US’ Opioid Epidemic
The US is currently in the midst of an unprecedented opioid epidemic. Approximately 130 people die everyday from an opioid drug related overdose. According to the CDC, From 1999–2018, almost 450,000 people died from an overdose involving any opioid, including prescription and illicit opioids. The number of people who have an opioid addiction is unbelievable, the number of people who have already died to the hands of these drugs is just outrageous.
Before continuing with the rates and numbers an overview should be provided. Opioids are man-made painkillers. They mimic the effects of the analgesic hormones that the human body produces naturally. There are many types of opioids, but they are all based on the chemical compounds in Papaver somniferum, the poppy plant. Chemical compounds are classified as opiate in their natural form.
Opium became available in the US in 1775, but opioids were used at the beginning to help soldiers who were in pain from battle wounds during the civil war and many of them became addicted to them. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, In the late 1990s, pharmaceutical companies reassured the medical community that patients would not become addicted to opioid pain relievers and healthcare providers began to prescribe them at greater rates.
Additionally, increased prescription of opioid medications led
These narcotics are used to relieve pain but they also produce a sense of pleasure and well being, people who experience this sensation tend to like it and long to feel it once more. Some formulations of opioids try to minimize this effect but unfortunately people try to get around that by using the drugs in inappropriate ways like, crushing, snorting or injecting, this may result in higher dose than recommended, strongly affecting the addict’s health. Moreover, overtime tolerance starts taking place with the repeated use of narcotics. When users start increasing the dose, the euphoric effect increases as well, in regards to this, addiction shows up merciless.
As mentioned before, opioids are prescription drugs for people suffering from chronic pain. In 1991, about 76 million prescriptions were dispensed for opioids in the US. By 2011, this number had peaked at 219 million. Currently, there are somewhere between 26 and 34 million people abusing opioids. More than 2 million of them are Americans abusing from these painkillers.
Prevention and access to treatment for opioid dependence and overdose drugs are essential to fight this issue. Some solutions have undergone legislation, including the limitation of numbers of opioids after undergoing surgery. The CDC is currently working on monitoring trends to better understand and respond to the epidemic as well as Supporting providers, healthcare systems, and payers with data, tools, and guidance for evidence-based decision-making to improve opioid prescribing and patient safety while attempting to increase public awareness about prescription opioid misuse and overdose and to make safe choices about these narcotics.
By Natalia Del Castillo, Step 10
