Prescription Drug Abuse Research Paper

Opioid addiction is so prevalent in the healthcare system because of the countless number of hospital patients being treated for chronic pain. While opioid analgesics have beneficial painkilling properties, they also yield detrimental dependence and addiction. There is a legitimate need for the health care system to provide powerful medications because prolonged pain limits activities of daily living, work productivity, quality of life, etc. (Taylor, 2015). Patients need to receive appropriate pain treatment, however, opioids need to be prescribed after careful consideration of the benefits and risks.

The use of opioids and other drugs continues to gradually increase in the United State. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of overdose deaths involving opioids has quadrupled since 1999” (CDC website). Individuals are abusing prescription opioids such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, and methadone. Prescriptions opioids that are supposed to be used as pain relievers, cough suppressants and for withdrawal symptoms are being use by individuals in order to feel relaxed or for the overwhelming effect of euphoria. These types of drugs are to be taken orally, but people are snorting, smoking, and injecting them in order to get a better high. I have personal encounters with opioid drugs and opioid abuser on a regular

Opioid drugs are some of the most widespread pain medications that we have in this country; indeed, the fact is that opioid analgesic prescriptions have increased by over 300% from 1999 to 2010 (Mitch 989). Consequently, the number of deaths from overdose increased from 4000 to 16,600 a year in the same time frame (Mitch 989). This fact becomes even more frightening when you think about today; the annual number of fatal drug overdoses in the Unites States now surpasses that of motor vehicle deaths (Alexander 1865). Even worse, overdose deaths caused by opioids specifically exceed those attributed to both cocaine and heroin combined (Alexander 1865).

From teenagers to adults, many are suffering with an opioid addiction. The opioid crisis that has struck, has taken a significantly large amount of lives. There were about “...50,000 [ opioid ] overdose deaths...in 2015-roughly equivalent to the number of Americans lost in the Vietnam War”(Price). All these friends and family members are dying because of something that can be controlled and even avoided. Although there are some who believe that the programs that are enacted to help with this sort of addiction are very effective, the truth is they are not as effective as people let on to believe. There should be a more enforced and regulated limit for those with a stronger prescription drug in order to lower the overdose count, over prescription from doctors, and pill shopping.

Analysis: Opioids are a class of drug that are medically used as very effective painkillers, like fentanyl and morphine, however, they are highly addictive and produce a feeling of euphoria (“Opioids”). This combination leads do a lot of abuse and dependency, where people take more than prescribed in order to feel better. People start off taking the opioid painkillers in order to not feel pain as prescribed by their doctors. Then, they end up getting addicted to them. There are also illicit opioids, such as heroin, that are also highly addictive and also lead to dependency and death (“Opioids”). These illicit versions are taken for recreational reasons, and are also often mixed with other drugs. The combination of taking an unregulated drug in conjunction with other drugs leads to a lot of overdoses.

Many people have developed an addiction due to an injury and which were prescribed painkillers to manage and treat the pain. Prolonged use leads to dependence and once a person is addicted, increasing amounts of drugs are required to prevent feeling of withdrawal. Addiction to painkillers often leads to harder drugs such as heroin due to the black market drug being cheaper. Prescription drugs remain a far deadlier problem and more people abuse prescription medication than cocaine, methamphetamine heroin, MDMA and PCP combined. Drug abuse is ending too many lives too soon and destroying families and communities.

Prescription drug abuse has become an epidemic in the United States especially among the youth of our country. The Partnership for a Drug Free America says that 2,500 teens a day abuse prescription drugs. Abuse of these narcotics can lead to serious mental and physical consequences. Why is this such a problem, what can we do to solve it, and how is it affecting our social lives?

    There has been an increase in heroin and opioid abuse in america. It has been affecting everyone and the incoming generation greatly. The use of pain reliever drugs is often the leading cause to abusing opioids and/or heroin. These pain relievers are often addictive and once people are addicted and cut off from them they begin searching for other ways to satisfy their cravings. The prescription drugs are often easily dispensed to people so it’s easier to access. This easy access makes it easier for people to get a prescription, leading to a higher risk of addiction.

Opioid use has to begin somewhere. Patients that are prescribed opioids for pain treatment run a risk of developing dependency on the prescribed medications. Numerous individuals who take the opioids for extended amounts of time may begin to progress towards higher tolerances of the prescribed medicines. Due to this higher tolerance, individuals may feel like they need to take more than what was prescribed. Eventually this can lead to craving opioids in order to function or to “feel better” throughout the day. In fact, it has been estimated that between twenty-one and twenty-nine percent of patients that are prescribed opioids for chronic pain misuse them and close to ten percent develop an opioid use disorder (https://www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/opioids/opioid-overdose-crisis, 2017). “Some people experience a euphoric response to opioid medications, and it is common that people misusing opioids try to intensify their experience by snorting or injecting them” (https://www.samhsa.gov/disorders/substance-use, 2015). This means of drug intake, generally leads to the exploration of more easily acquired drugs with stronger effects.

In the United States, there has been upward swing of opioid abuse over the past decade. Overdose deaths involving opioids – both prescription pain relievers and heroin – almost quadrupled between 1999 and 2014. Well-intentioned efforts to curb prescription opioid abuse have yielded new policies with unfortunate, unforeseen consequences for the 15% of the US population that suffer from chronic pain – nearly 45 million people.

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are focusing on five different things to change this: improving access to treatment and recovery services, promoting use of overdose-reversing drugs, strengthening our understanding of the epidemic through better public health surveillance, providing support for cutting-edge research on pain and addiction, and lastly, advancing better practices for pain management.(National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2018, Opioid Overdose Crisis, P5.). There is no way to completely stop the opioid crisis but if we can make the numbers of people who overdose a year, then we can slowly make a huge change in the world of opioids. If these prescription drugs become more limited to people then they won't have access to buy off the streets or steal

Have you ever thought about doing drugs? If so you're not the first, but you probably didn't think about how it could affect you and your life. In 2016 63,600 people didn’t think of the consequences and ended up dying from overdosing in the United States. 42,249 deaths involved an opioid. Opioids are drugs made to replicate opium. They both include legal painkillers like morphine, oxycodone, or hydrocodone prescribed by doctors. The problem with opioids has been growing for years and its growing with each year. The misuse of and addiction of opioids is a serious national crisis. It effects public health as well as social and economic welfare.

A number of policy approaches and initiatives have been developed in an attempt to stem the tide of this epidemic. These include implementing physician training programs about the appropriate prescribing of opioid therapy, developing prescription monitoring programs, and facilitating access to naloxone to reduce death rates among those who overdose. In general, these strategies have focused on detecting and preventing

Dysphoria, formication, anxiety, depression, insomnia and inability to focus on tasks are just some of the many symptoms associated with withdrawing from opiates. Opiates, originally derived from opium plants, have been used medicinally as early as 3400 B.C. Presently, opioids are used to relive pain as they have been shown to aid in decreasing the severity of pain signals moving to the brain. However, long term usage can lead to psychological dependence and neurological changes in the body (Pregolizzi, 2012; Jamison, Butler, Budman, Edwards & Wasan, 2010). As of 2013 opioids were one of the most commonly abused drug in America, second only to marijuana. There have were approximately 1,244,872 emergency department visits related

America is struggling with a new epidemic that is taking several lives every day. “Prescription drug overdoses claim at least 40 lives daily” ("Prescription Drug Overdose," n.d.Para 1). The opioid crisis occurring across the nation is devastating. A major problem is that once patients become dependent on these prescription medications, they are reportedly seeking more affordable alternatives such as heroin or fentanyl. In addition, patients may be switching to heroin when their doctor suddenly discontinues the medication they have become dependent on. Chronic pain is a controversial issue because opioid management can be beneficial but also detrimental as seen in recent years. “Between 2002–2016, deaths soared by 533% nationwide, from under