Opioid Abuse in America - An Epidemic

As individuals and as a nation, Americans face a national crisis in the form of opioid addiction and the use of non-prescribed pain medicines. Around the world, between 26.4 million and 36 million persons abuse opioids. By any standard, opioid abuse and addiction qualify as a global epidemic.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) reports that in 2012, 2.1 million Americans suffered prescription drug-related use disorders specifically related to opioid pain relives. Another 467,000 Americans suffered heroin addiction. As alarming as these figures are, the overall opioid-heroin addiction rate is staggering as an expensive burden on society and the nation.

Opioids present and underscore a number of challenges for physicians, pharmacists and users, the biggest of which is striking a sensible balance between pain relief and abuse. Opioids are highly addictive but also offer relief to patients in pain. But, the fact remains that the number pf unintentional overdose fatalities from prescription pain relievers has quadrupled since 1999.

Contributing Factors to Opioid Abuse and Addiction

There are several elements that testify to the rise in opioid addiction and abuse.

• Huge increases in the number of prescriptions written – In 1999, opiate prescriptions topped off at 76 million. In 2013, opiate prescriptions were 207 million.

• Tremendous rise in amount of opioids dispensed by pharmacies – Opioid related fatalities climbed to 16,651 nationally in 2010.

• Society’s rising tolerance for opioid abuse – In 2004, the country emergency rooms reported 144,600 opioid related visits. By 2008, that figure had more than doubled to 305,900 treatment admissions for opioid and heroin abuse.

• Aggressive marketing by pharmaceuticals

These are four very real reasons that have contributed to what NIDA calls the perfect “environmental availability” opioid storm.

Hydrocodone and Oxycodone Lead the Way

Americans have a serious hydrocodone and oxycodone dependency problem. In 2013, Americans consumed 100 percent of all, manufactured hydrocodone and 81 percent of all manufactured oxycodone. The United States is far and away the largest opiate consumer in the world and these two drugs in particular are broadly abused.

Opioid based pain relievers are easy to locate, relatively inexpensive if the user has insurance or if the user lives in a residence where another family member has a legitimate prescription for the drugs. Among the country’s young, opiate resupply is an unmanaged medicine cabinet away.

NIDA believes the only ways to change the nation’s opioid abuse is to put tighter reins in medicine cabinets, prescriptions and prescription refills. The goal must be to make the pain relievers available to those persons that legitimately need them while we minimize the risks and adverse effects of poor opioid management.

Opioids Pose Powerful Addiction Threat

The effect of opioids on the brain is often compared to such notoriously addictive drugs are heroin and morphine. If opioids are used for non-medicinal purposes, the rate of addiction rises significantly.

What may have started as an innocent social experiment can end is a stubborn, viscous and fatal opioid addiction. The probability of addiction increases dramatically if pills are crushed into powder and ingested, snorted or injected into the blood stream.

At this point opioid abuse is not a social experiment regarding the way the drugs were prescribed. The brain is highly influenced by the euphoric event opioids can induce and like other forms of drug addiction relentlessly pursues resupply.

Opioid abuse is a one-way street to addiction. If you know anyone abusing opioids, the time to act is now. Find a rehab center before it's too late.