Opioid Addiction And Abuse Epidemic
Added on 2021-06-15
16 Pages4873 Words14 Views
Running head: Opioid addiction and abuse epidemic1OPIOID ADDICTION AND ABUSE EPIDEMICStudent’s NameProfessor’s NameCollegeCourseDate
Opioid Addiction And Abuse Epidemic 2Introduction Opioids are a category of powerful drugs that are primarily prescribed for the treatmentof chronic pains. They include illicit substances like cocaine as well as medical prescriptions likemorphine, codeine, and Percocet. If misused, opioids can create accelerated pleasure otherwiseknown as euphoria (Levy et al. 2018). It can also lead to terminal overdose alongside othermedical, legal and social complications and even death. This paper seeks to discuss opioidaddiction and abuse epidemic and developing adaptive treatment strategies regarding thesubstance abuse. The study further looks into two contracting strategies in relation to the studytopic and to the following questions.Research question:oWhat is the current situation of opioid addiction abuse epidemic in the world?oWhat are the available adaptive treatment strategies which can be used toreduce opioid addiction abuse epidemic?SMART and Experimental Strategies There have been alarming and hurting realities in the sphere of the contemporarymedicine (Manchikanti et al. 2016) Reports indicate unprecedented numbers of patients dieevery day from therapies meant to cure pains. The worst of it all is that it’s a worldwideepidemic. Among the globally and commonly abused substances is opioid pain-relievingmedicines. In countries such as Australia, New Zealand and America, the illegal use of opioidpain relievers are extreme compared to heroin and other substances falling in the same group asheroine (Manchikanti et al. 2016). Just like heroine other narcotics, the repercussions of abuse ofthese substances pose unimaginable health complications and eventual deaths. Communal action
Opioid Addiction And Abuse Epidemic 3is, therefore, necessary from the government, healthcare practitioners and even ordinary citizensto curb the epidemic from maturing.While the prescription of opioid addiction and abuse could be presumed to be a thing ofthe recent, some researchers indicate that it began long ago. The upsurge of the globalprescription opioid epidemic is dated back to the early 1990s. This was the time when medicalprofessionals and advocacy institutions started the argument that countries lacked control overtreating pain. As a result of these complains, the American Pain Society appealed to recognizepain, terming it as the fifth crucial sign (Cicero and Ellis 2015). This advocacy was met withmixed reactions from other professionals and even narcotic consumers who urged for the use ofopioid as a means of reducing and managing pain. This drift in a medical pattern closelycoincided with the introduction and rampant sale of oxycodone as a non-malignant paintreatment (Mendelson et al. 2008). The representatives of oxycodone paid courtesy calls todoctors all over America. Across the country, they left trails of gifts and samples to patients whohugely impacted on the prescription. Adoption of narcotics as pain relievers was furthered by marketing methods that de-emphasized the addictive ability of oxycodone (Brady et al. 2015). As such primary care doctorsbecome the sole target since they prescribed the lion's share of the opioid pain relievers acrossmultiple nations. Due to the drifting pattern that inclined more towards using opioid as painreducing and managing substance, there was a significant increase in production of opioidprescription. Consequently, sales of oxycodone dramatically increase from about $49 million tomore than 2$2.5billion (Mendelson et al. 2008). However, the global increase in the oxycodonestuff is unparalleled as compared to narcotics like morphine, cocaine, and codeine.
Opioid Addiction And Abuse Epidemic 4 In the recent past, the number of prescriptions of opioids has shown a constant rise inmany countries. In 2009 America, for example, indicated about 299% prescription of opioidswhile Canada had an increase of about 860% of oxycodone prescription the same year (Brady etal. 2015). On matters consumption of opioid prescription, America is currently in the lead. Thiswas witnessed in 2009 when it showed a record of 99% of world consumption of hydrocodone,61% of hydromorphone and 80% of oxycodone. While the weight of opioid prescription andabuse differs among countries, there is no doubt that it remains a global concern. The high trendsof the problem of prescribing and using narcotics have been found prevalent in Canada, Australiaand better parts of Europe (Kolodny et al. 2015). In Europe, 2012 for example, about 6% of allvictims registering for drug treatment programs admittedly reported that opioid prescription wastheir primary reason. Of great concern is that the current research, regarding the worldwide problem, could beinaccurate since there is lack of data to be collected in most parts of the globe. However, thequestion that remains a puzzle is what propelled the assurgent rates of opioid addiction? Inanswering the problem, it gets realized that the escalating morbidity and demise due to thesesubstances exclusively results from the extreme degrees to which they are prescribed (Volkow etal. 2014). Reports display that there are sharp differences between admissions, to the treatmentof the addiction, into health facilities, overdoses, deaths and the amounts of opioids prescribed inAmerica. The same is evident in other countries like Canada, New Zealand and Australia.Several factors contribute to the increased rates of the prescription. These include lack ofagreement concerning the timely use and dosing of the substance, high demand for the substanceamong opioid addicts, the mushrooming profit-oriented clinics especially in America wherehealthcare professionals may give prescriptions in a deceitful manner that goes evidenced.
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