The American Society of Addiction Medicine released a facts sheet of opioid abuse and the statistics are startling. Opiate abuse is the leading cause of accidental drug overdoses in America. In 2015 52,000 Americans died from drug overdoses. Of those 52,000 deaths a combined 33,000 were caused by opiates. Within that 33,000 more than 20,000 overdoses were caused by prescription pain relievers and 12,000 were caused by heroin. With 20,000 Americans dying because of pain relievers deemed legal, there is an injustice being hidden.
Marijuana has always been labeled a gateway drug by people in places of authority like officers or teachers. What is often far too overlooked when discussing gateways to hard drugs is the negative path that can be followed when one is prescribed opiates. In a 15 year span between 1999 and 2014 the sale of prescription opioids has quadrupled, similarly the rate of overdose has quadrupled in the same time. (Center for Disease Control, 2017)
A startling statistic from a 2008 study on urban users of injectable drugs found that 86% of heroin users surveyed had previously used prescription opioids. (DrugAbuse.Gov) When the prescription stats to run out, or the insurance stops covering the medication, users are forced to switch to the less expensive form of prescription pills. CNN special medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta discusses in a report the financial aspect behind the switch to illegal heroin. An opiate pain medication will cost an uninsured individual on average $1 per milligram. For example one needing a 60 milligram pill would spend $60 or they could achieve the same results with about $6 worth of heroin. Opiates produce a sense of euphoria and reduce the perception of pain. When the ability to replicate that feeling can no longer be achieved because of a prescription running out or lack of insurance individuals have been known to switch to the street drug. 94% of respondents in a 2014 survey answered they choose to use heroin over prescription pills because latter is far harder to obtain and more expensive. (ASAM)
Not all opiate addicts users are affected equally. Certain demographics are more likely to be susceptible to opiate addiction than others. Women are more likely to become addicted to their pain prescription. The reasoning behind this is because women are more likely to be given higher doses of pain medicine, suffer from chronic pain, and use them for longer time periods than men. The prescription opiate overdose rate among women has increased 400% from 1999-2010 compared to 273% among men. (ASAM)
Another special population affected by the boom in prescription rates and access to heroin is adolescents aged twelve to seventeen. From 1994-2007 the amount of adolescents prescribed opiate pain medication more than doubled. With that rate came a rise in heroin usage among adolescents. In 2015 an estimated 21,000 adolescents had used heroin in the past year, in 2015 it was also reported that 276,000 adolescents misused prescription pills while 122,000 reported having an addiction to non medical usage of prescription opiates. Those numbers are alarming with the knowledge that most adolescents are introduced to prescription pills by family members or friends. (ASAM)
Prescription opioids are an issue all across the United States, however even within the nation there are geographic abnormalities that affect certain populations. The deep south and parts of what can be defined as Appalachia are misrepresented by opioid prescriptions. Opioid pain pills have even been described as hillbilly heroin. As you can see in the above map, the states in purple are those with the most prescriptions per 100 people. These states range from 96-143 prescriptions. The states highlighted are Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, North and South Carolina Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and West Virginia. (CDC)
The United States is a consumer of 80% of the world’s pain pills but only makes up 5% of the world’s population. (CNN) When consumed legally pain medication helps individuals with chronic pain feel less suffering, however with the ability to be abused it can also lead to usage of heroin and potential overdose. What can be done to help minimize the risk?
The answer is not a fix-all however it is a start, it begins with greater regulation at a state and federal level. Virginia, whose opioid addiction problem was described as a public health emergency in November 2016 is starting the process to regulate. Patients are now required to be given a full analysis of their background by the provider and also supplied with naloxene an overdose reversal drug. The new regulations also determine the amount of prescription that may be given and stress the usage of alternative forms of pain treatment before opioids are prescribed. Guidelines like the ones now in effect in Virginia are a start to helping combat the prescription drug crisis in America. (WHSV)
Sources
"In The World of Drugs" 
I find the opioid crisis in America to be incredibly ironic. For a nation that is so blindly devoted to the futile “war on drugs”, we have worked really hard to make sure that a large proportion of our population cannot live without them. The answer to so many of our citizen’s problems has become to simply take a pill. Doctor’s in their offices have turned into the equivalent of the sketchy drug dealer in the run-down trap house in a way. They are now the ones supplying and enabling our addictions. “Big Phama” has a large role in this as well as they are the ones pushing the addictive opiates to the doctors in the first place. Since these drugs have been promoted through “acceptable” or “authoritative” means, they have avoided the same level of taboo as other drugs. Imagine the sides were reversed. If the street gangs and cartels were the ones with the hold on the prescription pill market, and the doctors were selling marijuana as the end-all cure, getting pills off of the streets would be our primary concern.
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Colton, this was a great read and very educational on the dangers and problems caused by opioid drugs! As someone that has been effected by this problem and seen loved ones have that glazed zombie look in their eye that so many people have as the result of opioid abuse, I can relate to this article. The problem with these prescription drugs is we are not educated enough on the dangers of them. I remember sitting in DARE class in high school and hearing how dangerous marijuana and alcohol are, and how one hit of a joint could lead to a lifetime of heroin abuse and other things. Prescription drugs were mentioned very briefly and five years later when I see some of my peers lives ruined or over 9/10 opioids were the cause. Parents have to be leaders in this fight by keeping their drug cabinets locked at all times and educating their kids on the dangers. Hopefully sometime in the future a breakthrough will come for this epidemic, because right now it is only getting worse and worse.
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I liked the way you phrased the idea about ‘an injustice being hidden’, because I think one of the scariest aspects of the opiate problem in America is that it doesn’t get much traction because it is an issue that starts at the doctor’s office. I wonder if campaigns similar to the anti-smoking ads will begin to surface as a result of what seems to be an intensifying issue. Especially concerning is the amount of adolescents who are using heroin/abusing opiates, I had no idea the numbers were that high. I wonder if there should be restrictions on prescribing opiate painkillers to individuals under 18.
One question/issue I have is regarding the relevance of data that states that 86% of heroin users reported using prescribed opiate painkillers – I wonder how this number compared to those who don’t use heroin? I feel like it is pretty normal to have used prescribed painkillers at some point in life. Either way, these numbers are a lot higher than I would have guessed, and I hope that this issue starts to get the attention it deserves.
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Drug addiction has had a lot of negative affects on people close to me, most stemming from prescription drug use. When they could no longer achieve the same high, they would increase their intake or they went to go find another drug that could give them the high that their body craved. For most people, it is not the drugs people are necessarily addicted to but the high and numbing feeling that comes along with it. Opioids have that affect and in my opinion are more dangerous than marijuana as they do have more of a gateway affect than any other drug. People would rather go without home and food for this high and this shows when they are spending a lot of money for this high when they do not have money to waste. This shows just how dangerous addiction is and the fact that people die while trying to reach this high furthers that point. They reach a point where they just cannot reach the high without putting their life in imminent danger and then they overdose. Drugs will forever have a lasting effect on everyone, whether they are the ones actually using the drugs or have family or friends who are addicted.
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