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Persuasive Essay On Opioids

423 Words2 Pages

This enormous conundrum is being ignored by several professionals and doctors. The “heroin and prescription opioid epidemic” is something more people should pay attention to. Opioids are a “class of drugs” (Page 1) that includes heroin, and other powerful, legal pain relievers. Opioids are valuable medicines that can produce emotions of pleasure and happiness. They are frequently misused by being taken in a greater quantity than prescribed, or without a doctor’s prescription. This drug dependence can lead to death through an overdose. Heroin can be injected, snorted, smoked or even mixed with crack cocaine. The practice of these deadly drugs for feelings of contentment must be stopped. To quote the article, The Opioid Epidemic, “drug overdose …are now the leading …show more content…

Additionally, “Over the last two decades….as prescription for opioids began to soar, rates of addiction and overdose deaths increased in parallel.” (The Opioid Epidemic). The escalation in opioid prescription is fueled by a campaign by pharmaceutical companies. The campaign minimized opioid risks and exaggerated the benefits of using opioids. Many have filed lawsuits against manufacturers for their role in causing the opioid addiction epidemic by misleading the medical community. Young people who are addicted to prescription opioids commonly switch to heroin. Heroin is a cheaper option, and is rumored to have a higher potency than regular prescription opioids. People who suffer from addiction are unable to reach treatment programs. Patients who are able to obtain solutions “must often visit private practice physicians who do not accept commercial insurance…” (The Opioid Epidemic). This makes it extremely difficult to reduce the number of people reliant on these drugs. To conclude, the damage from the “heroin and prescription opioid epidemic” cannot be solved without changes to the way doctors operate. People need to implement systems to address this

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