Opioid proteins block pain signals from reaching the brain, which is helpful for cases of extreme pain. However, opioids are harmful to the human body in numerous ways, including physical dependence or addiction, tolerance of the drug, which goes hand in hand with addiction of the drug, and the withdrawals a patient experiences after not obtaining the amount of opioids the body demands. Prescription opioids drugs like Vicodin and OxyContin are acting as gateway drugs to more dangerous drugs that also contain opioids because of the body’s overwhelming hunger for more and more of the drug. The epidemic of this dangerous prescription drug can be solved by doctors simply recognizing and acting on the knowledge about exactly how dangerous this drug is and the harmful effects it has on the human body. There have already been several cases of drugs that contain opioids being recalled. This drug is dangerous and should not be used so loosely and given out so easily to patients in pain. It is crucial that people be made aware of the effects of the opioid drug so that they may avoid it at all costs. It is equally crucial that doctors recognize this and recommend alternative pain relief methods such as nonsteroidal antiinflammatory