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Addiction changes the brain chemistry
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The effects of opioids essay
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Opiates And The Law
Illicit drug use and the debate surrounding the various legal options available to the government in an effort to curtail it is nothing new to America. Since the enactment of the Harrison Narcotic Act in 1914 (Erowid) the public has struggled with how to effectively deal with this phenomena, from catching individual users to deciding what to do with those who are convicted (DEA). Complicating the issue further is the ever-expanding list of substances available for abuse. Some are concocted in basements or bathtubs by drug addicts themselves, some in the labs of multinational pharmaceutical companies, and still others are just old compounds waiting for society to discover them.
Almost overnight one such venerable substance (or class of substances) has been catapulted into the national spotlight: prescription painkillers, namely those derived from the opium poppy. This class of analgesic encompasses everything from the codeine in prescription cough syrup to the morphine used in the management of sever pain. These compounds are commonly referred to as opiates and are produced naturally by the poppy. The sub-class of this type that has gotten all of the attention recently is the opioids, which are semi-synthetic compounds derived from the opiates (Wade 846). Opioids were developed for a variety of reasons, such as reducing the cost of production (morphine is expensive to synthesize) and attempting to reduce the addictiveness of the drugs.
And addictive they are. Heroin is perhaps the best-known opioid around, and arguably one of the most addictive substances known to man. Opiates and opioids (hereafter generically referred to as opioids) function by attaching to receptor sites in the body called mu-receptors, which are primarily located in the brain and the digestive system. When these receptors are activated in the brain they produce a rush of euphoria and a groggy state of well being (it is interesting to note that studies have shown that this action does not eliminate the pain one is feeling, but merely changes ones’ perception of it) (Kalb). The body quickly becomes tolerant of this, however, and abuse frequently follows a steep dosage curve requiring that more and more of the drug be taken to produce the same effect. Long-term abusers develop...
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...keep them from indulging their habit. The truth of the matter is no one change or modification to existing policy will have much effect if any, on the current state of affairs. It isn’t enough to ban drugs, we must work to understand their allure and the intricate mechanisms in our brains and in our psychology that make some of us too weak to resist the temptation. Only with this sort of concentrated effort will we see any progress.
Works Cited
Erowid Psychoactive Vaults. Home Page. 6 April 2001.
One of the reasons the epidemic has become so widespread is due to the addictiveness of opioids. Opioids are prescription medications used to treat pain, with oxycodone and hydrocodone being the more popular drugs (Mayo). Opioids are addictive because of the way
Almost one hundred years ago, prescription drugs like morphine were available at almost any general store. Women carried bottles of very addictive potent opiate based pain killers in their purse. Many individuals like Edgar Allen Poe died from such addictions. Since that time through various federal, state and local laws, drugs like morphine are now prescription drugs; however, this has not stopped the addiction to opiate based pain killers. Today’s society combats an ever increasing number of very deadly addictive drugs from designer drugs to narcotics to the less potent but equally destructive alcohol and marijuana. With all of these new and old drugs going in and out of vogue with addicts, it appears that the increase of misuse and abuse is founded greater in the prescription opiate based painkillers.
Opioid addiction is a tragedy that affects countless of Americans on a daily basis. Almost everyone is acquainted to someone, who suffers from opioid addiction. Everyone, but specifically family and friends of the victims to opioid addiction need to understand why their loved ones are so susceptible to becoming addicted to opioids. The word opioid in itself is complex to define, but it entails a variety of prescription medications. Most opioids are used as pain management medications and qualify as CII medications also known as narcotics. They are supposed to be used on an “as needed” basis, but that is not the case for many users of opioids. Opioids cause great fear in the health community because they are easily addictive and
Opioid’s chemical composition consist of many highly addictive substances which cause the human body to become quickly tolerant. Many opioid users become addictive to the substance because the doctors have been over prescribing. “In the United States, there were 14,800 annual prescribed opioid (PO) deaths in 2008” with the US having less restrictions (Fischer, Benedikt, et al 178). The United States have implemented more regulations so that “high levels of PO-related harms been associated with highly potent oxycodone formulas” will decrease (Fischer, Benedikt, et al 178). With the regulations, it does not change the fact that opioids are is destructive. The regulations assistance by lessening the probability of patients becoming addictive to opioid. There are numerous generations that are effected and harmed by the detrimental effects of opioids on opioid-dependent patients.
Opioids work by attaching to specific proteins called opioid receptors which are located on nerve cells in the body. When the drug attaches to the receptors it reduces the perception of pain, but it can also cause drowsiness, altered mental status, and nausea. Misuse and addiction to opioids are very common. According to the CDC 1,000 people annually are seen in the Emergency Department for treatment regarding misuse of prescribed opioids. Addiction occurs in older adults aged forty years and older more frequently than adults aged twenty to
The pain-killing and pleasurable effects of morphine, the narcotic drug derived from the opium poppy, is widely known. Endorphins are surprising similarity to morphine. It was termed “endorphin” from endogenous (meaning within) and morphine (morphine being a pain killer). It was wondered why morphine and other opiate drugs should produce such powerful effects on the nervous system. Thus, the discovery of endorphins followed the realization that certain regions of the brain bound opiate drugs with high affinity. Endorphins were discovered nearly on accident in the 1970s by scientists doing research on drug addiction. It was found that the brain produces its own set of neurochemicals far more powerful than morphine but share the same receptors.
produce euphoria in addition to pain relief. Many of the problems related to opioids stem from
Opioids are potent, addictive drugs that inhibit the transmission of pain signals in the brain.
There are many biological factors that are involved with the addicted brain. "The addicted brain is distinctly different from the nonaddicted brain, as manifested by changes in brain metabolic activity, receptor availability, gene expression, and responsiveness to environmental cues." (2) In the brain, there are many changes that take place when drugs enter a person's blood stream. The pathway in the brain that the drugs take is first to the ventral tegmentum to the nucleus accumbens, and the drugs also go to the limbic system and the orbitofrontal cortex, which is called the mesolimbic reward system. The activation of this reward system seems to be the common element in what hooks drug users on drugs (2).
Opiates based on their effects on the central nervous system of the body can reduce the pain, change the mood and behavior of the person. Thus, these drug lead to physical and psychological dependence. All around the globe drug abuse and dependence is becoming wildly common. Opioids drug dependence develops due to the effect of these drugs in alteration neurological functioning on temporary basis. Therefor, the risk of developing dependence when opioids are used in regular bases is sufficiently
Opiate pills are astonishingly easy to find. Disturbingly, prescription opiate abusers are more likely to eventually develop a heroin addiction than a non-opiate abuser, as heroin will offer a parallel high at an inexpensive fee. While opiate painkillers do vary in how powerful they are, opiates are numbing painkillers that weaken the central nervous system, slow down body functioning, and reduce physical and psychological pain. Although countless prescription opioid narcotics are used in the way they were intended for the extent prescribed without complications, certain people become addicted to the way in which the drugs make them
Opioids are one of the most common recreational drugs. Some of the most common opioids are heroin, codeine, oxycodone, fentanyl, methadone, and morphine. Their legal uses are for cancer related pain and their recreational use is to produce feelings of euphoria. Opioids produce feelings similar to heroin, which makes opioids a gateway drug to heroin because they are much cheaper. In 2016, 42,000 people lost their lives to opioids and an average of 210 million prescriptions for opioids are written yearly. Women are more likely to have chronic pain, which in turn, makes them more likely to become dependent on opioids. Although forty-nine states have a drug monitoring program, drugs still get into the wrong hands. Opioids have had a huge impact
The opioid crisis which is also known as opioid epidemic refers to the rapid increase in the use of non-presription and prescription opioids in the U.S. Opiates are analgesic drugs which include those that are naturally derived from opium, like heroinee, morphine, and opioids. Synthetic and semi-synthetic drugs such as Vicodin, Percocet, fentanyl, and OxyContin also fall under opioids.
Opioid usage has been prominent in the past couple of years, but studies from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre have become more impotent to inform about the increased addiction across the globe. The mortality rate in opioids are higher than other drugs due to its addictive properties, thus leading to overdose. Overdosing on opioids isn’t just common in adolescents as once thought, yet it is frequent in adults as well. This information will provide proper education for the purpose of hindering this epidemic.
A powerful purpose for taking various opioid prescription is from being inherited in light of the fact because a man will probably have a dependence on the solution from individual experience inside their family. Besides, they don't have enough train to keep up from the measure of opioid agony reliever being utilized (Birnbaum et al., 2011). Opioids start to influence the nerves inside the body by uniting the receptors. The opioids emit a stimulating feeling then they react by making the body casual and tired. One of the many ways making opioids become effective is the endorphins. An endorphin bans the exciting agony from the body making it less demanding for the body to react. The more a man abuses opioid, the individual has a more serious danger of being hurt. An opioid can be utilized as exceedingly addictive solution bringing on a man to overdose (McCoy,