It seems that for as long as humanity has been on this earth, our species has sought various forms of escape. Many times this need to escape manifests itself in drug use. Whether it was marijuana and other hallucinogenic drugs of the 1960s or the opium dens of the 1800s, recreational drug use has been and most likely always will be a major part of human society. While some drugs, such as marijuana, can have mild effects that, when used in moderation, cause little or no harm, there are other drugs that can virtually kill an individual upon first use. Opioids are one such class of drugs that can have a myriad of negative consequences if abused for long periods of time. Despite the wealth of knowledge about opioid addiction and various campaigns to minimize drug use, Americans are currently in the midst of an opioid epidemic affecting individuals from all walks of life. In the wake of the current opioid crisis plaguing our society, this article will attempt to examine the rise of this epidemic, the negative effects of repeated opioid abuse, and the difficulties of withdrawal. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The opioid crisis is a relatively recent development in society, corresponding to the introduction of several opioids into the pharmaceutical market in the late 1990s. During this time period, there has been a major push by several interest groups such as the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations to remedy the undertreatment of pain (Manchikanti et al., ES10). This group, as well as others, have aggressively lobbied for the use of large doses of opioids in the management of noncancer pain. Combined with equally aggressive lobbying by pharmaceutical companies, medical orders eventually relaxed laws on opioid use, and several pharmaceutical-brand opioids flooded the market. According to the article titled “Opioid Epidemic in the United States,” this easing of opioid laws was also based on weak evidence that “opioids are safe and highly effective in people with non-cancer pain,” however, two decades later , the truth of this has yet to be confirmed by research. Therefore, opioids became more readily available without conclusive evidence that they would actually be helpful. Although opioids can take the form of several types of medications, the most common form of opioid abuse is with prescription painkillers. In a 2010 survey, researchers found that hydrocodone was the number one prescribed drug with one hundred and thirty-six million prescriptions with narcotic pain relievers in total exceeding the sum of two hundred and thirty-eight million prescriptions (Manchikanti et al., ES10). In this same investigation, it was also discovered that the United States produces more than seventy-five tons of oxycodone per year compared to the eleven and a half tons produced in 1999 (Manchikanti et al., ES24). Unfortunately, of all the painkillers that are prescribed, the abusive way in which they are used mostly comes from people who have obtained these drugs illegally. In other research findings discussed in this same article, it was found that “among people aged 12 years and older in 2009-2010 who used non-medical painkillers in the past 12 months, 55% of those who they obtained painkillers from a friend or relative for free” (Manchikanti et al., ES22). This represents the 22.6 million Americans designatedas opioid users (Manchikanti et al., ES22). Given the relaxed laws governing the prescribing of opioids and the frequency with which they fall into the hands of non-prescribers, it is clear to see how opioids have gone from a small problem to a big problem. Opioids, although increasingly used casually and recreationally, have several adverse effects that can seriously deteriorate an individual's quality of life. AS with any other type of drug addiction, opioid abuse affects brain chemistry. In general, drugs work by “eliciting the same pleasure responses that eating, sleeping, and sex produce” (Raisch, Fye, & Boardman et al., 313). Opioid use is no different, and repeated use of this drug means that increasingly higher doses must be taken to achieve this pleasurable response (Riasch et al., 313). More specifically, “opiates directly affect the mesolimbic reward system” (Kosten and George). This is the system responsible for the release of dopamine, the pleasure chemical. Since dopamine is also released during activities such as eating, sleeping, and sex, it becomes much more difficult to ignore the brain's attraction to drug use (Kosten and George). Because it is extremely difficult to break this habit, abuse can quickly turn into addiction as “repeated exposure to opioids induces addictive brain mechanisms” (Kosten and George). Once the brain has been chemically altered to believe it needs opioids to survive, the negative effects of long-term abuse become prevalent. Opioid abuse negatively impacts almost every part of the human body. As for the respiratory system, opioid abuse can cause respiratory depression, a phenomenon that slows breathing and can lead to death (The effects of opioids on your body). As for opioid painkillers, abuse of these can lead to nausea, vomiting, and constipation (The Effects of Opiates on the Body). Other negative effects of opioid abuse include psychomotor disorders, increased susceptibility to infections, and liver damage (The Effects of Opiates on the Body). Not only can opioid abuse create problems internally, but there are many other problems that can arise from sharing needles. This includes problems such as pain, HIV, hepatitis, and other sexually transmitted diseases (Raisch et al., 315). Overall, the cons of using opioids far outweigh the very few benefits. In fact, “opioids were shown to contribute to one death every 36 minutes in the United States in 2008” (Manchikanti ES15). Given the myriad of problems associated with opioid use, this statistic makes perfect sense. Although opioid abuse is linked to a number of various life-threatening problems, there is one thing that seems worse for opioid abusers: withdrawal. Withdrawal in and of itself is a harsh chemical test that abusers must undergo in order to quit any type of abusive habit, yet withdrawal from drugs can be almost excruciating. For most long-term abusers, withdrawal is not an experience that can be survived without the use of counteracting medications. There are several opioid replacement medications that can help this experience, the two most popular being methadone and buprenorphine (Raich et al., 313). Methadone is a “long-acting” opioid medication that helps relieve compulsive drug use (Kosten and George). Methadone also helps regulate hormonal imbalances associated with opioid abuse. It also helps on a behavioral level and ensures that abusers can focus on getting back to normal.