Opioids are a class of drugs that interact with the opioid receptors in the brain’s cells to provide pain relief. Natural opioids are derived from the poppy plant. These include substances such as morphine. Opioids can also be synthesized in laboratories. Fentanyl is an example of such an opioid.

Opioids are absorbed into the blood and pass through the blood brain barrier. They attach to the brain cells’ opioid receptors where they cause the cells to release signals that muffle the perception of pain. They also boost feelings of pleasure. Opioids taken in low doses make people feel drowsy. However, higher doses will slow down the heart rate and breathing. This can lead to death. The feeling of pleasure that these drugs induce can also lead to addiction.

Pharmaceutical companies presented the medical community with prescription opioid pain relievers in the late 1990s. They convinced the medical community that patients would not become addicted to the pain relievers as they released low dosages of the opioids. As these pain relievers proved to be very effective, especially in providing relief for both chronic and acute pain, healthcare providers began to prescribe the drugs at high rates.

Increased prescription of opioid pain relievers resulted in widespread misuse of the medications. Figures show that roughly 29 percent of patients who are prescribed opioids for relief from chronic pain end up misusing the medication. In fact, up to 12% develop an addiction to the drug. Up to 6 percent of those that misuse opioid medication end up with a heroin addiction. Studies show that up to 80% of people that use heroin started out by misusing an opioid prescription.

The misuse of opioid prescriptions has become a national public health crisis. This is especially because of the consequences of the misuse. 2018 data from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that an average of 128 people died every day from opioid overdose. This figure has since risen. Some states report an increase of as much as 30 percent in the number of drug-related deaths.

It is not just the increasing overdose rates that are worrying, but also the rising incidences of neonatal abstinence syndrome as the number of women misusing opioids during pregnancy increases. This condition occurs in infants that are born to women who use opioids during their pregnancies. Newborns show opioid withdrawal and therefore require a hospital stay to receive the treatment they require.

While most infants recover from the condition within a few days or weeks, some develop long-term developmental and health problems. These may include problems with vision, hearing or even learning and behavior.
Increased misuse of the prescription pain relievers has also resulted in the increased spread of infectious diseases such as hepatitis C and HIV. This is mainly because of the increased use of injections and their sharing.

Almost 450,000 people have died due to an opioid overdose between 1999 and 2018. This includes opioids obtained by prescription and those obtained illicitly. In 2017, the US Department of Health and Human Services declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency and announced a strategy to combat it. It has since been declared an epidemic.

The societal burden of the epidemic is not only felt by the poor but within all classes of society. The epidemic has placed a significant burden on the economy due to increased healthcare costs and deaths due to overdose. The CDC estimates that prescription misuse of opioids costs the US government of $78.5 billion per year. These costs include healthcare, addiction treatment, loss of productivity as well as criminal justice costs.

These costs are not borne by the governments solely. They are borne by people in all levels of society including employers, families and individuals. When looked at properly, the majority of the people dying from opioid overdoses are within the 25 to 55 age range. These are people in the prime of their lives. They make up the most productive age group in society. With addiction and overdose rates increasing every year, the economic and societal burden is set to increase over the coming years.