In 1996, a pharmaceutical company known as Purdue Pharma unveiled a newly reformulated version of the opioid based pain medication Oxycodone, marketed as Oxycontin. In a short window of time in the mid nineteen-nineties, the practice of prescribing narcotic pain relievers grew to become a more acceptable and logical approach to treating chronic pain patients. As a result of the newly sympathetic attitude towards the use of these medications in modern medicine, more and more doctors became open to prescribing these opiates to their pain patients, and thus Oxycontin was approved by the FDA for official use in medicine.
Since its release, Oxycontin has became one of the most widely used pain medicines, as well as becoming one off the most abused. While being a very powerful and effective analgesic in the treatment of pain, it has also been found to be one of the most addictive naturaly-occuring substances found on earth. Oxycodone the psychoactive ingredient in the drug Oxycontin, is derived from the opium poppy. The same flowering plant drugs like Morphine and Heroin are made from. The drug works by blocking pain signals sent from nerves to the area of the brain that controls emotion and pain perception. On top of being a powerhouse for relieving pain, Oxycodone and many other opioids have psychoactive properties that induce a state of euphoria and contentment for the user. In fact it can produce a high up to two times greater than that of heroin, another widely abused drug also taken from the opium poppy.
In 2014 there were almost 28,000 reported fatalities due to overdose on opioid medications like OxyContin. 44 lives every single day in the US are taken. Due to its nature, the drug is considered to be high risk for the possibility of an overdose, with the amount required for a fatal overdose only three times higher than the amount needed to achieve a high. It is the most common drug responsible for fatal overdoses. However, that does not account for over 20,000 cases per year of emergency room visits and hospital admissions due to other serious issues that can arise from the misuse of opiates.
Certain groups and areas are more likely to experience a surge in opioid addiction than others. Almost 80% of all the worlds supply of prescription opioid medications are used in the United States, with more than 207 million prescriptions written in 2013. Those with a history of trauma, mental illness, deppression, and other psychiatric disorders are the most likely to abuse these medications due to the calming and euphoric effects the drug has on the brain. In the last two years the LGBTQ community has seen a significant rise in opioid abuse with more than 28% of individuals reporting using OxyContin, Vicodin, Codeine, or other similar medications, at one point for its recreational value and not for the treatment of pain.
Many believe the key to fighting the Oxy epidemic is reducing the acceptable uses for opioid pain medications. One of the reasons so many people abuse these drugs, lyes in the fact that they're so easily attainable. Stronger drugs like Oxycodone are normally saved for those living with chronic pain or for the treatment of pain after invasive surgeries. However similar drugs like Vicodin and Ultram that contain the also highly addictive opium derived drugs hydrocodone and tramadol, are given out in large numbers for minor aches and pains by practitioners in emergency rooms and even by dentists after mild procedures like an extraction. Several modern doctors have blamed this for the reason the abuse of opioids growing from a social issue, into an epidemic.
With the misuse of opioid medications continuing to grow, many of us most likely know someone who struggles or has struggled with opiate addiction. The subject can hit close to home for many people including myself. Experts say if you have a loved one battling addiction the best thing you can do is to accept that you can not fix them on your own. The only way to help someone overcome their addiction and start their road to recovery is to get them the professional and medical help that they need. It's important to remember the difference between helping them make better choices for themselves and enabling them to continue their destructive behavior.
After two decades of Oxycontin being available, billions of dollars made by its manufacturer, countless lives stolen, and many broken hearts of people who know the pain of loving someone with an opioid addiction; what was once thought of as a miracle drug is now known as one of the most deadly inventions of human kind.
If you or someone you know are battling opioid addiction reach out and get help, don't be a statistic. You're worth more than that.
