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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

The reason that this drug can be so intense and dangerous is because it falls into the category II narcotics. Many commonly known narcotics include opium, morphine, and heroin. The addiction rate of any of these drugs is phenomenal. Narcotics are central nervous system depressants that relieve pain without causing the loss of consciousness. They can also produce feelings drowsiness, mental confusion and euphoria. The analgesic effects of narcotics result from the drugs’ effects on the emotional aspects of pain. Many patients that experience intense pain say that after the administration of the narcotic, their pain is as intense as ever but no longer as bothersome. Because narcotics block the emotional side effects of pain they make it much more bearable.

Drug trafficking in the United States has established itself to be one of the most profitable businesses in today’s world (U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, 2004). There is such a high demand as more people buy, use and sell drugs for a variety of reasons, not really knowing all the risk that are at stake. With new laws in affect and more determined citizens of the U.S. everyone can help keep the streets clean. Drug trafficking is at an all-time high and must be brought to a halt.

The over use of opioid has been one of the major public health problem in the United States (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2018). Opioids include prescription medications that are used to treat pain symptoms which includes codeine, morphine, methadone, hydrocodone, and etc., as well as illegal drugs such as heroin and illicit potent on opioids such as fentanyl analogs (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2018). The opioid overdose could happen due to many factors such as when a patient deliberately misuses a prescription, or misuse heroin (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2018). Opioid overdose could happen due to the prescriber miscalculated the opioid dose or when

Drug use has surrounded us as a species since the stone age. The first references of alcohol were found within ancient Chinese civilizations, which date to roughly 9,000 years ago (McGovern, et al.). The original sources for these alcohols were rice and millet. One of the first surgical anesthetics used was opium. It is believed that some of the first Sumerian clay tablets contained basic prescriptions of opium for pain relief. Many Arabic cultures also used opium for diseases and issues relating to gastrointestinal issues and eye abnormalities (McGovern, et al.). Whether drugs were used for recreational purposes or for medicinal uses is left in the history.

The rate of poisonings associated with drug overdoses has been on the rise, especially concerning those involving opioids (Paulozzie, Budnitz, & Xi, 2006). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) does not mince words regarding the status of opioid utilization in the United States: ?The United States is in the midst of an opioid overdose epidemic? (CDC, 2016). Opioids are now the most common cause of prescription drug use deaths (Rudd et al., 2016). Even as overdoses associated with the more historic killers such as heroin and cocaine increased, opioid overdoses rose the fastest between 1990 and 2002 (Paulozzi, Budnitz, and Xi, 2006). The prescription opioid epidemic contradicts traditional assumptions of drug use being a problem with illicit drugs: a majority of those who overdosed had a prescription for their cause of death (Kolondy et al., 2015). As asserted by Paulozzi et al., ?licit drugs have therefore recently replaced illicit drugs as the most common cause of fatal poisonings in the US? (2006, p 624). Further, it is important to note that these numbers represent just a fraction of the problem of prescription opioid abuse. Other adverse impacts associated with the epidemic of prescription opioid abuse include non-fatal hospitalizations and infants born addicted to opioids (Kolondy et al., 2015).

In the United States, 40 people die across each day due to overdosing on narcotic prescription medicine. One of the most commonly abused prescriptions is opioids painkillers such as Vicodin and codeine. Another medicine to treat anxiety and sleep aids such as Valiums and Xanax. Other abused prescriptions are stimulants to treat Attention Deficit Hyper Disorder (ADHD) like Adderall and Ritalin. When the overdose first became a problem, 60 percent of NC prescription overdose victims were dying before the arrival of emergency medical

The heroin epidemic in America has been an issue for decades. According to narconon.org, the heroin epidemic truly began in the Wild West during the 1800’s. Many scholars believe that Chinese immigrants brought the drug to America. Morphine is a derivative of heroin, and during the civil war, many soldiers, both northern and confederate, was injured and became addicted to the drug after being treated with it. It was from opium that morphine, a derivative, was developed as a pain killer in approximately 1810. It was considered a wonder drug because it eliminated severe pain associated with medical operations or traumatic injuries. It left the user in a completely numb euphoric dream-state. Dr. F.W.A. Serturner named the drug morphine, after

For this article, the researchers have assessed that there has been a substantial increase in unintentional overdose events occurring with the rise of sales of prescription opioids within the past 2 decades. There is concern that the therapeutic use of the opioids has had an affect of the number of overdose injury. After assessing the information gathered, the researchers formed an objective. This is similar to the next step in the nursing process, which is forming a diagnosis using clinical judgment. The researcher’s objective was to examine and determine, “whether the risk of unintentional overdose injury is associated with the duration of opioid action (ie, long-acting vs short-acting formulations,” (Miller et al., 2015). In nursing, judgment is based from actual or potential conditions that the patient is vulnerable to. In the research the objective created, the patients are open to a potential condition. The researchers have distinguished that there is a risk of unintentional overdose injury related to the duration of opioid

The amount of individuals who die annually from accidental overdose is extremely unnerving. One of the biggest issues the world is facing in the 21st century is prescription opioid and illegal drug abuse. Unfortunately, this lethal dilemma is not publicized in the media as much as other things such as celebrity drama, cancer prevention, or the newest fitness craze. The notorious opioid epidemic is in full swing and has effected individuals from all religions, cultures, and genders. Although it may seem like a collective issue, adolescents are in the most danger.

In 2014 the death of people who died from drug overdoses is 47,055 which is a lot. Opioid drug overdose is up 200% from 2000. Opioids is an issue that many different people are working on. Opioids are substances that act on opioid receptors to produce morphine-like effects. They can most likely be found in pain relievers. Some natural opioids might be known by you. Two are morphine and codeine. From 2013 to 2014 semisynthetic and natural opioid overdoes rose 10%. Deaths from heroin overdoses rose 26%. Synthetic opioids death went up

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (2013) reported that U.S. prescription drugs, especially opioids analgesics, have been increasingly involved in drug overdose deaths. Unfortunately, drug overdose deaths from prescription drugs, especially opioids analgesics outnumbered deaths related to motor vehicle accidents back in 2009. Actually, in 2010 only, 16,651 deaths were connected to opioids overdose, an increase of 60 percent of overdose losses from any other drug class, prescribed or illegal. Specifically, in Florida, the attorney general of Florida (2012) stated that an average of seven Floridians die every day as a result of overdose from prescription drugs, which is five times greater than losses from the use of all illegal drugs put together.

Drugs have been around for thousands of years. "A drug is any chemical that produces a therapeutic or non-therapeutic effect in the body (Drugs and Teen Substance Abuse 2000.)" Most drugs were first used for medicinal purposes, such as marijuana. Active substances were not extracted into drugs until the 19th century. Newly discovered substances like morphine, laudanum, and cocaine were completely unregulated and prescribed freely by physicians for a wide variety of ailments. Wounded veterans returned home with their kits of morphine and hypodermic needles (History of Drug Abuse, n.d.) The use of illegal drugs is increasing, especially among young teens. The conflict theory of social problems states that, "society is marked by conflict due

Drug use is an increasing problem among teenagers in today's high schools. Most drug use begins in the teenage years, these years are the most crucial in the maturing process. During these years adolescents are faced with the difficult tasks of discovering their self identity, clarifying their sexual roles, assenting independence, learning to cope with authority figures and searching for goals that would give their lives meaning. Drugs are readily available, adolescents are curious and venerable, and there is peer pressure to experiment, and there is a temptation to escape from conflicts. The use of drugs by teenagers is the result of a combination of factors such as peer pressure, curiosity, and

There are multiple drugs that are classified as narcotics. Narcotics are defined by Merriam-Webster’s medical dictionary as, “a drug that in moderate does dulls the senses, relieves pain, and induces profound sleep but in excessive doses causes stupor, coma, or convulsions.” This is an issue when these narcotics are being abused or taken out of context. There are prescription narcotics, but there are also the street drugs that are being illegally produced and sold. Prescription pain medications are not a bad thing when they are prescribed and used correctly. Some examples of prescription narcotics are codeine, fentanyl and hydrocodone. While there are beneficial elements to these medications, there are also side effects. Medline Plus explains a few side effects as drowsiness, impaired judgement and a strong desire, or craving, for these medications. This is how the addictions begin to occur.