Running head: OPINION EDITORIAL
Opioid addiction: An Epidemic out of Proportion
Addiction has always been a part of human race from time immemorial. Every human
being has some kind of addictive behavior whether known or unknown to them. Many of us may
not go throughout the day without a cup of coffee, or tea or combination of both. At the back of
one’s mind there is always something that one is passionate about, whatever it may be that gives
one a pleasurable outcome. However, not many people may consider themselves to have an
addictive behavior, since whatever gives them pleasurable outcome may not be seen or appear to
be a problem. This is the case with opioid addiction. Studies have shown that over 80% of those
addicted to opioids begin on the premise that the opioid is addressing a problem of pain. The
opioids are potent in treating pain, and are known to gives a rush of relieve from the pain.
While the opioids are the first line drugs of choice for pain management, the risks
associated with the long term use outweigh the benefits thereof. The current trend of the opioids
addiction has been escalating, and has reached an alarming rate which calls for serious and
urgent evidence-based practice intervention from local, State and national level. Report from
2016 publication of Facing Addiction stated clearly that opioid addiction is a medical problem
with significant health risks ramification associated with morbidity and mortality. The report
further stated that this problem should not be viewed as a bad behavior or simply moral failings,
but rather a medical problem which calls for concerted effort from medical fraternity if a lasting
solution is to be reached.
One question still lingers in the minds of many: Who is to blame for this social epidemic?
The answer to this question lies in the genesis of opioid use. Why the use of opioid? To this end,
pain management providers carries the lion share of the blame. As a psychiatric nurse
practitioner working with clients with addictive behaviors, over 90% of those addicted to opioids
blame it to pain management modalities. The clients have always stated that had they not have
been started on opioids to manage pain, mostly probably they may never have been addicted to
these agent. However, there is that 10 % of the clients who simply started opioid because they
were introduced by those in their company who were using, and given an amazing report of the
type of rush it produces in the brain and the body as a whole.
The reports of deaths from opioid overdose is mind boggling. In my three years of
working with the clients with addictive behaviors, I have data of 37 clients who have died from
opioids overdose. These are not clients that I had encounter with. Report from one study
indicated that for the last 4 years, the number of deaths from opioid overdose, particularly from
heroin and fentanyl have tripled. The author of the same report indicated that by 2015, more than
2.5 Americans had an opioid use disorder with 77% from prescription medications, such as
oxycodone and Roxicodone among others, with only 23% from other illicit drugs.
Recent report from Surgeon General says it all. In his recent address to the nation, Dr.
Jerome Adams noted that every day, 115 Americans die from opioid overdose, which translate to
one person every 12.5 minutes. This latest number is astronomical and an indication that we are
dealing with a social and a medical epidemic that has gone out of proportion. In the light of this
glaring epidemic that seem to threaten humanity at its core, the U.S Surgeon General has made a
call for everyone who has an opioid addiction to carry naloxone spray to help avert imminent
death in case of an opioid overdose.
Running head: OPINION EDITORIAL
The solution to the opioid addiction calls for a paradigm shift, with the need for
alternative non-addictive medications to ameliorate pain. This means redefining the treatment
modalities, coupled with policy, prevention and advocating for evidence-based clinical practice
efforts, and changes in political culture which will not turn a blind eye in the midst of the seeking
a permanent intervention to this social problem of untold magnitude.
References
Levy, S., Breen, L., Lunstead, J., & Weitzman, E. R. (2018). Facing Addiction: A Laudable, but
Incomplete Effort.BAmerican Journal of Public Health,B108(2), 153-155.
doi:10.2105/AJPH.2017.304230
LOCKWOOD, C. J. (2018). Why is there an opioid crisis? Like the road to hell, the road to the
opioid crisis was paved with good intentions.BContemporary OB/GYN,B63(2), 6-10.
U.S. Surgeon General (2018). More should carry naloxone. Retrieved from
https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/news/20180405/health-highlights-
april-5-2018
