The Opioid Crisis in America Part 1

Opioid addiction has taken America by storm. To date, it is currently the most dangerous drug available and readily accessible to almost anyone. This drug does not discriminate at all and has destroyed the lives of the wealthy, the poor, black, white, brown, educated, uneducated, famous, and ordinary individuals alike. What can governmental officials, rehab treatment centers, and hospitals do, if anything, to decrease and control this addiction to opioids that is bringing America to a standstill? This blog will address several factors: how and when this epidemic began, who its top distributors are, what the negative results of using are, and how this situation can end.

How Did This Epidemic of Opioids Begin

To begin with, opioid addiction started its inception in the early 1990s. Physicians at that time and in the past considered opioids to be dangerous to society and hesitated to write prescriptions that would lead to overdosing. However, around 1996, a company called Purdue Pharma, a privately held pharmaceutical company based out of Stamford, CT., released a new drug by the name of OxyContin, which was marketed to be safe and not addictive to those whom their researchers prescribed it. But as a result, the profit from the sales of the pill went through the roof, and so did addictive behaviors, overdoses, and even the death rate. Sales grew from $48 million in 1996 to almost $1.1 billion in 2000 and were indeed a commercial success as they related to profit, but also a public health tragedy.

“Initiative, this new “wonder drug” could, with one dose, relieve pain for the subsequent 12 hours, which was over twice of the existing drugs on the market that had palliative pain for 4-6 hours” (Chow, R. 2019). As society needed painkillers for different reasons, people began to build a tolerance for OxyContin and other pain-killing medications such as Percocet. So, it appeared that the more opioid prescription pain medications that were available, the more society wanted. And wanting more of this drug somehow began the cycle of addiction. However, everyone who suffered from pain after surgery or who was dealing with pain in general did not get hooked, but for some, it was the beginning of an addiction.

Are You Ready to Change?

Now that our culture was craving more prescription drugs like OxyContin and Percocet, and big pharma companies and doctors who were willing to write prescriptions, it then led to a drug called heroin made from morphine, which has been around for years. “Today, it is noted that the narcotic drug heroin makes up for 71% of opiate substance use around the world, and globally, it has been estimated that 15.6 million people either abuse or are addicted to heroin” (Doweiko, 2015). According to the National Center on Health Statistics, 43% of individuals are addicted to various prescription medications, 24% of people are addicted to heroin, 18% are addicted to a drug called Benzodiazepine, and 12% of people are addicted to cocaine. The excellent news about opioid addiction is that it is treatable. There are 23 million people in treatment recovery, but one question remains. Who were or are the top distributors of opioid drugs, and what was their objective in prescribing these pills?

For more information for yourself, a friend or a family member please visit https://na.org/

References:

Chow, R. (2019). Purdue Pharma and OxyContin–A Commercial Success But Public Health Disaster. Harvard Public Health Review, 25.

Doweiko, H. E. (2015). Concepts of chemical dependency (9th ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.