As painkillers like Vicodin and Oxycontin become easier to access, the demand for them increases with teenagers and drug addicts.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration reports that one in 10 teenagers admits to abusing these types drugs which accounts for the fact that there are more overdoses due to painkillers than there are with cocaine and heroin.
Availability Cause for Increase
For drug users, there’s no need to get a drug dealer to find a fix, these days, all they need is often located in their medicine cabinets.
“Access to prescription painkillers has never been easier,” explains Donna Yi, M.S. and addictions physiatrist. “Some people begin taking prescription painkillers for a legitimate reason, such as for pain after childbirth or surgery, then become addicted.”
Once addicts become hooked, they often forge prescriptions, order painkillers from websites and even steal medication from their parent’s medicine cabinets.
Painkillers in Relation to Heroin
Much like heroin, painkillers stimulate opiate receptors in the brain and provide a sense of ecstasy. This false sense of happiness is ultimately what causes people to become addicts.
When addicts try to quit using, they often go through heroin like withdrawals; therefore, they continue to use in order to prevent feeling pain.
“As the supply and variety of painkillers increase, more people will try them for non-medical reasons, and will become addicted,” claims Yi.
(Source: Science Daily)
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