Opiates Research Paper

Opioid use in the US has increased over the years, and this has led to an increase in substance abuse. Substance abuse is not only associated with use of illicit drugs but also prescription drugs. In 2015, of the 20.5 million reported cases of substance abuse, 2 million had an abuse disorder related to prescription pain relievers and 591,000 associated with heroin.1 The increase in substance abuse disorder has led to an increase in opioid related death. In 2015 drug overdose was the leading cause of accidental death in the US with 52, 404 lethal drug overdoses.2

A huge epidemic that is obtaining a lot of attention from Congress and medical professionals across the county is the spiking heroin overdoses that are rising at alarming rates. (Krisberg, 2014). My question to everyone that is researching this topic is this:

How is this addiction so common? Opioids act by way of attaching themselves to receptors of the brain and/or body, and once doing so, they send signals to the brain which results in the prevention of pain, slowing of breath, and instills a sense of calmness. Opioids mirror neurotransmitters in their chemical structure, and are thus, able to affect brain receptors in the same way. However, opioids are not as consistent as neurotransmitters; they aren’t able to activate nerve receptors as natural neurotransmitters do. Opioids instead target the brain’s reward system, flooding the circuit with dopamine. Dopamine itself is a highly influential neurotransmitter that regulates parts of the brain relating to movement, emotion, cognition, motivation,

Providing cheap Narcan for addicts and lay people alike, would save money in the long term*. Most important, this solution would save money by preventing the amount of time and money spent by EMS and police officers on overdose calls. If Narcan was accessible, the overdose could be reversed and the addict could be taken to the hospital without the cost of an ambulance or public medical services*.

Opiate addiction can cause many negative changes in the brain. This leads to the structure and functioning of the brain to perform lower than usual. As a result of constant consumption of the opiate medications, addicts lose most of their ability to cope with pain naturally without taking use of pain medication (Torres, 2014). This low tolerance of pain leads to the addict experiencing a higher level of pain since they consistently have high levels of opiates in their system (Torres, 2014). Opiates have the ability to produce withdrawal symptoms in a few hours after the last dose (Opiate Withdrawal Timelines, Symptoms and

Opioid is the fastest addiction in Iowa. “These are not aspirin,” says Dale Woolery. You can’t mix these painkillers with any other pill or painkillers in fact. Opioid painkillers are 50 to 100 times stronger than any other painkiller, from prescription painkillers to illegal painkillers, which are a knockoff of Heroin. Opioid is in the class of most addicting and lethal pills.

The social problem I chose to do something about is opiate abuse/addiction. Opiates are naturally occurring narcotics, such as opium and opium derivatives, including morphine, codeine, and heroin. Prescription painkillers are opioid analgesics. Opiates are highly addictive and dangerous when misused. This social problem matters to me because I am a recovering opiate addict. I have been clean for four months and my new found passion is educating people about the dangers of opiates. People assume because doctors prescribe opioid analgesics, they must be safe. Opiate abuse matters to society because when opiates are misused, lives are taken. People die from overdose, abusers’ worlds fall apart because of their addiction, and loved ones of the abusers are left grieving and feeling helpless.

Best Answer: Heroin is a highly addictive opiate which is derived from the opium poppy. The method used to milk the poppy is to take a razor blade and cut vertical slits on the poppy bulb and to collect the milky white opiate liquid. It is the greatest cash crop of Afghanistan. The liquid is then refined into pure heroin powder and is shipped in one kilo "bricks" and smuggled into consuming countries. The bricks are diluted into about a 2% heroin solution for street sale. Heroin is a depressent and affects the primitive part of the human brain which controls the involuntary responses such as respiration and breathing. Heroin powder is heated in a spoon and melted into a liquid and injected directly into a vein usually along the inner elbow

Opiates imitate physical chemicals in the body that are expected to calm individuals during times of stress and also help to overcome pain at times of injury or illness. When a person takes an opiate the drug links with the brain’s opiate receptors, causing a calming effect that relaxes and eases physical pain. When taken at doses higher than medically necessary, opiates produce a strong feeling of euphoria, overflowing the brain with feel-good neurochemicals like dopamine and serotonin, which activate the reward and pleasure pathways in the brain. This makes the use of opiates pleasurable while also reinforced the behavior, causing the individual to associate the taking of high doses of opiates with strong feelings of physical pleasure. Just

Opioids and opiates are both derived from opium, a substance in the seeds of the poppy plant. Opiates are the drugs that represent opium in its purest forms, and opioids are synthetic and semi-synthetic formulations of natural opiates (4).

In the United States every year the percentage of deaths related to overdose increases drastically. Heroin is one of the top drugs in the United States used and cause of overdose. There are numerous types of heroin that is being sold on the streets because of different things however I’m talking about heroin in general. This drug has become a nationwide problem and is affecting many families and friendships who have loved addicted to or using heroin. Once addictions get too bad friends and family begin to distant themselves and the person more than likely start to feel alone and the drug is the only thing to comfort them. Abusers go for the drug that is easier to get ahold of rather going after the drug that is difficult to get their hands on. Heroin has become more prevalent in teenagers and young adults than any other drug, kills more people every year and was made to help those addicted to morphine.

Users report experiencing intense pleasure and numbness of pain.  Each time the brain is exposed to heroin, it craves more of the drug to get the same effectiveness, which in turn causes the person to build up a tolerance.  The person begins to spiral into a vicious cycle of using more and more of the drug until they ultimately become addicted.  Heroin raises blood pressure and heart rate.  Overtime, the brain is physically altered and the white brain matter deteriorates.  This causes a decline in the person’s ability to make good decisions.   In the case of an overdose, the rate of breathing is lowered causing a lack of oxygen to the body.  Narcan is a drug that can be administered to combat the effects of heroin, however, it needs to be given before the heart stops.  There have been some people who seek an ultimate high and have purposely overdosed on heroin, with the hope that Narcan will prevent death.  Sadly, too often this plan does not work and the person has died as a result.

Health Canada is set to review the prescription-only status of a drug called Naloxone. Naloxone is used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. It has been shown to reverse the effects of an overdose in just one or two minutes.

The purpose of this paper is to give insight into a specific drug class, known as opiates, that have been a source for abuse in society for various decades. Opiates are used to aid in the relief of pain, allowing the user to feel a sense of toleration in regards to what they are consuming the substance for. For many years now, opiates have been misused by individuals resulting in a dangerous addiction, and ultimately, an unstable lifestyle. The effects that opiates can have on an individual varies from person to person, depending upon the ways in which they choose to intake the substance. When a controlled substance is in one’s possession, it is important to be aware of the possible side effects that come along with it; such side effects can

Heroin users develop tolerance to the drug after continued use. Our text states, that “repeated use results in a decreased effect, which can be over-come by increasing the dose.” (Hart & Ksir, 2015, pg. 312) Recreational users experience the need to use a larger amount of heroin in order to get the desired results. This, in addition to the fact that when you are buying heroin on the street one cannot be sure of the potency or content of the drug, creates high potential for overdose. Large amounts of heroin can depress the respiratory rate and cause breathing to slow or stop. When breathing decreases or stops, oxygen is cut off from the brain and coma, brain damage and death can occur. A drug was developed to reverse the effects of a heroin or opiate overdose called Naloxone, which binds to opioid