Opioids are addictive, legal and illegal drugs, often pain-killers, harming many struggling Americans who either need pain relief or Americans who purchased them illicitly.
A growing percentage of Americans buying opioids illicitly, such as heroin, are those Americans struggling with the addiction from their prescriptions. According to HHS, 948,000 people were addicted to heroin. When the prescription medicine fails as a basis, or the doctor refuses to prescribe, people turn to illegal means.
Death-related incidents also greatly harm the public, and experts estimate 15,000 or more in heroin-related deaths annually. While there is public awareness and a growing number of resolutions to help solve the public dilemma, the problem is still amounting to struggling addicts and illegal use of heroin and other drugs.
CNN attributes that the opioid mediations “bind to the areas of the brain that control pain and emotions.” Dopamine is a hormone in the brain, making happy emotions and sensations of joy; but the opioid dopamine is such a sensation, driving these reactions in the brain, that it becomes highly addictive. Feeling the euphoric pleasure, the need for more augments itself in the brain.
The more use of the opioid, the more necessary it becomes to the addict. The opioid drugs themselves are derived from opium, or others are synthetic. They are prescriptions of morphine and the painkillers can handle pain. However, the improper use of a prescription risks overdosing on the opioid and people can die from it.
Safe prescriptions for the public is a sensitive issue. There are patients who need pain relief very badly, but addiction and the abundance of use is risky. OxyContin markets their prescribed drugs as safe, but it is a controversy whether the drug is safe enough. Doctors accept promotions to prescribe the drug to patients.
Already controversy when drug companies lobby on the behalf of their product, the issue becomes sensitive about whether the trade is a distinguishable from the illegal practices. While heroin is dangerous, and nobody trusts drug dealers, the doctors on the other hand are trusted members of a society. The lobbying and the promotion of the drugs is controversial enough. Although it is practical to promote as safe and less addictive for the sake of the patients, whether it is the right thing to do is contested.
On behalf of promoters and advocacy groups, opioid producers gave $10 million. Although the issue stands with the heroin and hard drugs, pundits raise the issue of lobbying and the opioid companies producing the drugs.
There are many reasons to address heroin-related incidents, but the economic influence is also of some concern. The public awareness campaigns want people to know the risk of prescription drugs and the addictive content before they go to the doctor. Concerning the misuse of prescriptions, 2.1 million had misused them in 2016.
The Trump Administration called the epidemic a national emergency. When Trump campaigned, the once candidate said the opioid and heroin problem got out of hand. He mentioned the drugs were pouring in, blamed cartels, and used the issue to address immigration reform and border control.
According to the New York Times article, it also impacts people between the ages of 20 and 30. The emergency is so bad for the public already, and the administration tries to soften the already incrementing rate of addiction. So, if anything can be done, it might be best to stop the circulation of heroin and improve the awareness of addictive properties in prescriptions – at their own risk.
People often think the most at risk are rural whites and working class whites. When it comes to abuse, minorities are also at risk. Studies show opioids are hitting urban African Americans while rural people also take hit from addiction growth. Where more people accumulate, the more the addiction can spread. Illegal and legal means are both devastating for the people who require pain relief. The addiction risk can come at such a high rate, that the need to take more is the only option for people trying to relieve their lives. It makes sense these groups would be impacted: the rural population has a lot of hard labor, and the minorities also have it hard. So, the epidemic continues to expand to different regions.
While people are seeking to avoid the addiction problem, they should know the legal prescriptions are also highly addictive. If the patient isn’t aware of the addictive content, the misuse of opioids is more likely.
Those who suffer heroin addiction also try to mollify the pain and anguish of their lives. Being part of the working class leaves people more susceptible to weariness and injury, thereby making them more needy for the relief of pain.
For their own sake the public should make them readily aware of the risks of taking prescription drugs and the methods of pain relief. All the opioids are a means to reliving pain in their livelihood. If society were to help rehabilitate these people and stop crime, the opioid crisis could be reduced. As well as the productive members of any society who sells the prescriptions, they should make carefully administer the drugs.
The opioid crisis continues, and it continues to run into problems with society. Those who need pain relief cannot be blamed entirely for their needs, but those who produce also cannot be entirely blamed for answering those needs.
The resolution needs to be addressed with awareness and caution for those suffering.