutical companies
in the late 1990s that the patients would not develop an addiction to opioid pain relievers, the
prescription of the opioid pain relievers escalated significantly (Shaggy871, 2018). The major
challenge that people who develop an addiction to opioid drugs experience is that they do not
know when they develop the addiction. One moment they are taking the drugs to relieve pain,
and the next moment they cannot get enough of it. All the people who develop an addiction to
opioid drugs start with the prescription opioids then move to heroin and other street opioid drugs.
Of the 20.5 million Americans suffering from drug abuse disorder in the last five years,
approximately 2 million of the population suffer from prescription opioid abuse.
Prescription opioid drugs use has various health implications for the victims. Like other
drugs, prescription opioid misuse can lead to the death of the victim and in cases where it does
not get to that, the opioids interact with the opioids receptors in the brain to cause chronic and
relapsing brain disease (Shaggy871, 2018). Continuously using prescription opioid drugs can
lead to severe cases of dependency and addiction. The addiction cases have been reported in
many patients starting from around the age of 12 years, and it can affect even the older people up
to the age of eighty years. Most opioids drug addicts started as chronic pain patients who only
took the drugs to relieve pain but later developed dependency and addiction.
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OPIOID ADDICTION
Opioid drugs addicts use drugs to replace the people who are closer to them. For instance,
individuals below the age of 15 years can use drugs to replace their parents and friends and end
up isolated and lonely, thus leading to broken households. Also, victims of opioid addiction turn
out to be very rebellious and get involved in illicit activities such as robbery and violence. These
activities show terrible examples to other people, especially children in society.
Most drug abusers and addicts are birthed from the prescription opioid drugs. Opioid
addicts often develop a dependency on the drugs, and since the prescription opioids are quite
expensive in the black market, they turn to other substances such as opioids. Drug abuse has
been a major of concern in the society as it results in an increase in crime rates; both robbery,
rape, and murder. Also, from the stories told by the children in the video, drug addiction is
amongst the leading causes of divorce. Due to drug use in society, children are raised in poorly
managed and abusive households. This counts as a significant reason for declining education
standards in drug stricken neighborhoods.
Of the many interventions developed to prevent or reduce instances of opioid addiction,
the medicated assisted treatments are very effective. In medicated assisted treatment programs,
the physicians apply other methods of medication for chronic pain (McElrath, 2017). Some
medicated assisted treatments for pain include physical therapy and psychosocial treatments.
These programs are considered to be safe, affordable and reduce the risks of addiction by 100%.
Another intervention applied to treat opioid addicts and prevent the abuse of opioid drugs is the
development of self-help group programs that creates awareness on the effects of opioid drugs
abuse to the mental, and physical health (Wu, Blazer, Li, & Woody, 2011). These groups help
significantly in the treatments of opioid addicts and help them focus and avoid relapsing back to
opioid drugs abuse.
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OPIOID ADDICTION
References
McElrath,=K. (2017). Medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction in the United States:
Critique and commentary.=Substance Use & Misuse,=53(2), 334-343.
doi:10.1080/10826084.2017.1342662
Shaggy871. (2018, January 17). Understanding the Opioid Epidemic 2018. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdcCqg1e_SQ
Wu,=L., Blazer,=D.=G., Li,=T., & Woody,=G.=E. (2011). Treatment use and barriers among
adolescents with prescription opioid use disorders.=Addictive Behaviors,=36(12), 1233-
1239. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2011.07.033
