Opioids. In 2018, the CDC reported that drug overdoses killed 63,632 Americans in 2016 with nearly two-thirds of these deaths (66%) involved a prescription or illicit opioid. In New Jersey, heroin and opioid use has increased to epidemic proportions. One cause of this crisis is the overabundance of prescription opioids, with an estimated four out of five new heroin users beginning their addiction by misusing prescription pain killers. Unfortunately, sports activities, accidents or other causes may also lead to injury and, in rare cases, result in pain that is severe or long-lasting enough to require a prescription opioid painkiller. According to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, about a third of young people studied obtained pills from their own previous prescriptions (i.e., an unfinished prescription used outside of a physician’s supervision), and 83 percent of adolescents had unsupervised access to their prescription medications. Nationally, it is estimated that an American dies every 19 minutes from an overdose of heroin or prescription opioids. Between 2014 and 2015, drug overdose deaths increased by nearly 22 percent, and nearly 1,600 people lost their lives to narcotics in New Jersey. This scenario has played out in New Jersey and across the country without regard to race, gender, age, or social class. Another cause of this crisis is the early use by children of CDS and other illicit substances, with evidence showing that if a child tries any drug by the age of 13, he or she has a 70% probability of developing an addiction by the age of 20. An estimated 20% of adolescents who have current prescriptions for opioid medications report using those medications intentionally to get high or increase the effects of alcohol or other drugs.
Opioids. Opioids are a class of drugs that have similar structure of natural alkaloids found in the poppy plant known as Papaver bracteatum and/or Papaver somniferum L. (Poppy Uses, Benefits, 2020). This class of drugs is categorized in three different sub- classes, based on their precursors, opiate which derived from natural alkaloids and opioid which derived from artificial alkaloids (Opiate vs. Opioid, n.d.). Opiate is a subclass of the opioids class which is derived from the natural alkaloids found in the poppy resin, such as morphine and codeine, semi synthetic opiate which is derived from the natural alkaloids of poppy resin that have undergone chemical process such as heroin, and synthetic opiate which derived from synthetic chemicals that have similar structure with natural alkaloids found in poppy resins, such as methadone and fentanyl (Heroin, n.d.). Used for its analgesic properties, some types of drugs within the opioids group are used for medical purposes, such as morphine which may be prescribed to relieve severe pain, and codeine found in cough and cold medications (Prescription Opioids, n.d.). Although specific cause for opioid addiction have not been identified and that current research suggests a combination of genetic predisposition, environmental, and lifestyle factors as the cause of opioid addictions, prescription opioids must be used under strict medical supervision, as any type of drugs within this class are highly addictive, as opioids class drugs changes the brain chemistry which may lead to drug tolerance thus producing dependence (Opioid addiction: MedlinePlus, n.d.). Data from the UNODC WDR 2019 stated that, there are around 53 million illicit opioids users worldwide which includes prescribed opioids abusers and/or illicit opioids users such as but not limited to heroin (Booklet 3: Depressants, 2019). Opioids work by attaching itself to pain receptors in the central nervous system (CNS) which block pain signals thus reducing the feeling of pain; however these analgesic properties may also reduce breathing rate, heart rate, and blood pressure (Xxxxxx, 2019). Data from the UNODC WDR 2019 showed that in the year 2017 alone; opioids are responsible for around 110 thousands out of the 167 thousands drug- related mortalities worldwide, as such although global illicit opioids market doesn’t make up for the majority of the global illicit drug industry, the illicit opioids industry is by far the most deadliest illicit drug industry worldwide (Bo...
