The opioids issue is becoming a nuisance in the U.S., yet little effort has been put into place to address it. According to the National Institute of Drugs Abuse (NIDA) (2021), approximately 50,000 Americans die of opioids-relate abuse, resulting from the misuse and addiction of medicinal prescription. Moreover, the addiction-related damages caused by abusing opioids result in losses amounting up to $78.5 billion per year. In my view, these damages are enough to distort public health wellness. I believe the opioid issue has persisted because of a lack of adequate information and public awareness.
First, the problem started because of minimum research concerning the addictive capacity of opioids. NIDA (2021) explained that the pharmaceutical companies in the late 1990s assured the medical fraternity that opioid drugs were not addictive. The medical stakeholders allowed patients to consume these drugs without even conducting further research. I am confident that more research would have revealed these drugs’ addictiveness, and healthcare providers would avoid prescribing them at a higher rate. Notably, like American Medical Association (AMA) (2020) argued, additional research can help in creating alternative drugs that are non-addictive. The goal of research in medicines and healthcare is to improve treatment and recovery processes that have minimal effects on the patients.
Consequently, the public is not well informed about this issue. Public health efforts are only effective through personal responsibility, where individuals are responsible for ensuring their own wellness. I believe that this personal responsibility is unachievable if the public is uneducated about the health issue. Kafer (2018) explained that people take opioids to solve a health problem instead of other additional drugs, which people take for recreational purposes. People would have avoided these drugs and looked for alternatives if they understood that the drugs were dangerous.
References
Kafer, K. (2018, September 13). Kafer: Opioids epidemic narrative omits the role of personal responsibility. Denver Post. https://www.denverpost.com/2018/09/13/opioid-epidemic-narrative-personal-responsibility/
NIDA. (2021). Opioid Overdose Crisis. https://www.drugabuse.gov/drug-topics/opioids/opioid-overdose-crisis
