9781422274323

out using prescription opioids. Among heroin users in large cities, 86 percent started out using prescription painkillers, NIDA’s studies learned. Anyone who takes opioids is at risk of developing addiction. The current opioid epidemic began in the late 1990s, when family doctors started prescribing opioids for chronic pain. Before the 1990s, strong painkillers were only prescribed for severe pain and end-of-life conditions like terminal cancer. Or, they were used primarily in hospitals, where their use could be carefully supervised, and not prescribed for patients to use at home. The increase in painkiller prescriptions corresponded with increased emergency room visits, addiction rates, and deaths resulting from overdoses. Teens are at high risk of prescription painkiller and opioid abuse. According to the NIDA, prescription drugs are the fourth most commonly abused substance (after alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco) among young people between the ages of twelve and seventeen. Teens most often get prescription painkillers from family or friends, but some are prescribed painkillers after sports injuries. The National Institute of Drug Abuse’s annual Monitoring the Future survey reported in 2018 that 60 percent of teens who misused prescription drugs bought or received them as a gift from friends or family. Older adults between the ages of fifty-seven to eighty- five are also at-risk of prescription opioid addiction. Many older adults receive prescription medication for pain. More than half of this age group uses more than five medications or supplements a day. Drug interactions and frail health contribute to the risk of addiction. Veterans, chronic pain patients, and “opioid naïve” patients are also at higher risk of addiction to opioids, including prescription pills and illegal drugs.

10

Treatments for Opioid Addiction