Opioid Crisis (Essay Sample)

Opioid Crisis
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Opioid Crisis
Introduction
When you take a prescription for a reason other than the one for which it was prescribed by your doctor, you are engaging in prescription drug misuse. The term "opioid epidemic" refers to an increase in the number of deaths and hospitalizations caused by opioids, which include both prescription and illicit drugs. The Medicaid expansions included in the Affordable Care Act are being used as a natural experiment to generate causal estimates of the impact of public insurance expansion on opioid-related mortality. Opioid addicts usually begin their addiction after receiving a prescription (Volkow., & Collins, 2017). The major purpose of discussion in this article is to come up with various strategies to combat the opioid issue so that people can aware of drug side effects. By investigating each subtype of opioid-related mortality available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) multiple cause of death file, this study addresses a gap in the literature. Using heterogeneity in Medicaid expansions between states and across time, I employ a difference-in-differences model to estimate the causal impact of public health insurance expansion resulting from the ACA on opioid overdose deaths.
Effects of Opioids
To begin with, opioids can make you feel pleased. Some people who use them illegally snort or inject them to get a faster effect. When you inject drugs, you put yourself at risk for illnesses such as HIV and hepatitis C. When opioids attach to the pain pathway, they reduce pain; but, when they bind to the reward pathway, they cause euphoria and the release of dopamine, a key neurotransmitter (Dasgupta, et al 2019). In addition to lowering pain perception, excessive usage of opioids can result in lethargy, mental confusion, euphoria, nausea, and constipation. At high doses, they can cause respiratory depression (Nollens, at al. 2018). Medications including morphine, fentanyl, oxycodone, and hydromorphone have a high abuse potential and can lead to severe psychological or physical dependence. Whether or not a person develops an opioid addiction, opioids alter the chemistry of the brain with continuous use.
Overdosing on opioids can be fatal. You face the danger of breathing problems or death if you take them with central nervous system depressants like alcohol, barbiturates, or benzodiazepines like alprazolam, clonazepam, or diazepam (Valium) (Volkow, & Collins, 2017). Overdosing on opioids occurs when a person consumes too much of the medication, resulting in potentially fatal effects. People who consume too much of an opiate experience slowed or stopped respiration (Nollens, at al. 2018). This can result in a coma, severe brain injury, or death due to a lack of oxygen reaching the brain. Because opioids influence the part of the brain that governs respiration, they can lead to death (Volkow, & Collins, 2017). An opioid overdose can be detected by a combination of three signs and symptoms: unconsciousness, pinpoint pupils, and dilated pupils. In the United States today, opioids, particularly synthetic opioids (other than methadone), are the leading cause of drug overdose deaths. Synthetic opioids are responsible for 72.9 percent of opioid-related overdose deaths. Opioid overdoses claimed the lives of 49,860 individuals in 2020.
Way of addressing Opioid crises
Policymakers can aid in the fight against the opioid epidemic by reducing the number of people who get prescription opioids and the amount of prescription and non-prescription opioids released into the community. Also, ensure access in rural areas: Addiction treatment is especially scarce in hard-hit rural communities (Abouk et al 2019). Overcoming transportation barriers, attracting and supporting specialists, and countering the stigma associated with accessing (and delivering) services like methadone treatment can be difficult in smaller, more distant locations. The project echo approach to aiding providers in increasing treatment capacity is working well in several states. Long-distance learning and peer mentoring are possible with this approach, which connects clinical specialists with rural practitioners (Noll