The Opioid Epidemic - What We Can Learn
The sheer scale of the opioid epidemic that we are facing has been on my mind of late. Trying to get a handle on the destruction that so many communities are facing has led me to do a deep dive into the topic. I want to use this space to share what I have learned, as this type of education is important in the context of mental health, as its implications are nation-wide.
Opioid use has been around for roughly the same length as our modern recorded human history. The first documentation of its use aligns with our first recorded civilizations, roughly 5,000 years ago. Within the past 300 years, its use and distribution have exploded. Massive imports of opium to China sparked contentious wars between Asia and Europe, as it became branded with the name Chinese molasses, still used today. Use in Europe became widespread and permeated America, where opium was commonly used for medicinal and recreational purposes throughout the 1800s. In the 1900s, a string of medical and scientific advances refined and reformulated opium as a substance, making it more concentrated and easier to consume. Unfortunately, all forms of known opium are addictive, and today in America, we face an opioid epidemic fueled by pharmaceutical companies. Drugs, such as OxyContin, have paved the way for a new generation of heroin addicts, while people are dying at unprecedented rates. This issue has become so deadly that it has been declared an epidemic.
Measuring the impact of opium on society, like with many drugs, is complex. Opium in the form of morphine, codeine, and other medicines has benefited countless people who would have otherwise been left to contend with excruciating pain. In this manner, opium has benefited society greatly by literally alleviating suffering. On the other hand, since all forms of opium are addictive, prescription drugs like OxyContin, which were falsely advertised as mostly non-addictive, resulted in dependency for many Americans. This led to an explosion of heroin addictions as former patients turned to heroin for pain management and to get the “fix” they were accustomed to.
Roughly 10% of chronic pain opioid users get addicted, which speaks to the great amount of care necessary when attempting to harness the benefits of this substance. While it is clear that opioids serve an important role in modern medicine, the Purdue Pharma-fueled epidemic that we are facing as a country needs to serve as a wakeup call for the broader public. Simply put, the pharmaceutical industry needs stricter regulation to ensure that misleading and sometimes false advertisements do not misrepresent their danger. Additionally, medical professionals must take a more conservative approach in terms of prescribing dangerously addictive medication and ensuring that the likelihood of their patients becoming addicted is minimized as much as possible. If we can develop a safer and more restricted culture around opioids, society would benefit tremendously. This could have implications across the full spectrum of socioeconomic achievement, as well as across racial and gender lines, since such addictions appear ubiquitously across all communities. Striking the correct balance in terms of regulation would also improve our society by drastically reducing the number of drug-related deaths in America while also decreasing the demand for illegal forms of opium, such as heroin. In turn, this could reduce drug trafficking and distribution and ultimately make communities safer. It’s time to take a closer look at the pharmaceutical industry for the sake of mental health nationwide.
