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Opioid Epidemic:
Background Information
What are opioids?
What leads to addiction?
What are opioids being prescribed for?
What is the extent of this crisis?
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Prescription drugs and illicit drugs
- Painkillers
- Such as morphine, methadone, Buprenorphine, hydrocodone, and oxycodone.
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People become addicted to prescription painkiller
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Turn to street drugs when prescription runs out
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So addicting because activate reward centers in the user’s brain that are very powerful
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Pain relief after surgery
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Serious injury
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Relief from illnesses, such as cancer
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Amount of opioid prescriptions dispensed by U.S. pharmacies has nearly tripled from 1991 to 2011
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27,000 accidental drug overdoses in 2007 in the U.S. (one death every 19 minutes)
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