The "Opioid Epidemic" has made many headlines in society today, due to the rapid number of overdoses on opioids. These can be either prescription or nonprescription. Many celebrities have been victim to opioid related fatalities, like Prince and Phillip Seymour Hoffman, to name a couple. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Opiates are medications that relieve pain by blocking pain receptors and reducing intensity of pain signals. Taken after a serious injury or in any kind of pain, they are very powerful in relieving that pain. Examples of drugs in this class are hydrocodone, codeine, oxycodone, and heroin (which is illegal). Many people do not know this, but heroin, which is an extremely dangerous and addictive drug, was actually used in the Civil War to relieve pain after, for example, a soldiers leg was blown off in combat. Opioids actually have their own receptors in the brain, so they work by binding to those receptors to block/relieve pain signals from reaching the brain.
It is important to note that opioid abuse does not just concern heroin. Many opiate addictions in fact start off by a simple prescription written by a doctor. Addiction does not discriminate, so it is important to educate everyone about this issue. It can truly happen to anyone, especially if one gets into a car accident and ends up needing a prescription for Vicodin or another opiate painkiller. This epidemic is especially important and relevant in the New England area. If you would like to know more about this issue please watch the documentary Heroin, Cape Cod, USA. It follows the lives of people with addiction to heroin (which is, of course, an opiate). It shows the brutal reality of addiction to opiates and where it can get someone.
Rhode Island is hit especially hard by the overdoses, being number one in the United States for illicit drug use per capita. From 2009-2012, death by overdoses increased by 38 percent. Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo has unveiled special plans to combat this growing and alarming problem. “Drug overdoses represent a public health crisis that is as urgent as any we have ever confronted in Rhode Island,” Raimondo said in an article featured in the Providence Journal. Among these plans is to more closely monitor opioid prescriptions. Another part of the plan is to provide more trained and certified Recovery Specialists to help those trying to overcome Opioid Addiction, and to increase recovery services.
If you are struggling, or know anyone who is struggling with addiction, please ask for help and visit the following links below. It is literally a life and death situation. People are dying.
Gosnold on Cape Cod, Inpatient and Outpatient Treatment
AdCare Rhode Island
