Opioids A Wicked Addiction - 1102 Words

A Wicked Addiction Opioids, otherwise known as prescription pain medication, are used to treat acute and chronic pain. They are the most powerful pain relievers known. When taken as directed they can be safe and effective at managing pain, however, opioids can be highly addictive. Ease of access helps people get pain medications through their physician or by having friends and family get the medication for them. With their ease of access and being highly addictive the use and misuse of opioids have become a growing epidemic. Patients should be well educated on the affects opioid use can have. More importantly instead of the use of opioids, physicians should look into alternative solutions for pain management. While pain medication is helpful with chronic pain, it is also highly addictive, doctors should be more stringent to whom and how often they prescribe pain medication. By attaching to opioid receptors in the brain, spinal cord, and other areas of the body they reduce the sending of pain messages to the brain and reduce feelings of pain. The part of the brain that controls emotions are also changed and cause a person to feel relaxed and extremely happy, a euphoric state of being. This is when a person starts to crave the drug, the brain is saying it wants more. Natural endorphins are produced by a healthy brain on its own. Powerful cravings and physical dependence are due to the brain no longer producing the natural kind of endorphins because afterShow MoreRelatedThe Problem Of Opioid Addiction In The United States704 Words   |  3 Pagesunder the surface of the water in the Cape Fear River. The wicked problem facing New Hanover County is the opioid epidemic. Many communities across the United States share in this struggle. Over two million people become dependent on prescription pain pills and street opioids every year in the United States . Of those addicted, the deaths because of a heroin overdose have increased 533% between 2002 and 2016 i n the United States. If the opioid crisis had been a wildfire or hurricane, state, local,Read MoreOxycontin Abuse2542 Words   |  10 Pagesside effects of using opioids are: constipation, nausea, sedation, dizziness, vomiting, headache, dry mouth, sweating, mood changes, flushing, loss of appetite, and weakness (drugfree.org, 2013). Long Term Effects With OxyContin, as with all drugs, when one uses it chronically, a tolerance can result, which means that users need to take larger amounts of it in order to achieve that first original impact. Long-term use also can lead to physical dependence and addiction the body adapts to theRead MoreDrug Abuse : A Large Drawback Within The U. S1910 Words   |  8 Pagesthere s much nobody to curtail the wicked efforts of those fiends. Drug accessibility, is a serious issue touching the increasing use of medication is that the accessibility in our markets.‘The political and economic scenario in Islamic State of Afghanistan is up, however narcotic production and also the resultant trafficking of narcotic and its derivatives still accounts for roughly one third of Afghanistan’s total (combined licit and illicit) GDP.’Drug addiction is the continued use of any substance