When OxyContin went off the market in 2012, a new drug came to raise, Fentanyl. Fentanyl is a potent, fast acting, synthetic pain killer; its potency is 100 times greater than morphine and about 50 times greater than heroin (FISCHER, 2016). It was marketed to cancer patients and those In severe chronic pain. Fentanyl was created by a company called Insys Therapeutics, INC. This drug is beginning to take Canada by storm, with its potency overdoses and deaths are happening across the country, it is almost impossible to turn of the news without the mention of this drug.
Oxycodone is just the government harnessing another revenue of income if they can take advantage of victims of addiction just to take what they have left. It is their choice whether they take the government's so-called help but as the author said “Through all this, patients were getting used to demanding drugs for treatment. They did not, however, have to accept the idea that they might, say, eat better and
As Malcolm X once said, “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” This quote inspires a lot of people like me to try harder and to never stop at one point and give up. In the book The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates, is about two people with the same name and born with the same path, going through challenging life obstacles. They both grew up fatherless and had a difficult childhood.
One family whose mother was killed by the Tylenol murders, will never take painkillers again. Michelle Rosen, daughter of a Tylenol poisoning victim, is scared to give her children any over the counter medication. As Rosen quoted in an interview with Good Morning America, " No. I do not do over the counter or prescription drugs whatsoever. No.
Drug Addiction Imagine a life where someone is controlled by something that doesn't have a pulse, controlled by a substance that they can see ruining their life but for some reason they can't control the outcome. Substance abuse costs the health care system about $11 billion, with overall costs reaching $193 billion. That $11 Billion dollars could go to treating the addiction rather than treating the outcome, and instead of locking up low level drug offenders, we as a society should help them through their difficult time. And according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), approximately 27 million Americans, or 10.2% of the American population over the age of 12 reported using illicit drugs in 2014. 10% of our society is
Underlying Causes: The increase in the sale of opioids is considered to be the root of the opioid crisis, as the drugs have been proven to be highly addictive. An addiction to prescriptive opioids, however, can lead to an addiction to synthetic, illegal opioids, such as heroine or fentanyl, which are less expensive and easier to acquire. In fact, in their journal article, “Associations of nonmedical pain reliever use and initiation of heroin use in the United States” Pradip Muhuri and associates discovered that “the recent (12 months preceding interview) heroin incidence rate was 19 times higher among those who reported prior nonmedical prescription pain reliever (NMPR) use than among those who did not (0.39 vs. 0.02 percent)” (Muhuri et. al). In other words, abusing prescription opioids significantly raises the chances of abusing illicit drugs, such as heroin.
“ Because they produce euphoria in addition to pain relief, they can be misused. Regular use- even as prescribed by a doctor can lead to dependence ,and when misused, opioid pain relievers can lead to overdose incidents and deaths” (Drugabuse.gov/opioids) Prescribing opioids have more dangers to the human than they do
Opioids are a prescription medication involving various forms of drugs, it can benefit patients as little as a few minutes, however, it can be extremely dangerous to patients without self-control. Morphine, heroin, oxycodone, and fentanyl are used for many different medical uses until companies started to combine these four ingredients into one small simple pill. The pill reduces chronic pain from a body in a matter of minutes taking a minimum dosage. The company that produces Opioids have discovered that for the most part opioids are healthier and safer than any other medications. Like other medications, opioids can also have its side effects too such as; sedation restlessness, respiratory depression, nausea, vomiting, constipation and much more.
I think that doctors should give patients more information when prescribing opioids to patients. Many people that just had a painful surgery take opioids to stop their pain and then shortly get addicted after from taking the pills, I believe people would not get as tempted, and feel like it is ok to take opioids, if they knew they were highly addictive. Allen, a recovering addict, had to research her symptom to find out why she was having this temptation to take these pain killing pills when she was not even in pain. Allen’s doctor never told her about the danger of these “painkillers” but once Allen found out, she was concerned about herself, and knew she was addicted and in
Prescription drugs (opiates only) have caused over 165,000 deaths within the last 15 years and is currently on the rise. Over 2 million Americans in 2014 were addicted to Opiate prescription narcotics. The most troubling fact is listed directly on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website: “As many as 1 in 4
Dependence on prescription opioids can stem from treatment of chronic pain and in recent years is the cause of the increased number of opioid overdoses. Opioids are very addictive substances, having serious life threatening consequences in case of intentional or accidental overdose. The euphoria attracts recreational use, and frequent,
Opioid Epidemic in the United States The opioid crisis has risen over the years here in America. The addiction to painkillers has caused many drug overdoses across America. According to the Vox," In 2015, more than 52,000 people have died from drug overdoses from linked to opioids such as Percocet, heroin, Oxycontin or even fentanyl. This problem did not become an overnight health crisis, but it has become quickly known in America. Expanding our drug treatment centers across America would provide the support to those who are addicted to drugs.
Hence, that medicating children is not the best choice there are other options like changing diets and have behavioral therapy (Sanford 1). Children should not be allowed to take prescribed medications due to how it impacts their mental state, body, and relationships with others. There is one reliable research that has been conducted to show how drugs like Ritalin affects a child in their early years (Shirley 1). With all this in mind, should the world’s children be
A couple fellow classmates in high school and college were always taking some kind of pills. Myself not knowing much about drugs, I thought they were prescribed. Later, I found out that they weren’t prescribed. My classmates were using them for themselves and also distributing to other students. I never spoke up about it, since I never witnessed the distribution but rumors go around.
These pills, such as xanax and oxycodone allow people for short periods of time to withdraw from the harsh reality faced today. “Between 1997 and 2002, sales of oxycodone and methadone nearly quadrupled” (Okie). Around 15 years later and the prescription pill problem is continuing to skyrocket. Since prescription pills are dispersed out to anyone by doctors, many people do not realize that it is as much of an illicit drug as cocaine and heroin is. “Misinformation about the addictive properties of prescription opioids and the perception that prescription drugs are less harmful than illicit drugs are other possible contributors to the problem” (NIDA).
