Who Use Opioids Are Addicts?

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

Although opioids are legal when prescribed by a doctor or dentist, there is a chance of exemplary people with moderate to severe pain unintentionally becoming hooked on this extremely addictive drug. People who become addicted to drugs feel guilt, embarrassment, and

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.

Opioids are a class of drugs used to help an individual’s pain perception. They include prescriptive and nonprescriptive medications: morphine, oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, and fentanyl. Heroin is also an opioid, but it is a classified Schedule 1 illegal drug.

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.

Data has showed that the situation is getting terrible and more worse. Overdose deaths will continue to soar until opioids are prescribed more carefully and until the treatment for opioid addiction is easier to obtain. Opioids are drugs that stimulate the mind when taking. Some are made from opium and some are synthetic. Hydrocodone and oxycodone are the most frequently prescribed opioids in the US. Opioids are good medicines for relieving pain. They help when you use them after having

So how do opioids work and what makes them so addictive? We all have millions of pain receptors throughout our body called nociceptors that send information about pain to our brains. These pain receptors are on our skin, within our organs, and our spinal cord. Opioids are given for pain because they block the signals from the nociceptors to our brain. In addition to this, opioids cause a sense of euphoria which is the “high” that accompanies the medication (Healthcare Triage, 2016). Our bodies actually produce their own opioid chemicals that many people know of as endorphins. However, long-term use of opioids can make the body stop producing endorphins which can lead to dependence on medications (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2014). The way people take or abuse these drugs varies as well. Opioid pills such as hydrocodone or oxycodone are taken by mouth while heroin is typically injected. However, people that abuse the drugs are now crushing the pills to snort or inject which increases the intensity of the “high.” This method is also more dangerous because the risk of respiratory

Oxycodone is the main drug I am concentrating on even though there are many opiates or schedule II drugs that are considered Opioids. Oxycodone was first created as part of an effort to find non-addictive alternatives to morphine and heroin, which were commonly used in medicine before World War I. Oxycodone is an opioid analgesic, ?Pain Killer? that is most often prescribed to control moderate to severe pain that must not be used with other medications. It is a slightly synthetic opiate that was created in 1916. The chemicals found in Poppy plants also make as morphine and heroin. Opiate:?A drug (such as morphine, codeine or heroin) containing or derived from opium or the opium poppy, used to alleviate pain, or induce sleep or euphoria. Opioid:?A synthetic or semi-synthetic substance producing an opium-like effect, often prescribed for alleviation of moderate to severe pain; a prescription painkiller in the opiate class.

Some examples of opioid medications are: oxycodone, fentanyl, morphine, and meperidine (Hart 2013). Not all opioids are used for pain, but this paper will focus on those that are currently used for pain in the United States.

Prescription painkillers go by many names, opiates, opioids, and narcotics. There are also types of opiates; some legal and some not. Some types of legal opiates include: codeine, hydrocodone, oxycodone, morphine, hydromorphone, and methadone (MSU). Each one of these have different potencies and side effects, but they are all equally as dangerous as the next one. There are too many of these dangerous drugs, therefore, people believe they are safe. The problem is that they are not safe; these drugs need to be banned immediately.

Hi John, great information. Opioids have been used for managing acute and chronic pain in individuals for many decades. Though these drugs can improve a person’s quality of life, their use should be cautioned due to their addictive ability. Opioids use are rampant in the U.S. and the community. According to the CDC (2016), over the last fifteen years, opioid deaths have quadrupled. The use and misuse are responsible for destroying families across the nation. It is important to seek treatment help immediately. There are many prevention programs available today. Some family-based approaches have proven to be successful in helping adolescents overcome their addiction (National Institute of Health, 2014).

Opioids are pain relievers that bind to opioid receptors on nerve cells throughout the body. They produce feelings of euphoria, tranquility and sedation. However, opioids are “considered the most harmful of all illicit drugs” (Amato et al., 2005, p.321).

Illicit drugs are not the only problem. Studies have shown that prescription drug addiction is also on the rise. Opiates, which are medications prescribed to reduce pain, are among the most addictive prescription drugs.

Narcotics also known as “opioids” are defined as “a drug or other substance affecting mood or behavior and sold for nonmedical purposes, especially an illegal one” (http://www.foundationsrecoverynetwork.com/what-are-narcotics-and-why-are-they-addictive/ ). Narcotics are also defined as “any drugs that full the senses and commonly become addictive after prolonged use” (http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Drugs+and+Narcotics). A narcotic is a type of drug that is prohibited, used in violation of government restriction.

There are three types of prescribed abused drugs: opioids, depressants, and stimulants. The most powerful is opioids. Opioids are used to block out pain. Some of these include opanas, oxycontin, and roxicodone, and 5.1 million Americans abuse them regularly (Drugabuse.gov). Some of those pills can cost any where from five dollars a pill all the way up to ninety dollars a pill (Drugs a-z) and could even cost more than that depending on where you live. Some of the street names can be roxy, o.p.s, oxy, and captain coden(Drug abuse.gov). ´“At the age of 20, I became an addict to a narcotic,which began with a prescription following a surgery.¨´-James. People normally become addicted to painkillers because of doctor giving them prescriptions after a major surgery.