The Opioid Crisis

The Opioid Crisis in America

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.

Opioids Statistics in the United States

In reference to Drug Enforcement Administration, deaths arising from an overdose of prescriprion medications and heroine have arrive atepidemic levels. For instance, in 2015, there were more than 50,000 deaths in America related to drug overdoses. About two-thirds (33,000) came from opioids.

The director of Centers for Diseased Control and Prevenction, Thomas Frieden, stated that America is awash in opioids, and called for urgent intervention. It is expected that Donald Trump will set aside $500 million in 2017 to deal with opioid addiction. A commission to combat opioid addiction has already been esbtablished.

Causes and Effects of Opioid Addiction

Generally, opioidaddiction appears to be an American problem. Painkillers prescriptions in America grew from 76 million to over 200 million every year between 1991 and 2011. Vicodin, Percocet, OxyContin, and Oxycodone are some of the opioids prescribed. The potency of opioids increased with the increase in volume.

By 2002, one in six drug users were given prescription medications that were more powerful than morphine. The ratio had doubled to one in every 3 users by 2012.

History of Opioid

New laws were enacted in Maine to cap the maximum daily strength of precription opioids and limit use to seven days. However, some doctors raised eyebrows because patients would turn to street drugs such as heroinee to extend the use of painkillers.Heroine is comperatively more potent and cheaper than prescribed opioids.As a result, deaths from prescribed opioids rose by 15% across the U.S. while those related to heroine increased by 23% by 2015.

Although there was an increase in the use of painkillers, the amount of pain reported in the United States has not changed. The current use of opioids is the worst drug crisis in the history of America.

Apporoximately 33,000 deaths occurred in 2015 as a result of opioid erpidemic. This is roughly equal to the number of deaths from car accidents, with more deaths from heroinee alone than from homicides.Thousands of children are suddenly needing foster care following the death of their parent from an overdose.

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