Prescription Opioid Abuse

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In recent years, the opioid crisis in America has reached epidemic proportions. The opioid crisis, also referred to as the opioid epidemic, refers to the recent, steep increase in the use of opioids and the subsequent rises in rates of overdoses and other consequences of opioid use. Prescription opioid abuse has risen in recent years and so has the number of prescriptions for opioids, such as OxyContin and Vicodin. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2016, around 214,881,622 opioid prescriptions were dispensed by pharmacies and about 61,862,364 patients had at least one prescription for opioids (Mattson 9). In the United States, the opioid epidemic was caused by the addictive nature of prescription opioids and the …show more content…
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, “Opioids are a class of drugs that include the illegal drug heroin, synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, and pain relievers available legally by prescription, such as oxycodone…” (“Prescription Opioids”) There are also opiates which are part of the opioid class of drugs. However, opiate specifically refers to opioids that are made naturally from the opium poppy. While opioids includes all opioids, natural and synthetic. When taken, opioids bind to and activate opioid receptors that are found in the brain, spinal cord, limbic system, as well as other parts of the body (“Prescription Opioids”). After attaching to opioid receptors, pain signals sent from the brain to the body are blocked, therefore making the user feel little to no pain. Opioids also cause people to release dopamine, which is a neurotransmitter that helps control the brain's reward and pleasure centers (“Dopamine”). The release of dopamine can make the user want to use opioids again to repeat the experience, and this is one of the reasons prescription opioids can be so addictive and therefore …show more content…
Prescription opioids are legal and widely used in the U.S., which can make it seem like they must be safe if used properly. Even if people are aware that opioids can be addictive, people tend to believe that the only people who get addicted to opioids were already predisposed to addictive behaviors. “You have to remember that the effects of these drugs are so strong, that you don’t need to have a history of abuse and neglect to develop a substance use disorder,” stated Dr. Holly Hagen, the co-director of the Center for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research, “It can be the result of simply being exposed for a long time, often when the drugs are coming from a doctor.” (Reynolds) It can be easy to believe that opioids are safe for the general population, especially if doctors do not properly warn their patients about the risks. This is what happened to Liz Cohen, a woman who became addicted to prescription painkillers in high school. When prescribed her medication, she was not properly informed of the dangers of using opioids and assumed because a doctor had prescribed it she would be safe. Cohen, now sober, says, “I wish they would have warned me or my parents of the risk of addiction. What happened to me could happen to anyone.” (Andersen)
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