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Opioid Abuse
Among the medicines that hospitals rely on to relieve pain is a class of drugs known as
Opioids. While the drugs in this class are only meant for medical use, a problem has emerged
where they have become a substance of abuse. In the United States, opioid abuse started in the
1990’s when its prescription was permitted to take place without many restrictions (Jalali et al.,
2020). Likewise, many nations around the world have also been experiencing this problem to the
extent that they have regarded it as a key public health issue. The opioid epidemic is a huge
problem that should not be overlooked, this is because it has many side effects like poor health,
high mortality rate, broken families and increased crime. It’s therefore important to find ways of
dealing with these issues such as limiting the number of prescription drugs given out by doctors,
decreasing the supply chain for illegal narcotics and increase access to treatment centers for
those suffering from addiction.
Opioid abuse, like the case of many other abused drugs, has been regarded as an
epidemic in the United States (Kelley, 2020). This fact can be supported by the high number of
people affected by this problem. To clarify this, experts have pointed out that roughly 3.8 percent
of adults in this country are abusing this drug (Kelley, 2020). What this means is that almost 10
million people are impacted by this problem (Keyes et al., 2023). The suffering falls heavily on
young people, a problem that is seen even in other drugs. This problem has not only affected the
health of individuals abusing this drug but also resulted in a shocking number of deaths. To make
this clear, nearly 500,000 deaths linked to the abuse of opioids have happened in the last two
decades (Sarkis, 2022). It is also important to note that the opioid crisis has increased the cases
of related diseases. The use of injections by addicts of this drug has resulted in the spread of
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chronic conditions such as HIV, Hepatitis C, and others (Kelley, 2020). These heavy
consequences demonstrate why the problem of abuse of opioids cannot be ignored.
There has been much effort invested in exploring and revealing the factors that have
contributed to the emergence of the opioid abuse crisis. Experts hold that these contributing
factors have been responsible for the high prescribing of opioids in the country (Sarkis, 2022).
The result is that opioids can easily be accessed by an increased number of individuals, an issue
that translates into abuse of this drug. A key factor that has been identified is the extensive
advertisement of prescription opioids, particularly by pharmaceutical companies (Sarkis, 2022).
Such companies did this by motivating pharmacists to not only prescribe opioids to their patients
but also encourage their colleagues to use these drugs. They also provided offers that allowed
patients to access prescription opioids without any payment. The strong opioid marketing by
these companies eventually resulted in more and more prescriptions of opioids. The other factor
that led to this crisis was the heightened attention to medical treatment of patient pain. In the
1990s, there was increased effort to regard pain as a serious health concern and extend the use of
opioids to manage pain (Sarkis, 2022). This was supported by experts who dismissed the concern
of the risk of growing opioid use disorder. Furthermore, changes in the standards for assessing
physicians in 1998 also increased the prescription of opioids (Sarkis, 2022). These new
standards, introduced during this period, encouraged physicians to prescribe opioids for any
chronic pain and made it difficult to hold doctors accountable for prescribing opioids. This
resulted in increased prescription of opioids across the country.
Additionally, the presence of illegal opioid markets in the country also worsened this
crisis. As the prescription of opioids increased across the country, more and more of these drugs
started to be diverted into illegal markets where they could be sold for nonmedical reasons
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(Sarkis, 2022). Opioid drugs were diverted from physicians, relatives, and drug dealers and taken
to these markets. This meant that the drugs could be easily bought by people who wanted to
abuse them. The other factor that has led to the abuse of this class of drugs is the rise in demand
for opioids for self-medication. To clarify this, experts have demonstrated that people
experiencing social and economic challenges have resorted to the use of opioids to help manage
deteriorating mental health conditions such as stress and depression.
Various techniques can be applied to help overcome the problem of the opioid crisis in
the country. Policymakers can focus on limiting prescription opioids. Putting prescriber limits
can help to lower the rates of opioid prescriptions (Health–Americas, 2023). There should also
be laws that hold physicians accountable for unethical overprescribing behavior. The next
solution is lowering the flow of illegal opioids. Considering that most deaths arise from illegal
opioids such as heroin, it is necessary that the government invest in countering their flow in the
country. Collaborative efforts between agencies working across borders can greatly assist in
preventing the flow of these drugs. The other technique is promoting the treatment of persons
going through opioid use disorder. To make this treatment accessible, policymakers should
focus on providing funds for addicts who are uninsured and expanding the treatment capacity of
hospitals (Health–Americas, 2023).
Public health solutions can also be pursued to help counter the issue of the opioid crisis in
the country. An example of this solution is extending recovery services to more individuals who
are suffering from the problem of taking this drug (Health–Americas, 2023). The necessity of
doing this arises from the fact that many people abusing opium go without getting recovery
treatment. The other solution involves focusing on meeting the needs of communities that are
largely affected by this crisis. It is vital to recognize that there are some communities that face
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heavy burden due to the opium crisis. Consequently, this calls for the empowering of these
communities through giving them the resources they need to counter the abuse of opium
(Health–Americas, 2023). The other solution involves addressing the underlying factors that
contribute to use of drugs. It is well known that individuals who face issues such as poverty and
discrimination in society stand at higher risks of abusing drugs. For this reason, it is important to
ensure that issues such as poverty are solved.
To put it briefly, the abuse of opioids has become a crisis that cannot be underestimated.
Its adverse effects stretch from health problems for individuals abusing them, and a high number
of deaths to increased social problems like broken families and increased crime. In this regard, it
is necessary to identify solutions that can help adequately solve this problem. These include
limiting prescription opioids, lowering the flow of illegal opioids, and promoting the treatment of
opioid use disorder.
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References
Health–Americas, T. L. R. (2023). Opioid crisis: addiction, overprescription, and insufficient
primary prevention. Lancet Regional Health-Americas, 23.
doi:B10.1016/j.lana.2023.100557
Jalali, M. S., Botticelli, M., Hwang, R. C., Koh, H. K., & McHugh, R. K. (2020). The opioid
crisis: a contextual, social-ecological framework. Health research policy and systems, 18,
1-9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-020-00596-8
Kelley, B. (2020). DRUG ABUSE ACROSS THE LIFESPAN : A biopsychosocial approach.
Kendall Hunt.
Keyes, K. M., Rutherford, C., Hamilton, A., Barocas, J. A., Gelberg, K. H., Mueller, P. P., ... &
Cerdá, M. (2022). What is the prevalence of and trend in opioid use disorder in the
United States from 2010 to 2019? Using multiplier approaches to estimate prevalence for
an unknown population size. Drug and alcohol dependence reports, 3, 100052.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dadr.2022.100052
Sarkis, C. (2022). The Opioid Crisis: Roots, Evolution, and Contributors. Intersect: The Stanford
Journal of Science, Technology, and Society, 15(2).
https://ojs.stanford.edu/ojs/index.php/intersect/article/view/1977/1447
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