All of us have heard for generations now, that Cannabis (AKA Marijuana, Weed, Mary Jane, etc..) is a gateway drug. But It only started to be called a "gateway drug" around the time when opioids started to arise in our medical systems. Opioids seemed like a perfect fix for everything, and no one seemed to really be paying attention to what kind of side effects it has on a person.
With opioids, a person can become pain-free fairly quickly, which is a big help after surgeries. But if usage isn't monitored, or if doctors over prescribe, people can become seriously addicted, and very dependent on these types of medications. People who have become hooked on these opioid painkillers are more likely to look for more and move on to worse drugs like Heroin and Fentanyl.
A good deal of Heroin/Fentanyl users today started out by being prescribed or by misusing someone's prescription opioids. Now, to be clear, just because someone is prescribed an opioid it doesn't mean they will be automatically addicted and dependent. When the drug is used responsibly, it can be a big lifesaver.
I have personally seen how opioids can make someone turn into something they're not. My mother went through a knee surgery when I was younger and she ended up having to take painkillers afterward, and low and behold, she got hooked. It changed who she was almost entirely. She and I got into a lot of fights, she acted off at times, stayed in bed a lot, and her substance use ultimately destroyed her marriage with my father in the end.
The opioids brought out a side in my mother that was more than likely already there but intensified it to the point where she almost lost everything she cared about. She would even take alcohol with the medications, and that made things much worse. She and I would get into very bad "fights" and it caused me to feel very trapped. She eventually kicked me out of the house around the time my parents started to get divorced, and I (being only 14 at the time) of course moved in with my dad.
I love my mother, and I know that what I went through growing up happened mostly because of the opioids she was taking. After I left the house things got worse, and I sadly don't keep in touch with her as much anymore, but I worry a lot about her.
Regardless, with scientists looking for better alternatives by studying cannabis, the opioid crisis could be on its way to extinction. Scientsist have already made strides with a medication called 'Epidiolex', it has been recently the approved by the FDA. It is a medication with cannabidiol (CBD) that is used to help treat seizures and other side effects of Dravet and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. However research on target pain therapy by CBD is still underway. Which means that until the treatment it is approved, not much will change for the millions upon millions affected by today's opioid misuse.
