The Morality Of Using Opioid Assisted Treatments For Cases Of Addiction

Tennessee is one of the states hit hardest by the nation’s opioid epidemic which began about 20 years ago and had a stark increase since 2009, now reaching unprecedented levels across the county with a 200% increase in the rate of deaths involving opioids (Rudd, Aleshire, Zibbell, & Gladden, 2016; Fletcher, 2016). In Tennessee specifically, it is estimated that about 1 in 6 abuse opioids; the CDC estimates that for every one person who dies from an opioid overdose in Tennessee there are 851 others in the state who are in various stages of their abuse, misuse, and treatment; and the most recent statistics show that opioid overdoses alone make up about 7.7% of deaths in Tennessee, making them responsible for more deaths than car accidents in the state (Botticelli, 2016; Rudd, Aleshire, Zibbell, & Gladden, 2016; Fletcher, 2016; ONDCP, 2016; Thompson, 2016).

There have been several news coverages on TV and social network about drug overdose of different cases recently and they have risen people’s concern about the problems of drug abuse national-wide. The drug abuse and opioid epidemic is not a new problem to the American society, actually it has been a serious problem for many years. So what is the situation of drug epidemic now, and how can we find effective ways to deal with this problem? A few writers who ponder this question are Nora D. Volkow, Dan Nolan and Chris Amico.

Opioid abuse in America is a current health issue, like any other, where we view the problem from an analytical standpoint. While the numbers are devastating my main motivation for choosing this study comes from an emotionally driven place. Personally, I’ve known people who have been sucked into the addictive effects of opioids and, for years, it has affected an entire family’s, that I am close to, life from one person’s abuse of opioids. An example that many don’t think of when they imagine opioid abuse is how a simple mother could go from being an ordinary housewife to an opioid abuser, where her children are too scared to bring friend’s back home due to their mother’s state, and how she’s devolved into a person who steals from her

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.

Depending on the source, some would term the heroin and opioid problem in the United States a crisis, while others would use the word epidemic. Regardless of which expression is more accurate, the situation regarding heroin and opioid use, abuse and dependence has ignited national, if not global concern. History shows us that pervasive dilemmas have a tendency to cultivate a variety of intervention and the heroin and opioid crisis is no different.

There are no “safe heroin injection sites.” The only “safe” approach to heroin is to not take it. For addicts, the humane public health response is to help them get and stay sober, or at the very least, opioid replacement therapy in sustained treatment. Any approach without these goals is cruel and dehumanizing- not healing, but perpetuating harm. (Walter 2)

Opioid Addictions can be very difficult to deal with, and admitting you have one and wanting to change can be even tougher. Addictions to opioids do not mainly only affect a person health but also affect your finances. According to Gee & Frank (2017), “The cost of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is about $5,500 per year. However, treatment of the addiction is only one element of the cost of caring for people with opioid dependence” (n.p.). The cost of things just keeps going up. Emergency rooms can be very costly and people typically try to avoid them. Gee & Frank (2017), discus the “average charges for opioid overdose patients treated and released from the emergency department are $3,397 per visit, while those admitted to the hospital racked up an average $29,497 in charges per hospitalization.” (Gee & Frank, 2017).

Opioid overdoses have been a problem over the past two decades. These overdoses usually happen to those that are addicted to the painkiller, morphine. However, this narcotic has recently changed from morphine to a new form of heroin. New reforms such as, “safe injection sites”, have been offered as solutions to lower the high overdose rate from opioid, but is this method going to lower or raise the overdose rate? These safe injection sites will not be beneficial because, the users will just be using the drugs outside of the safety injection sites, no one will want to be paid to watch others take drugs, the government would just be funding the habitual drug abuse industry, and the better option to lower the opioid overdose rate is for State Addictive Drug Centers (SAD) to be in charge of administration.

Dr. Perry Kendall’s stated in a report that the mortality rate for people in opioid substitution treatment is about half of what it is for those using street heroin. (“globeandmail”) Another doctor, who has been administering the program as part of his family practice for several years states the rate of success is poor, the nature of the work often frustrating and the paperwork required under new rules is daunting. But the reward is the amazing transformation of those who are helped by methadone, says Dr. Jeff White. (“thetelegram”) Equally, a confident experience is expressed from a recovering addict himself, Jared stated to a Newfoundland based newspaper, The Compass that the methadone program had a super positive impact on his life. Going on to say in a separate interview with The Advertiser, that the first year everything went as well as it could have with him not doing any drugs. (“Advertiser”) This is just a few examples on how the methadone program has continued to play a positive impact on lives when given the

“Addiction is a choice not a disease”, is a common phrase that stigmatizes drug addiction in our everyday language. The lack of public knowledge about this social problem causes widespread stigmatization and discrimination of the ill. As a result, many individuals who seriously need professional help feel isolated and hopeless, making it harder for them to recover.

Methadone has been used since the late 1960s to treat heroin addictions. Methadone is a synthetic opioid that is highly addictive and is harder to withdraw from than heroin. Despite 50 years of experience and widespread acceptance by addiction specialists and health agencies, Methadone Maintenance Treatment (MMT) has sometimes been publicly controversial in the U.S. and other countries. MMT is a program in which addicted individuals receive daily doses of methadone as part of a broad, multicomponent treatment plan (Methadone Maintence Treatment, 2002). Critics argue that methadone doesn’t actually help heroin addicts, but just replaces heroin with an equally addictive methadone (Mason, 2013). From my perspective, methadone should not be given to heroin addicts because it does not

medicine of cancer patients is robbed often by a friend or family member. Also, children of people who constantly seek medications learn from the parents. Therefore the future is in jeopardy. Children may grow up thinking that pill popping is the norm and may not understand the dangers of it.

Until recently, there was a dramatic disconnect between this research and drug court operations. The consequences of this disconnect included relapse, overdose, and death. While drug courts were designed to accommodate those in need of medical care, most operated under the misguided and dangerous practice of requiring defendants, as part of their successful program completion, to stop taking life-saving addiction medication prescribed by their physicians. This practice, which is at odds with decades of scientific and medical research, put individuals with opioid addictions in the precarious position of either having to stop taking their effective medication and risk relapse or use their medication and face incarceration. To compound matters

This paper will discuss the principles and position of harm reduction. It will also examine the public perception of the user, which has created an ineffective philosophy. Most importantly, my paper seeks to recognize the harm of harm reduction. This discussion will highlight the lack of hope it creates in the user. Harm reduction needs to be addressed so that a long-term solution for the user can be implemented, not just a quick fix Band-Aid solution. If caregivers, counselors and the general public do not hold more of an abstinence position on recovery they will eventually do users a disservice. I will touch on needle exchange, safe injection sites, wet

Opioid addiction with prescribed and illegal substances has of late become a topic of concern within the United States. With this topic in the face of individual liberties, one must question the moral and legal obligations of society and of the government to control this outbreak of addiction. With one view, the side that would be in favor of Plato, one could argue that the use of any substance illegally is morally wrong and that people waste their lives if they even try opioids for something other than their intended purposes. On the other side, with the view of John Stuart Mill, one could argue that while the use of opioids could be considered wrong, government and society are not at right to prohibit individuals from using opioids, given several underlying assumptions. Of these two views, I argue that, while I agree partially with Plato, I agree more with Mill’s view that individuals should be allowed to use opioids if they so wish.