Posted on 09/10/2017 2:34:17 AM PDT by Kaslin
The next three weeks we will look at possibly the largest and most dangerous crisis facing America. Please join us in taking an in depth look at the challenge for America.
If you were around in the 1980s, you’ll likely recall HIV/AIDS bursting on the scene with a vengeance. AIDS spread through the consciousness of America even faster than the disease. Who was exposed? Where did it come from? Today another epidemic has exploded into the minds of America that has everyone just as befuddled – opioids. People are dying in mass numbers and no one has totally wrapped their heads around the problem to solve it.
The numbers are staggering. For people under the age of 50, opioids are the single largest cause of death. More than cancer, more than auto accidents, more than gun violence, more than any other cause. In fact, opioids were a greater cause of death in 2015 than HIV/AIDS was in 1995.
To give you a perspective, in 2015 there were 52,404 people who died from a drug overdose as stated by the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention). Of that number, 33,091 involved an opioid. You might question that number since that includes heroin (which is an opioid). It is estimated that there are now 600,000 people using heroin in the United States and a full 80 percent started using prescription opioids, whether legally or illegally obtained. There are another estimated 1,900,000 Americans who currently either misuse opioids or have an opioid misuse disorder.
Like many other parents, Gary Mendell started confronting this challenge. Mendell was running his successful hotel business when he came to realize his son, Brian, was dealing with an opioid problem. For almost 10 years, Brian dealt with the challenge of addiction and all the negative aspects of life accompanying that. Brian lost his life in October 2011, but the world found a new leader on this issue -- his father.
Gary Mendell started seeing that there was really no national organization to confront the challenge. Mendell dug into educating himself to a different level and resolving the issue. He learned that eight of 10 of those who become addicted do so before their 18th birthday prior to their brains being fully developed. This led him to form Shatterproof (www.shatterproof.org). Mendell has thrown himself into the work behind this problem while putting the operation of his business in the hands of trusted lieutenants. He now works full-time to help others from suffering the same fate as his beloved son.
Where did this all start? As stated by Mendell, “This started with the change in prescribing practices initiated by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approval of OxyContin in 1995.”
Between 1999-2014, the number of opioid drugs prescribed quadrupled. The number of people who died from opioids (prescription opioids and heroin) also quadrupled. From 2000-2015, roughly 500,000 Americans died from drug overdoses.
Why is it important to tie heroin together with prescription opioids? Many people become addicted to prescription opioids and then no longer have access to the medication. To alleviate the effects of their addiction, they turn to inexpensive, readily-available heroin.
ADOLESCENT CHALLENGES
The fact that adolescents are the most exposed to opioid addiction falls in line with scientific work directed at the age group. One prominent study was performed in June 2011 through Columbia University and is known in common nomenclature as the CASA study.
This study addresses the normal issues of the age group such as peer pressure, adverse childhood events based around abuse or trauma, genetic predisposition or engaging in other unhealthy behavior like risky driving, violent behavior or unsafe sex.
The most troubling is how the behavior of their grown relatives spurs their errant behavior. We all know how parents can establish good examples for teenagers being hardworking, committed family members, but the flip side -- poor role models -- can be devastating. Nearly half (45.4%) of teenagers live with a parent who is a risky substance user. Worse, 17.8% of children under 18 years old live with an adult (most likely a parent) who has a full-fledged substance abuse disorder.
The most debilitating fact is the parents don’t seem to care. Less than half (42.6%) list personally refraining from tobacco, alcohol, marijuana or abusing prescription or illicit drugs as one of their top three concerns for their teenage children. When parents are setting such a meager example, it follows that we might have poor results from the teenagers in our society.
That would be immensely meaningful on its own, but then the CASA study defines the risks involved because of adolescent physiology. The overriding fact is that the teen brain is more vulnerable to addictive substances. As stated by the study, “A growing body of evidence suggests that due to this increased sensitivity, addictive substances physically alter the reward centers of the brain faster and more intensely in adolescents than in adults, heightening their vulnerability to addiction.”
During adolescent years the area of the brain related to such things as judgment, impulse control and decision making dramatically change in a manner that brings the brain to a fully-developed state. The primary transmitter signaling pleasure is dopamine. Dopamine decreases by a third as adolescents mature to adults. But dopamine initially spikes before falling which may lead to risk-taking behavior as teens seek external sensations.
It is this combination of risk-taking and increased sensation that leads to engaging in behavior while the adolescent’s brain is still developing, thus making it more susceptible to addiction.
The CASA study states, “A growing body of evidence suggests that due to this increased sensitivity, addictive substances physically alter the reward centers of the brain faster and more intensely in adolescents than in adults, heightening their vulnerability to addiction.”
The study found that addictive substances have a longer-lasting effect on teens and, more importantly, that teens are more prone to developing addiction and a lifetime of drug abuse. That accounts for why so many teens end up using opioids, becoming addicted to them and dying from them.
Next week: We look at the breadth and depth of the opioid problem
we have a family unit break down epidemic.
I would agree and believe this is the real problem.
for the record, I had a real bad motorcycle accident in 1979, Major Road rash that required a lot of skin grafting. Atthe time the Doctors had a choice of putting me in a Medical Coma for 3 months or give me all the Percodan i could eat. We chose the Percodan. Without the Opiates I would go in to Shock immediately and hit the Ground from the Pain and be OUT LIKE A LIGHT!!!
I started out taking 1 pill every 3-4 hours, by the end of 11 weeks, I was taking 4 pills every Hour just to survive.
Finally after my body recovered enough, I had Major Skin Grafting done and ALL THE PAIN was Gone, But I was Fully Addicted to Opiates. I spent then next 2 weeks in the Hospital going through Withdrawls.
All of this was done Intentionally and we ALL knew the consequences, but there was NO CHOICE! I almost Never take any type of pain pill as a result unless absolutely necessary, but I will absolutely take the opiates if the need ever arises again. I hope it doesn’t but I know the consequences and will do what is necessary.
If we are really going to BAN Opiates, I propose we start with denying ALL PUBLIC SERVANTS, Or ANY EX PUBLIC SERVANT, ALL OPIATES, Let them Suffer first and tell us how they like it.
On my first visit to Singapore I saw this on the landing card that they gave us on the plane.As I was standing in line waiting to get to the Immigration Officer there was another sign in several languages,including English.Next to the sign there was an "amnesty bin" into which,I assume,one could drop any heroin they had on them.I was so spooked that I was tempted to drop my blood pressure meds into it...just in case.
I agree.
Americans who misuse opioids/have an opioid misuse disorder = 1,900,000
That's 0.558% of the population.
Typical MSM/Socialist "Hey! Look over there! A dog with a fluffy tail" crisis.
Well I’m not going to get in a huge, drawn out argument on this subject but I have Neuropathy in both feet, lower legs up to my knees and now in the last 3 months my hands.
The pain gets so bad that I can’t walk, sleep or pick things up. I’ve tried lyrica and gabapentain and they don’t give me any relief. The lyrica just knocks me out for 2 days and I urinate and defecate while out and I refuse to live like that!!! The gabapentain rips my gastrointestinal system up so that’s not a option. Neither does anything to help with the pain.
I take pain Meds to be able to have somewhat of a normal life, walk, do dishes, take out the trash and the “normal” things that most people take for granted.
I still have bad days that I just have to stay in bed because nothing helps.
The pain can get so bad that sometimes I get so nauseous from it that I can’t even eat!
It’s a royal pain in the ass to get Meds. I have to see my Doctor every month to get the Rx filled. That’s $100.00+ just to see Him, then I have to go pay $129.00 for 100 of one pill and the other one I’m supposed to take is $900.00 for 60 pills!!! I can’t afford that one!!! I also have 18 other Meds I’m supposed to take for Heart and Renal problems. I live on $1288.00 @ month Disability and have rent, water, gas, electric, food and would like to have TV and Internet. So I play the “what bill or other item do I get this time?”
When I got my SSDI out of the blue I get Medicaid from the state. That helped a lot, $3.00 Doctor and Rx co-pays. Then suddenly I got a letter from the state saying that I make “too much money” and I lose that coverage. I asked what happened? I get told that the Fed Poverty level is $1009.00 @ month and at $1288.00 I don’t qualify for coverage. “Sorry that’s the way it is, can’t help You.”
Thank God for the Mission Pantry so I can have food from there but they don’t have everything all the time so I still have to go to the store.
I understand that there are some people that have a drug problem and that sucks for them and those of Us that have a real reason and need for pain control.
Jacking the price out of control doesn’t help. Making those of us that need those Meds suffer because of other people’s problems doesn’t help. Lumping us all into one group is pure BULLSHIT!!!
I don’t have the majic answer but I wish I did...
Folks, you think those numbers are high? Right now there is no public mechanism in place to count how many overdoses occur daily.
Heroin is particularly insidious because it goes from ingesting to get the pleasure to ingesting just to keep from getting the effects of not having it. There is no pleasurable effects, you just need it to function.
Either legalize it and dispense it, without it being cut with grandma’s medicine cabinet.
Or make dope dealing a death penalty offense. (Which will never happen because it would deemed racist and genocidal.)
My story and opinion @ Post #26
Good for you getting sober. I think a lot of people just don’t know what to do to help and have their own lives to deal with.
Tough subject. I predict more stringent regulation to force MD’s to quit writing scripts. And when legal opioids dry up, we will see a massive move to heroin.
they should have pulled the licenses of these quack doctors, closed down their pill mills and put them in jail years ago. like crooked lawyers, crooked doctors ruin life not just for their clients/patients but for everybody
I too have an osteoarthritis problem and am addressing it with the help of my foot doctor and my family doctor who strongly encourages only the use of Tylenol and aspirin of that kind (500 mg aspirin twice a day), even though the NSAIDs like Aleve would give stronger pain relief but would eventually harm the liver and kidneys. I have a health club membership, I do gentle exercise on the bike and arm machine, I eat a healthy diet (limit fried foods) and wear orthodopedic shoes. Put icy hot on the knees at night. I’m nowhere near needing surgery. My doctors say more people die from the abuse of aspirin than the problem itself.
” 33,091 involved an opioid” death according to CDC in 2015.
I think we must be careful when looking at government stats and the CDC. The CDC has been implicated in distorting and out right faking vaccine related death statistics. With respect to opioids, I would imagine that in an attempt to justify their narrative, the CDC would consider a stage 4 cancer patient that died on opioids to be an opioid related death, or perhaps a suicide, or any other terminal condition; if opioids were present or prescribed, it’s an opioid related death.
The other thing your story illustrates is that drugs like Lyrica and gabapentin, although often effective for neuropathic pain, have much higher rates of side effects than opioids in general. Lyrica and gabapentin are often associated with hallucinations, dizziness, abdominal pain, excessive sedation etc. Obviously, these side effects can cause harm, injury or even death as well.
The government is also making it harder and more expensive to receive opiates fir chronic pain. In WI, the pain clinic law has made it dangerous (from a regulatory perspective) for primary care physicians to prescribe opioids. This has created an artificial provider scarcity and funneled patients into certified pain clinics. The clinics will typically not accept insurance and charge what the market will bear. You can thank both parties for that.
A book called “Dreamland” by Sam Quinones lays out the history and the roots of all this in ways that made a lot of things clear to me. From Perdue Pharma to the “brown tar” heroin which is set up to be delivered like damn pizza all over the country. I’ve lived through this up close and personal as a parent for almost 10 years. This book has only been out for 2 years so I’m looking in retrospect and, yes, the man’s timeline of events is dead-on accurate of the shifting horror of all this.
Agreed. My 88 yr old MIL requires max dose Fentanyl for her severe osteo arthritis. She literally can’t function without it due to the level of pain she endures on a daily basis. Requires a monthly prescription renewal from her Dr. of 30+ years, who resists renewing due to federal and state pressure on him as a tactic against opiod addiction.
My 89 year old neighbor, a WWII/Korea combat vet with combat related severe back injuries can no longer get his Vicadin precription filled by the VA. The same VA that was handing them out like candy just a few years ago. He now pays out of pocket through Scott and White so that he can function and get relief from delibilating pain.
So, the people who really need this level of pain relief are penalized by the same ham fisted federal government that spends billions of dollars losing the War on Drugs.
Chronic pain can and will drive you insane.
Firebombing the poppy fields in Afghanistan will go a long way toward putting the CIA out of business.
When the supply dissipates, then we can address the addicted.
************
General Petreus and the entire Democrat deep state would shit bricks if you cut off their money like that.
Our neighbor’s daughter was recently widowed.
Her husband was a county fire captain, that was injured, got strung out on pain meds, lost his job, his wife, and jumped off a bridge on the 5 freeway in Mission Viejo to his death.
He was NOT a guy with tats on his hands and his neck.
I blame the medical community a lot, since it could have happened to me four years ago.
My doctor and PA didn’t say one thing to me, about getting off pain meds quickly after a major surgery.
Fortunately I decided on my own (with my fading mental capacity) to kick the damn drugs if I could.
We need to spread TRUE education about how not to get addicted, to everyone from 10 to 90 years old. First, start with the goal of teaching people the pros and cons of prescription opioids. There are a lot of pros and a lot of reasons to take opioids. Explain how they work to bring pain and cough and diarrhea relief. Carefully explain how in each situation, overuse (using too long, not overdosing) brings nightmare side effects. Tell in no uncertain terms HOW TO KNOW WHEN TO STOP TAKING. Tell How to keep the drugs away from the patient and have someone else distribute them to him as needed.
Knowing the exact effects of opioids and taking those precautions, gives patients the wonderful benefits of the opioids with none of the life crushing harms.
Educating the non addict EXACTLY how these drugs need to be carefully used will PREVENT addiction and that is where to start. Tomorrow. It’s more important for us than teaching algebra.
Next educate addicts. This is much harder. During their addiction, and once they have been newly weaned. Educate them as to all the pitfalls of both legal and illegal forms, reach them. Force them to take literal written TESTS on opioids and addiction to prove they understand how opioids are working on them. Then give every addict people / agencies / online sources to get immediate help in crisis moments.
Eventually perhaps there should be addict “nursing home facilities” where people who had not gotten themselves free of abusing opiates would be locked in. It should keep them safe from themselves and each other, but it should not be a pleasant way to live, and they each should be motivated to attempt to get free of both the drug and the facility (by being ready for real life).
But education is entirely possible and should be very easy and not costly to do, if media methods offered public service time. Start with the non addicted and teach them how to not get addicted. Teach them how the “wonderful feeling” is fake and how it leads to hell. Teach them exactly how and when to stop their helpful pain relief.
I’ve had several major surgeries. Opium and I go way back. I know exactly how to stop pain meds, and when. Cold turkey, the VERY FIRST TIME I think, “well, it’s not hurting NOW, but I will take one for later.” BOOM, I don’t take another pill. Never had any problems if I stick to that.
“Happyland” by Harpers Bizzare is all about drug highs.
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