Does the Opioid Epidemic Strike Close to Home?
For some of us, the Opioid Epidemic is as close to home as TV newscasts or morning papers. But, for many, this increasing epidemic is right inside our homes. In Newsweek’s 3/7/18 update it states the latest U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) statistics, ranging from July 2016-September 2017, as a 70% rise in the number of overdose cases arriving at emergency departments in the Midwest. The CDC’s Midwest region includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. And, across the whole of the U.S., the CDC data shows a 30% rise in the number of emergency rooms treating patients for opioid overdoses.
CDC’s Additional Statistical Findings:
30% Increase in men overdosing
24% Increase in women turning up for treatment
31% Increase in adults 24 to 35-year-olds overdosing
36% Increase in adults 35 to 54-year-olds overdosing
32% Increase in adults 55 and older overdosing
ise as the crisis deepens. The Department declared it a public health emergency in 2017.
As the Newsweek article outlines, perhaps most worryingly, are the number of children admitted to hospitals and pediatric intensive care units for opioid-related cases which rose from 797 patients between 2004 and 2007 to 1,504 patients between 2012 and 2015. The findings were published in the journal Pediatrics.
Why and how did all of this start?? Experts put the cause of the current crisis on the United States’ over-reliance on opioids for pain relief, stemming from the 1990s, when health care providers increased the rate at which they prescribed them at the behest and assurance of pharmaceutical companies.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) states, “Opioids are a class of drugs chemically similar to alkaloids found in opium poppies. Historically they have been used as painkillers, but they also have great potential for misuse. Repeated use of opioids greatly increases the risk of developing an opioid use disorder. The use of illegal opiate drugs such as heroin and the misuse of legally available pain relievers such as oxycodone and hydrocodone can have serious negative health effects. According to the CDC, 44 people die every day in the United States from overdose of prescription painkillers.” You can read more of the Newsweek article here.
I’m not here to point fingers or even try to lead us toward a solution. However, we can certainly play a part in the solution. One simple way – dispose of your old or unused prescription drugs. Recently, I was training facilitators in our CBSG Program at The San Antonio Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse (SACADA). Their Community Coalition – Circles of San Antonio (a phenomenal coalition known nationwide) was handing out these disposal bags. Of course, I’ve had this old prescription I’ve wanted to get rid of … yep, from June 2016!? So, I thought we’d experience it together.
Now, if you don’t happen to run across a coalition handing out bags, there areother easily accessible ways to dispose of old drugs. Also, CVS Pharmacy has anonline resource. All you have to do is enter your zip code and the distance you are willing to travel and it will pull up locations like pharmacies, police departments, and public works buildings. One last resource, April 28, 2018 is National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. On the first of April click on this link and you will be able to find locations near you.
In earnest, please don’t hold onto old prescriptions, especially pain killers! As we can see from the above statistics, the opioid use disorder is hitting every stage of life all over America.
Click here to find out more about the Opioid Epidemic and Commonly Misused Drugs.
For more information about Trans4ming News, please click here.
