The Opioid Crisis
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Imagine being the mother of three sons and losing all of them to heroin. This what happened to Jeanmarie McCauley and it is not the only example, there are endless stories just like this one. It’s a sad reality that many families have to endure and many of these families have started to fight back. Another mother, who runs a Facebook page called “I HATE HEROIN”, lost two of her sons on the same night. We live next to what many would refer to as the heroin capital of the country, Baltimore, according to ABC news, the government estimates that about 10% of the population in Baltimore is addicted to heroin. In retaliation many states, including Maryland, have declared a heroin crisis.
According to the CDC, "Each day, 46 people die from an overdose of prescription painkillers in the US". The Opioid Crisis in the United States is something that not many people are aware of. The United States is in the midst of one of the worst heroin epidemics in its history. It's a problem that has already devastated many families all over the United States. Over the last decade deaths related to prescription opioids and heroin have continued to rise. Overdoses are caused by both prescription painkillers and heroin, both are considered opioids and are derived from the opium plant. Research has shown that around 75 percent of all individuals that are addicted to heroin were first prescribed prescription opioids. Two major prescriptions that individuals get hooked to before they move onto heroin are OxyContin and Vicodin.
You may be wondering how this happened. During the early and mid-2000's the number of deaths caused by prescription opioids continued to rise, while deaths from heroin overdoses stayed stagnant. But many of the individuals that were prescribed prescription opioids used heroin as an alternative after they were no long prescribed. People who could not afford the medication also used heroin as a cheaper alternative. This is what caused prescription opioid deaths to stagnate after the mid 2000's and heroin related deaths to increase.
There are multiple perspectives to this issue that ranging from pharmaceutical companies, doctors, addiction, and efforts to help. Part of the problem is how pharmaceutical companies aren’t completely transparent about the use and effects of the drugs they have created. They have a useful medical purpose but marketing them as something they aren’t and encouraging doctors to prescribe them for things they shouldn’t is the problem. It also falls upon the doctors to take the initiative to make sure that the drugs they’re prescribing aren’t actually harming their patients in the long run. Another issue is how people view addiction. It’s not always the fault of the individual, a large number of individuals get addicted through legally prescribed prescription opioids and when addiction sets in, it can be extremely hard to recover.
According to the CDC, "Each day, 46 people die from an overdose of prescription painkillers in the US". The Opioid Crisis in the United States is something that not many people are aware of. The United States is in the midst of one of the worst heroin epidemics in its history. It's a problem that has already devastated many families all over the United States. Over the last decade deaths related to prescription opioids and heroin have continued to rise. Overdoses are caused by both prescription painkillers and heroin, both are considered opioids and are derived from the opium plant. Research has shown that around 75 percent of all individuals that are addicted to heroin were first prescribed prescription opioids. Two major prescriptions that individuals get hooked to before they move onto heroin are OxyContin and Vicodin.
You may be wondering how this happened. During the early and mid-2000's the number of deaths caused by prescription opioids continued to rise, while deaths from heroin overdoses stayed stagnant. But many of the individuals that were prescribed prescription opioids used heroin as an alternative after they were no long prescribed. People who could not afford the medication also used heroin as a cheaper alternative. This is what caused prescription opioid deaths to stagnate after the mid 2000's and heroin related deaths to increase.
There are multiple perspectives to this issue that ranging from pharmaceutical companies, doctors, addiction, and efforts to help. Part of the problem is how pharmaceutical companies aren’t completely transparent about the use and effects of the drugs they have created. They have a useful medical purpose but marketing them as something they aren’t and encouraging doctors to prescribe them for things they shouldn’t is the problem. It also falls upon the doctors to take the initiative to make sure that the drugs they’re prescribing aren’t actually harming their patients in the long run. Another issue is how people view addiction. It’s not always the fault of the individual, a large number of individuals get addicted through legally prescribed prescription opioids and when addiction sets in, it can be extremely hard to recover.