Opioid Abuse Case Study

Just last year, the United States experiences an astonishing 60,000 deaths related to drug overdose—with roughly 33,000 of those deaths due to Opioids. That means that more than 91 Americans die from an opioid overdose per day, making it the leading cause of death for people under 50. As I have said over and over again, this crisis affects Americans across all socioeconomic levels in all regions of the country – including the 6th District of Virginia – and has rightfully gained the attention of Congress as well as the

Incarceration of individuals is rapidly rising and the “war on drugs” has targeted opioid addicted users with no other ways of treatment other than jail time. Opioids are widely used for people with legitimate problems and they're easy accessibility is making it possible for people of all ages and race to get a hold of. The crisis of opioid epidemic is only getting bigger along with the jail population. Anything from Xanax to Codeine can be easily attainable for the purposes of getting high. Another that is illegal however is heroin. Anyone and their addiction to opiates can lead them to being incarcerated possibly in the future. And this is a problem that needs to be addressed because these our the next generations we are talking about.

Substance abuse disorders have been considered a major epidemic by public health authorities during this century. Most recently, those who use, and abuse opioids have been in the spotlight. The growing number of overdoses, deaths, and individuals who are identified as opioid abusers has, of late, been the subject of media attention. Now coined “The Opioid

Did you know that 91 Americans die every day due to an Opioid overdose and yet American’s still report no relief of pain? Since 1999 the number of deaths due to prescriptions opioid or heroin overdose has quadrupled (http://www.cdc.gov). Four out of five Americans turned to the black market for heroin, which initially started as an opioid drug addiction. It is an American crisis, due to the number of individuals that consume oxycodone, which accounts for eight-one percent of Americans (http://www.drugabuse.gov).

Additionally, opioid medications are the primary cause for overdose deaths in the United States. According to the Weekly Standard, “In 2014, the most recent year for which we have measurements, 47,055 Americans died from drug-induced deaths, with almost 29,000 dying from opioids…” (2), a figure that includes illicit synthetics, heroin, and prescriptions. From 2015 to 2016 in Maryland, fentanyl deaths rose by 268 percent and heroin deaths by sixty eight percent. Fentanyl has contributed to this dramatic increase in OD deaths because of its potency and lethality. It only takes two milligrams of fentanyl to kill a human. In fact, a single kilogram of fentanyl is capable of killing 500,000 people (Murray, Blake, and Walters 2). More than 30,000 opioid deaths occurred for the first time ever in 2015, which is 5,000 more than in 2014. Since the 1990s, heroin deaths had not surpassed prescription opioids (oxycodone and hydrocodone) until now. In 2007, gun homicides outnumbered heroin deaths at a rate of five to one, however at the height of the epidemic, now heroin OD deaths outnumber gun homicides (Ingraham 2). It is obvious that these unprecedented levels of drug deaths are derived from the opioid epidemic and need immediate attention.

Opioids are being over prescribed in the United States resulting in increased deaths by drug overdose. Pain medication strategies are being looked into as substitutes for pain management. Over decades, the amount of medicine being prescribed has more than tripled. State policies regarding the medication were implemented and who'd a small decrease in the likelihood of opioid prescriptions. Nationally, death rates are on the rise. Studies monitoring prescription drugs do not account for illegal opioids and manufactured fentanyl. While not mentioned in this article, there is a possible correlation between young people prescribed opioids and illegal drug use seeing that overdoses are common in patients already abusing their prescription medication, yet overdose death being most common after

America is in the midst of yet another drug-related epidemic only this time it is the worst opioid overdose epidemic the world has seen since the late 1990’s. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC 2016), “since 1999, the number of overdose deaths involving opioids has quadrupled.” Opioids (including prescription opioids and heroin) killed more than 33,000 people in 2015, more than any year on record. (Rudd, Seth, David, School, 2015). With overdoses from heroin, prescription drugs, and opioid pain relievers surpassing car accidents as the leading cause of injury-related death in America, it became clear that swift and comprehensive legislation was needed for treatment, recovery support and prevention education in communities

Opioids are making a resurgence in the black market, evident by the rapidly increasing opioid overdose rates in an increasing fatality count for Maryland every year. The state and local governments have been working to alleviate the issue with increased access to counteractive medications and required rehabilitation. This, however, is draining government funds only to stall, if not worsen, the problem. The best approach to stopping the opioid epidemic of Maryland is to take a similar approach to smoking in treating the situation as a matter of addiction instead of one of drug abuse.

Not only is the number of deaths attributed to opioid abuse staggering, the stigmas associated with opioid addiction are also concerning. Opioid addiction does not discriminate. White, black, young, old, male, female, or social-economic class – the opioid crisis is affecting our neighbors, friends, and family in large numbers.

Many people may not realize this but multiple states, including Michigan, are facing an epidemic. It is not a disease, however, it is a heroin epidemic. In a country where addictive opioid pain-killer prescriptions are handed out like candy, it not surprising heroin, also known as smack or thunder, has become a serious problem. The current heroin epidemic Michigan is facing, as are dozens of other states, has spiraled out of control in recent years. In Michigan, some of the areas hit hardest by this drug are in the southern portion of the state, like Wayne, Oakland, and Monroe Counties. The connection between painkillers and heroin may not be clear, but this is because both are classified as opioid drugs, and therefore cause many of the same positive and negative side effects. As a country, we are currently the largest consumer of opioids in the world; almost the entire world supply of hydrocodone (the opioid in Vicodin) and 81% of the world’s oxycodone (in Percocet and OxyContin) is used by the United States (Volkow). Along with consuming most of the world’s most common opioids, we have gone from 76 million of these prescriptions in 1991 to 207 million in 2013 – constantly increasing except for a small decrease starting in 2012 (Volkow). This widespread use has caused numerous consequences from increasing emergency room visits – for both painkillers and heroin – to sky-rocking overdose cases all over the country (Volkow). Michigan, unfortunately, currently has one of the

There is an opioid abuse epidemic occurring throughout the state of Arizona. In recent years, Arizona has remained above the national average for opioid abuse and the number of individuals abusing opioids continues to rise (SAMHSA 2013). As a result, the number of opioid related deaths has increased. According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, there were 494 recorded deaths due to prescription opioid abuse in 2014. This death rate has increased 16 percent compared to previous years (AZDHS 2014). Many citizens of Arizona believe that the opioid epidemic will not profoundly affect them. However, the opioid epidemic may generate more costs for the state of Arizona thus affecting all individuals in the state of Arizona.

The United States currently faces an unprecedented epidemic of opioid addiction. This includes painkillers, heroin, and other drugs made from the same base chemical. In the couple of years, approximately one out of twenty Americans reported misuse or abuse of prescriptions painkillers. Heroin abuse and overdoses are on the rise and are the leading cause of injury deaths, surpassing car accidents and gun shots. The current problem differs from the opioid addiction outbreaks of the past in that it is also predominant in the middle and affluent classes. Ultimately, anyone can be fighting a battle with addiction and it is important for family members and loved ones to know the signs. The cause for this epidemic is that the current spike of opioid abuse can be traced to two decades of increased prescription rates for painkillers by well-meaning physicians.

On June 6, 2017 Arizona Governor Doug Ducey declared the opioid epidemic a public health emergency in the state of Arizona (Vestal, C. 2017, June 6). Since 2012 there has been a 74% increase in opioid overdoses and deaths; this equals about 2 opioid overdose deaths per day in Arizona (Vestal, C. 2017, June 6). 431 million opioid pills were prescribed in Arizona in 2016 enough for every Arizonan to have a 2.5 week supply of opioid pills (Arizona Department of Health Services, 2017). The “U.S. is only 5% of the world’s population however we consume more than 80% of the worlds opioid supply” (Arizona Department of Health Services, 2017). In 2011 opioids made $11 billion in profits for pharmaceutical businesses (Eban, 2011)

In Nolan and Amico’s article, “How Bad is the Opioid Epidemic?” they argue the opioid epidemic has become the worst drug crisis in American history. Heroin and other opioids overdose kill more than 47,055 people a year. Deaths caused from drug overdose has outnumber as much as 40 percent compared to the death caused from car crashes in 2014 (Nolan and Amico 3). Furthermore, in 1999 there were only 15000 people died from drug overdose. This number has tripled in 15 years. Also, in his article, “America’s Addiction to Opioids: Heroin and Prescription Drug Abuse” Volkow also presents the fact that “with an estimated 2.1 million people in the United States suffering from substance use disorders related to prescription opioid pain relievers in 2012 and an estimated 467,000 addicted to heroin. The consequences of this abuse have been devastating and are on the rise. For example, the number of unintentional overdose deaths from prescription pain relievers has

Various levels of governments in different communities across North America have initiated programs to deal with the opioid epidemic and its effect. Some of these initiatives will be examined in more details below.