Opioid addiction

Anyone who takes opioids legally or illegally is at risk of developing opioid addiction. Opioids trigger the release of endorphins making you feel extreme pleasure. When the drug wears off you may find you want those good feelings back.

Opioid addiction in the USA is at crisis levels, Donald Trump has called the problem a “national crisis” and a top priority. The UK government has ordered Public Health England to carry out a review to ensure it doesn’t become a crisis here.

115 Americans are dying from opioid addiction and overdose every day, this rate increased by 30% in the last year. It is thought 21-29% of people who take opioids for pain relief misuse them. There are many reasons why America has this problem, it is thought the advertising of drugs and the fact that American’s have to pay insurance for medical care that they are over prescribed.

So what are opioids?

Opioids are a class of drug derived from the opium poppy plant.  Opioids are very effective treatment to relieve pain, opioids include drugs such as codeine and morphine and the illegal drug heroin.  Prescription opioids are only intended to be used for a limited time as they are highly addictive and should be used under a doctors advice. Heroin is a dangerous drug that is usually taken by injecting into a vein. For more detailed information on opiates please click here.

Some Statistics;

– One in eleven patients in the UK are prescribed potentially addictive medicines.
– 64,000 people died from drug overdoses in the US in 2016.
– The number of NHS antidepressant prescriptions have increased 100% in the last 10 years.
– In the US Deaths from fentanyl, a legal prescription drug that is 100 times more potent than morphine and significantly stronger than heroin, have spiked 540 per cent over three years.
(Source: NPA and the independent)

Other Support Organisations

Addaction – Click Here.

NHS – Click Here.