Against Opioid Legalization: A Public Health Perspective Essay

This essay argues against the legalization of opioids, highlighting the potential negative impacts on public health. It discusses the addictive nature of opioids, their widespread abuse in the United States, and the resulting increase in deaths. The author references various sources to support the claim that legalization would exacerbate the opioid crisis, leading to increased addiction, crime, and economic strain. The essay contrasts the potential benefits of legalization, such as government regulation and control, with the risks of increased access and misuse. It also explores the ethical considerations of exposing individuals to harmful substances and the potential for increased costs associated with treatment and rehabilitation. The essay concludes that the nation should ban the selling of such opioids and restrict their distribution to needy patients and in fixed numbers.

Running head: AGAINST LEGALISATION OF OPIOIDS
AGAINST LEGALISATION OF OPIOIDS
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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AGAINST LEGALISATION OF OPIOIDS
Opioids are medications which are provided to patients to relieve them from pain.
Opiates include the use of heroin, thebaine and morphine having the same method of action and
are obtained from chemicals found in the sap of the opium poppy. Prescribed opiates
include hydrocodone, oxycodone, and fentanyl (Pattern)and are extremely useful in the
management of pain. They also help in cough suppression in case of lung dysfunctions.
However, they are abused to a very great extent in the United States and this is because they are
easily available, very addictive and easily prescribed. Till to this day, many people in the United
States were in support of legalization of opioid and as the government was spending ten billions
of dollars per year on anti-drug policies, on policing and on arresting people, citizens were in
support of legalization. People thought legalization would increase drug use but also government
would sensibly regulate drug use making sure that misuse would be kept under control.
However, the case had not been the same as negative impacts were associated with legalization
of drugs.
Donald Trump had proclaimed that opioid problem has become a national emergency. He
has announced that it has become important to shift views of people towards drug users.
However, the legalization of opioids is not yet implemented and is in the discussion phases
among the governmental and nongovernmental parties. This is mainly because Mr. Trump
considers opioid addicts to be patients who need help and care rather than considering them as
criminals who deserve incarceration. However, this should be looked at from another angle
where the claim made by him may show a dangerous picture (Carl). The main reason for Mr.
Trump to do so is because it has been stated by social analytic studies that the death due to
opioids in 2016 in America had been 64000 mainly with synthetic opioids. This has been higher
than many other common causes of death like different diseases and prevention. It is also higher

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in number from the cases of guns, car crashes, and HIV/AIDS ever killed in one single year
(Lopez). However there arises a question that whether legalization would decrease number of
opioid addicts or in turn increases them.
Portugal has seen that decriminalizing opioid in 2001 had a better effect. They have
stated that instead of making people face jail time, they are caught and made to undergo
treatment with medical experts and others to provide them rehabilitation service and provide
them better life (Jeffrey). However, this cannot be supported due to another argument.. At first
legalizing drugs made people use it at a higher level. Then increasing funding for treatment of
the individuals, their recovery and their urgent overdose reversal are a lengthy process. It
requires the huge expenditure of money and other resources as well. All the issues could be
stopped at once when drugs would be made illegal. If people are not getting opioids at the first
stance only, getting addicted to it and subsequent recovery and spending of resources can be
checked. The main ethics behind this is to stop human beings from getting exposed to the
chemical which harms their life rather than helping them to live happily.
With the legalization of the opioids, users of the drug would increase. At the same time,
there would be an increase in the homicide, robbery and incarceration. Many have stated that
there comes an easy formula for the legalization of opioids. Once the market gets filled with
opioids, the country will get flooded with addicts. Researchers are also of the opinion that about
650000 people have the chance to die in the next ten years form opioid overdoses which may be
more than the city of Baltimore (Lopez). Thereby the country of United States is taking the risk
of losing an equivalent of a whole American city in just one decade.

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AGAINST LEGALISATION OF OPIOIDS
Legalization of the drugs would have other repercussions as well. This legalization
results in huge profit for the pharmaceutical markets. The health system would be bolstered by
pharmaceutical companies, and the US will be flooded with opioid painkillers. The illicit drug
traffickers would follow suits which would be inundating the country with heroin and other
illegally produced opioids. All these will make it easier for the drug users to obtain and misuse
drugs. From an emotional point of view, one incident can be noted that devastated a family.
Once a man sitting next to the author of National Review in aeroplane, stated that he lost his
daughter due to a combination of Xanax and Lortab. She had taken drugs for years for pain and
anxiety, and by every year, she was growing more tolerant. One stressful night, she took an extra
dose and expired in her sleep. She had been an example of an illicit drug overdose (French). If
the opioid misuse should be prevented from the first instance only but restricting sale of such
opioid, such a situation would have never arrived.
An article released in the Huffington post said that overdose death has skyrocketed all
over US because people who nee drug treatment are avoiding it in order to hide their use and
getting caught and penalized. If legalization is done, people will come out and seek help.
However this claim cannot be taken as just decisions (Davies). Legalization of drugs could result
in the huge increase of the rehabilitation centres which would be catastrophic to the economy
(Burke). Besides, this would also result in a huge number of human damages regarding lives lost
as well as endless addiction issues. Moreover, legalization of opioids would make such harmful
drugs variable to new users gradually involving them in different actions without any ways of
controlling their sale in the markets. This is a logic which should be applied by experts before
legalizing them.

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Americans have been found to consume more opioids than any other countries in the
world. Opioid which first started as prescribed medicine for killing pain in many patients, the
pharmaceutical company’s unethical advertisement of such medicines a safe and effective had
made the patients addicted. Such drug uses have killed many lives and will continue to kill as
legalization would make such opioids available to all. Moreover, the cost of treatment and
rehabilitation of such patients would lead to huge amount of expenditure of resources. Therefore,
in turn, the nation should ban the selling of such opioids and restrict their distribution to needy
patients and in fixed numbers (Lopez).

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References:
David French "The Opioid Crisis Should Kill The Call To Legalize Hard Drugs." National
Review, 2017, http://www.nationalreview.com/article/447190/opioid-crisis-kill-movement-
legalize-hard-drugs
Davies, Jag. "4 Reasons Why The US Needs To Decriminalize Drugs – And Why We're Closer
Than You Think." Huffpost, 2017, https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/4-reasons-why-the-us-
needs-to-decriminalize-drugs-and-why-were-closer-than-you-
think_us_5963e1bde4b005b0fdc7926e
Eric Patterson "The Effects Of Opiate Use." Drugabuse.Com, 2017,
https://drugabuse.com/library/the-effects-of-opiate-use/.
Hart, Carl. "Opinion | The Real Opioid Emergency." Nytimes.Com, 2017,
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/18/opinion/sunday/opioids-drugs-race-treatment.html.
John Burke "Why Not Legalize All Drugs?." Pharmacytimes.Com, 2017,
http://www.pharmacytimes.com/publications/issue/2016/december2016/why-not-legalize-all-
drugs

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Lopez, German "The Opioid Epidemic, Explained." Vox, 2017, https://www.vox.com/science-
and-health/2017/8/3/16079772/opioid-epidemic-drug-overdoses.
Lopez, German "I Used To Support Legalizing All Drugs. Then The Opioid Epidemic
Happened.." Vox, 2017, https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/4/20/15328384/opioid-
epidemic-drug-legalization
Lopez, German. "The Deadliness Of The Opioid Epidemic Has Roots In America’S Failed
Response To Crack." Vox, 2017, https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/10/2/16328342/opioid-
epidemic-racism-addiction
Miron, Jeffrey. "Could Legalizing All Drugs Solve America’S Opioid Epidemic?." Fortune,
2017, http://fortune.com/2017/09/19/jeff-sessions-opioid-epidemic-legalize-all-drugs/