Opioid Addiction Research Paper

Sarah Ryba
Ms. Dean
English 4
04 February 2018
Opioid Abuse and effect on Heroin Addiction.

The face of drug abuse is changing in America, and now drug overdoses are the leading cause of unintentional death. In the 1960s, drug abusers were commonly young men from low income neighborhoods. Now, drugs, legal and illegal, are flooding the streets, taking lives and leading people down a path of addiction. In 2016, 64,000 Americans died from drug overdose; the sharpest increase occurring among deaths related to opioid abuse. An opioid is a substance extracted from the opium poppy, that acts on the opioid receptors of the brain to produce morphine like effects. They are primarily used for pain relief. Opioid pain medicines, such as OxyContin and …show more content…
Heroin is an illegal, highly addictive drug processed from morphine, a naturally occurring substance in poppy plants. According to national surveillance data, over 900,000 people reported heroin use in 2014, a number that’s been on the rise since 2007 (Compton.) Heroin users can snort, smoke, or Inject the drug and report feeling a surge of Euphoria. However, other common effects include loss of consciousness, collapsed veins, heart infections, uncontrollable movements, and death. While Heroin is illicit and opioid pills such as hydrocodone are FDA- approved, both are derived from the same plant. Their chemical structures are highly similar and bind to the same group of receptors. Research suggests that misuse of these prescription drugs could open the door to heroin use and potentially lead to addiction. The nonmedical use of prescription opioid is a major public health crisis in the United States, both …show more content…
While many people believe these drugs are not dangerous because they can be prescribed by a doctor, abuse often leads to dependence, and eventually for some, heroin addiction. People who use prescription pills regularly, develop a tolerance, which means they need higher and/or more frequent doses of the drug to get desired effects. When users develop a tolerance they need to go back to their doctor to receive a written script. More often than not, doctors over-prescribe medication to their patients, and it’s stunning to realize that 80% of the world's pain pills are consumed in the United States, which has only 5% of the world's population (Gupta.) The cost of these medications add up, as the price for the uninsured is about $60 for a 60mg pill. However, users can obtain the equivalent amount of heroin for 1/10 the price. Half of all heroin abusers surveyed in a study, reported abusing prescription opioids before using heroin.For them, pills were the gateway to a much cheaper and deadlier headroom addiction. “In 2010, almost 12 million people used prescription pain medication when it was not prescribed for them or only for the feeling it caused,” and this is continuing to worsen (Secretary). As the number of prescription opioid abusers are increasing more drug abusers are being turned onto the cheap cost of Heroin. The Carolina Medical Center in charlotte noticed these increasing

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