Essay On Opioids

For a long time, opioids have been the go-to treatment for patients dealing with many different types of pain.

While opioids are good at their job, they also come with a host of dangerous side effects. Long-term opioid use has incredibly detrimental effects on patients. These effects are responsible for creating the current opioid crisis afflicting Canada.

What Are Opioids?

Before delving into side effects, it’s important to understand what an opioid is. Opioids are synthetic substances that mimic the effects of opiates. Opiates, by contrast, are naturally derived from opium. Opioids and opiates alike have pain-relieving and painkilling properties.

Most opioids are perfectly legal. They may be controlled in the sense they can only be prescribed by a physician, but they

Some of their short-term side effects include risk of death. Over the long term, these substances become even more dangerous.

A Prevalent “Side Effect”: Addiction

Perhaps the most common “side effect” of opioid use is addiction. Most medical professionals recognize these substances are powerfully addictive. Many physicians and medical professionals take care to prescribe them short term. Many will terminate use as quickly as possible to prevent addiction.

Perhaps counterintuitively, opioids are commonly prescribed to patients with chronic pain. This is often because opioids are powerful painkillers and incredibly effective. Their use over the long term almost guarantees addiction.

Addiction is the primary problem associated with long-term opioid use. The powerful craving for the substance leads patients to desperate decisions to get their “fix,” leading to dangerous and poor choices. Addiction is associated with increased use of street drugs and unsafe usage, such as injection with non-sterile needles. This, in turn, leads to increased risk of infection and disease.

Overdose and