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Effects of drug abuse on the society or nation
Effects of opioid addiction essay
Effects of opioid addiction essay
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Recommended: Effects of drug abuse on the society or nation
The abuse of and addiction to opioids and the current epidemic in America. Opioids are a class of drugs which have been used since ancient times to reduce pain. Although opiates are derived from opium and opioids refer to synthetic drugs created to emulate opium, nowadays the term opioid is used for the entire family of drugs including natural, synthetic and semi-synthetic. Opium is an extract of the exudate derived from seedpods of the poppy plant, Papaver somniferum. The opium poppy is native to the Middle East and it was cultivated in lower Mesopotamia. Opium was passed along from the Sumerians, who refer to it as Hul Gil, the 'joy plant,' and the Assyrians to the Babylonians who in turn would pass it on to the Egyptians. Around 3,500 years Opioids are distributed throughout the body by the blood and accumulate in the kidneys, lungs, liver, spleen digestive tract, and muscles as well the brain. Most opioids are metabolized in the liver quickly and excreted by the kidneys. Maisto et al. (2015) consider that opioids are “double-edged swords. On one edge of the sword, they improve the human condition because they are the most potent painkillers available. On the other edge of the sword, they cause destruction to individuals and society due to their ability to produce sever dependence. Although opioid pain relievers are generally safe when taken for a short time and as prescribed by a doctor, they can be misused (taken in a different way or in a larger quantity than prescribed, or taken without a doctor’s prescription) because they produce euphoria in addition to pain relief. Many of the problems related to opioids stem from chronic use. Consequently regular (e.g., several times a day, for several weeks or more) or longer-term use of opioids can lead to dependence (physical discomfort when not taking the drug), tolerance (diminished effect from the original dose, leading to increasing the With both dependence and addiction, withdrawal symptoms may occur if drug use is suddenly reduced or stopped. These symptoms may include restlessness, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, diarrhea, vomiting, cold flashes with goose bumps, and involuntary leg movements (NIDA, 2016). Currently, America is in the middle of an opioid epidemic which public health officials have called the deadliest drug crisis ever in American history. Opioid addiction is America’s 50- state epidemic and every day, more than 90 Americans die after overdosing on opioids. Drug overdoses, nearly two-thirds of them from prescription opioids, heroin and synthetic opioids, killed some 64,000 Americans last year, over 20 percent more than in 2015. That is also more Running head: THE ABUSE OF AND ADDICTION TO OPIOIDS than double the number in 2005, and nearly quadruple the number in 2000 (Salam, 2017). Drug 5 overdoses —fueled by opioids and now even more deadly by an influx of illicitly manufactured fentanyl and similar drugs— are the leading cause of death for Americans under 50 years old, more than guns or car accidents, and doing so at a pace faster than the H.I.V. epidemic did at
One of the reasons the epidemic has become so widespread is due to the addictiveness of opioids. Opioids are prescription medications used to treat pain, with oxycodone and hydrocodone being the more popular drugs (Mayo). Opioids are addictive because of the way
The documentary states that over 27,000 deaths a year are due to overdose from heroin and other opioids. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in 2015 prescription pain relievers account for 20,101 overdose deaths, and 12,990 overdose deaths are related to heroin (Rudd et al., 2010-2015). The documentary’s investigation gives the history of how the heroin epidemic started, with a great focus on the hospice movement. We are presented with the idea that once someone is addicted to painkillers, the difficulty in obtaining the drug over a long period of time becomes too expensive and too difficult. This often leads people to use heroin. This idea is true as a 2014 survey found that 94% of respondents who were being treated for opioid addiction said they chose to use heroin because prescription opioids were “more expensive and harder to obtain (Cicero et al., 2014).” Four in five heroin users actually started out using prescription painkillers (Johns, 2013). This correlation between heroin and prescription painkiller use supports the idea presented in the documentary that “prescription opiates are heroin prep school.”
Almost one hundred years ago, prescription drugs like morphine were available at almost any general store. Women carried bottles of very addictive potent opiate based pain killers in their purse. Many individuals like Edgar Allen Poe died from such addictions. Since that time through various federal, state and local laws, drugs like morphine are now prescription drugs; however, this has not stopped the addiction to opiate based pain killers. Today’s society combats an ever increasing number of very deadly addictive drugs from designer drugs to narcotics to the less potent but equally destructive alcohol and marijuana. With all of these new and old drugs going in and out of vogue with addicts, it appears that the increase of misuse and abuse is founded greater in the prescription opiate based painkillers.
Where did this drug come from and what makes it different from any other drug that is on the market? Heroin's origins go back long before Christ was a bleep on the radar. It goes back to 1200 B.C. Or the Bronze Age. At that time how ever heroin would be known as its chemically altered state of the poppy seeds. Even at that time however the ancient peoples of that time knew that if the poppy seeds juice were collected and dried. the extract that was left behind could make a effective painkiller. This would later be named opium. There were small incidents of it appearing in Europe, for instance it was used by the gladiators in the Roman Colosseum. But as a whole it would take more then a millennium for opium to travel from the Middle East to the Europe. This only occurred do to crusades. In just a few hundred after that is went from a rarely used painkiller to a liquid that was said to cure all aliments and would even lead to the most humiliating defeat China Empire. In the 1803 opium became dwarfed by its new brother morphine which is named in honor of the Greek god Morpheus who is the god of dreams. Morphine is an extract of opium and is ruffly 10 times the strength of its counter part. After Morphine creation it was put to used almost at once to assist battle field victims. This was a mistake however, because this refined does of opium is also 10 times more addicting then it was in its original form. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers would retur...
Opioids are used as pain relievers and although it does the job, there are adverse side effects. Opioids are frequently used in the medical field, allowing doctors to overprescribe their patients. The substance can be very addicting to the dosage being prescribed to the patient. Doctors are commonly prescribing opioids for patients who have mild, moderate, and severe pain. As the pain becomes more severe for the patient, the doctor is more likely to increase the dosage. The increasing dosages of the narcotics become highly addicting. Opioids should not be prescribed as pain killers, due to their highly addictive chemical composition, the detrimental effects on opioid dependent patients, the body, and on future adolescents. Frequently doctors have become carless which causes an upsurge of opioids being overprescribed.
The opioid crisis is Canada’s worst public health crisis since the emergence of HIV in the 1980s. The epidemic is dangerously pervasive, affecting Canadians of all ages and income brackets. The Government of Canada has taken several steps to address the crisis, but many doctors and public health
Opioids are prescribed to help people; prescription opioids can be used to treat moderate-to-severe pain and are often prescribed following surgery or injury, or for health conditions such as cancer (Prescription Opioids). When taken as directed, opioids are safe and effective treatment options for relieving debilitating chronic pain (Highsmith). Doctors have screening protocol they follow before prescribing an opioid. Doctors ask patients about their past to see if any substance abuse was present, to rule out patients with a higher risk of becoming addicted to prescription opioids. Nonetheless, if the medication is used as directed, not only is your risk of addiction minimal, the odds of enjoying a better quality of life will be in your favor (Highsmith). In other words, doctors are doing their part to prevent prescription opioid drug abuse. Actually, dishonest people are the ones at
Opiates are a class of drugs that are used for chronic pain. Opioids are substances that are used to relieve pain by binding opiate receptors throughout the body, and in the brain. These areas in the brain control pain and also emotions, producing a feeling of excitement or happiness. As the brain gets used to these feelings, and the body builds a tolerance to the opioids, there is a need for more opioids and then the possibility of addiction. There are different forms of opioids manufactured such as Morphine, Oxycodone, Buprenorphine, Hydrocodone, and Methadone.
Morphine, codeine and heroin are all derived from the same plant, the opium poppy. The opium drugs have been used for medicinal and recreational use for centuries. In the 1700s opium was mixed into an alcohol solution to help with pain relief as they are a strong depressant. This mixture would be used for helping soldiers with wounds or for the numbing of pain during surgery. Opium was in very high demand and the British Empire controlled the opium fields in India. Britain traded the opium to China for exchange for tea leaves that could only be grown in China. Because of the highly addictive nature of opiuates the people of China got addicted. To combat the addiction the emperor started to burn the boats that sent the opium which started the
In 1938, The opium was still being used by physicians in the form of morphine.
While it appears nearly every age group is affected by the crisis, 28 percent of deaths occurred among those aged 30 to 39 years. Fentanyl Is Gaining Popularity Fentanyl is a powerful and potentially deadly opioid that has become the opiate of choice for many users across Canada. The proportion of fentanyl-related opioid overdoses has risen 75 percent in 2017, compared to 53 percent in 2016. While fentanyl has hit British Columbia and Alberta the hardest, other provinces, such as Ontario, are beginning to see steady increases in fentanyl use.
The rate of death due to prescription drug abuse in the U.S. has escalated 313 percent over the past decade. According to the Congressional Quarterly Transcription’s article "Rep. Joe Pitt Holds a Hearing on Prescription Drug Abuse," opioid prescription drugs were involved in 16,650 overdose-caused deaths in 2010, accounting for more deaths than from overdoses of heroin and cocaine. Prescribed drugs or painkillers sometimes "condemn a patient to lifelong addiction," according to Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This problem not only affects the lives of those who overdose but it affects the communities as well due to the convenience of being able to find these items in drug stores and such. Not to mention the fact that the doctors who prescribe these opioids often tend to misuse them as well. Abusing these prescribed drugs can “destroy dreams and abort great destinies," and end the possibility of the abuser to have a positive impact in the community.
Opioids are a type of pain medication prescribed in pill form, with the most commonly used opioid
These statistics also highlight another key issue of the epidemic. Unlike an epidemic based solely in disease, nearly anyone and their loved ones can be affected by the opioid epidemic. One in five Canadians suffer from chronic pain and are most likely prescribed opioid painkillers they must take daily to deal with their debilitating symptoms. The truth of the matter is that opioids are
The talk about prescription painkillers prescribed by doctors are starting to be widely debated whether they’re doing more good than harm. The debate on whether painkillers are good for the human health has came into a mild and somewhat highly discussed topic within the last decade. At first prescribed painkillers were thought to be good, but these prescribed painkillers have always been like a double edge sword usually doing better than bad. The side effects from the painkillers used to be very minimal; for example the common side effects were drowsiness, nausea and vomiting, but since the world is a constantly developing place new painkillers are constantly being developed and so are their side effects” ("Types of Pain Medications on RxList.com." RxList. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 May 2014.’). Not only are the side effects becoming worst, but people are becoming severely addicted to them and in some cases their addiction is lethal and not only kills them, but it can also tear a family apart or put a family in great financial debt because of one person addiction. Now when something that been created to do good starts to be questioned whether it’s actually still good or not is major problem majority of the time.