Opiate Addiction 

Opiates are commonly thought of as painkillers. Some examples of legal opiates are Hydrocodone, Codeine, Percocet, Oxycontin, and morphine, and an example of an illegal opiate would be heroin. Doctors often prescribe legal opiates as a way to provide pain relief. However, the addictive properties often result in people abusing them or acquiring them illegally.

Like most drug or alcohol abusers, opiate addicts chase that fleeting sense of euphoria, which is a result from the high level of endorphins that opiates emit. An addiction to opiates is dangerous because it alters brain functioning. The central nervous system has opiate receptors that handle emotional and physical impacts, which are severely affected by addiction.

When opiates are used to treat pain, some may begin to increase their dose. However, once tolerance develops, people will increase the amount to ease their pain, thus creating an addiction. There are fatal and severe health consequences from opiate addiction, like the rise in accidental overdoses.

The Dangers of Opiate Addiction

Opiates are a dangerous, because a person’s dependency may be accidental. Opiate addiction is even more problematic because it does serve a healing purpose for many people in pain. “Opioid consumption levels for pain treatment have risen in European countries, Canada, and the United States (US), especially for cancer pain.” It is a proven and effective method of pain relief, unmatched by other drugs.

Much like alcohol addiction, opiate addiction can be acquired legitimately almost anywhere. While a doctor is not needed to purchase alcohol, a doctor is required to acquire opiate medication (painkillers). Medical professionals do the best they can to make sure that patients are not in pain and are comfortable. This may result in the over prescription of legal opiates. A psychological addiction to opiates may occur within a few days, while physical addictions to opiates may occur within a couple of weeks.

By the Numbers

According to statistics in the Washington Post and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 350 people start heroin every day. Opiate addiction causes approximately four thousand emergency room visits daily, with seventy-nine people dying every day from those visits. “Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of injury-related death in the United States — worse than guns, car crashes or suicides. Heroin abuse has quadrupled in the past decade. Most addicts are introduced to heroin through prescription pain pills, and doctors now write more than 200 million opiate prescriptions each year.”

In 2016, the rise in opiate addiction culminated in 27,000 deaths a year due to overdoses. The increase in opiate addiction is being called “the worst drug crisis in American history.” Opiates have replaced cocaine for the highest number of overdose deaths.

Improper use of prescription medication like OxyContin, among others, is increasing. Authorities need to find a way to monitor the wide spread use of opiates beyond its intended use. The results of opiate addiction are dangerous because there is no difference in the effects of an illegally acquired opiate (like heroin) or a legally purchased opiate like Hydrocodone. The addiction is the same, while the origins differ immensely.

Opiate addiction is an epidemic because it is affecting everyone, particularly young people. The damage does not just affect individual lives, but families, schools, work places, and communities. There are also indirect results because addiction is never a solitary experience. Many people suffer, directly or indirectly, from drug addiction.

The dangers are far reaching and are spread nationwide. Studies show that the pervasive abuse of opiates costs Americans over four hundred billion dollars every year due to healthcare, rehabilitation, job loss, crime, and jail costs.

The Dangers of Accessibility

Accessibility makes opiates dangerous. A quick, routine visit to a general practitioner may result in an opiate prescription. In 2011, doctors wrote 219 million prescriptions, a rapid increase over the span of a decade.

Painkillers are intended for regimented and safe use to treat painful effects from illnesses like cancer. However, beyond inpatient medical supervision, there is no way to guarantee that people follow directions or use it in a controlled way.

Finding Treatment for Opiate Addiction

While stopping illegal opiate purchase is a work in progress, primary treatment centers nationwide are ready to treat opiate addiction today. Opiates are narcotics. This dangerous, compulsive addiction is characterized by the need for the drug at any cost. Tolerance to opiates develops quickly, resulting in an increase in the amount consumed.

Treatment centers provide primary treatment and detox. But opiate withdrawal is less severe when the patient is only addicted to opiates. If they have an addiction to other substances, like alcohol, for example, withdrawal can be extremely painful and will need closely monitored medical supervision. However, for withdrawal from opiates alone, symptoms like suicidal ideation, depression, aches and pains, anxiety, and irritability result. During withdrawal, the body is battling its chemical levels. It is used to the flood of endorphins, which opiates provide.

Opiate Addiction and Health

People that inject opiates are at a life-threatening risk from infected needles. Severe health problems, like liver disease, physical illness, breathing trouble, and heart disease may also occur. Consequently, all drug abuse results in secretive habits and isolation from family and loved ones. Opiate addiction is no different.

Some people try to recover from opiate abuse independently without medically supervised help. This is dangerous due to the relapse rate. Individuals may feel addiction urges and overdose on the amount of opiates, putting themselves in unsafe, potentially fatal scenarios. The symptoms of opiate withdrawal and the lingering effects in recovery need the assistance of addiction experts, physicians, and other trained support systems. A chemical dependency is serious and should always be treated that way.

Inpatient treatment programs are the first step towards quitting drug use for good. In recovery, sober living is the first step in finding healing. Residences offer multiple pathways for recovery. Individualized and group therapy, twelve-step meetings, residential life, and wellness activities all help to prevent opiate cravings. Sober living provides sustainable alternate methods for managing life stressors and quitting for good.