Painkillers

Posted: November 26th, 2013

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Painkillers

            Medical experts attribute pain as one of the major reasons that drives people into acquiring pain-relieving drugs that are generally referred to as the narcotics. Narcotic prescriptions are issued with other complementary drugs, as they tend to be strong on the human body. Alternatively, instead of prescribing two or more type of medication, the narcotic may be mixed with other drug compositions and manufactured as a single pill. Narcotics can be accessed in medical institutions as well as chemists and pharmacies and the latter has created a significant point of concern within the medical field (Alcohol Drug Abuse Resource Center, 2011). This is due to that fact that, individuals do not require an authorized prescription sheet from a doctor or medical practitioner to access the drugs and therefore the combination factor is solely left into the hands of a quack (user). This uncontrolled drug usage holds a high potential for narcotics abuse, which is viewed as the use of the identified drugs other than for pain relieving.

As noted by research conducted by the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service, narcotics are the second most abused medical substances in the US. Within the 2007 period, at least twenty-one percent, translating to 5.2 million individuals falling above the age of twelve admitted to the abuse of narcotics. Currently, at least seven million individuals are believed to be in possession and abuse of narcotics in the US (Office of Applied Studies, 2009).

Alternatively, pain-relieving pills can be ground into fine powder and mixed with water or other user-friendly diluents then introduced into the body system through an injection (United Nations Asia and Far East Institute 12). The powder may also be inhaled through the nasal passage to achieve the same results. However, these two latter techniques have proven to be fatal when administered in extremely high levels since they are absorbed directly into the blood stream unlike the pills that have to undergo digestion before being released in non-toxic doses. Annually, at least ninety thousand cases of narcotic abuse are reported in hospitals as the affected patients seek help from instances involving miscalculations of dosages administer through injections or snuffing. Pain relievers work in the body by masking the undesired feeling in pain receptors that are located in the central nervous system, the brain and the digestive tract. This pain masking is what creates the high feeling as a state of elation is achieved by the drug user.

Heroin was identified as the most abused narcotic and although the populace has been educated concerning the harmful effects of narcotics abuse, the numbers of narcotic abusers are increasing on a gradual basis. Heroin contains opium, which seems to have a higher rate of establishing drug highness, as closely behind it is the abuse of Oxycodone, a painkiller that is synthesized from thebaine, an opium related constituent. When Oxycodone is combined with Tylenol, it gives rise to a medical analgesic referred to as Percocet, the other most abused painkiller in the US (Office of Applied Studies, 2009). A weaker form of the latter drug, known as Vicodin is also another abused narcotic. To reduce narcotic abuse, manufacturers have turned to the creation of narcotic gels that cannot be ingested and rather have to be applied to the painful areas such as an inflamed body part. For instance, the Voltaren Gel is used for muscular pains and it offers alleviation once the affected area has been rubbed on. The biggest weakness with this approach however, is the idea of internal pain alleviation. Gels cannot be consumed due to their drug compositions, this inhibits absolute phasing out of the pills, and therefore the problem still looms as to which method would offer effective narcotic abuse control while holding internal pain alleviation at the best of interests. Other than the ease of acquisition, narcotic abuse owes a considerable deal of liability to the various techniques that can be used before an individual achieves a high. Most narcotics are packaged in pill form and therefore ingesting them in large doses increases once chances of being high.

From another perspective, some narcotic abusers are introduced or rather forced into the habit by prolonged use of the abused substance during their treatment periods. For instance, morphine is used as a form of strong pain relievers in cases like cancer that are very painful. However, by the time the medical condition has been dealt with, the body is usually pre-conditioned to work under that drug influence such that the individual is rather forced into narcotic abuse for the sake of the body. Failure to offer the body with the given drug result into withdrawal symptoms as those that accompany drug abusers and it therefore requires a controlled system in which the body is gradually released from narcotics hold by reduction of daily provisions until safety is achieved (United Nations Asia and Far East Institute 17). Although the latter form of addiction is unintended, continued use of pain relievers for the motive of pleasure creation is still very harmful. Individuals caught up in narcotic abuse should therefore seek medical attention to aid reduce the addiction patterns before fatalism occurs.

Works Cited

Alcohol Drug Abuse Resource Center. Prescription Abuse. 2011. Web. 2 Feb. 2011. <http://www.addict-help.com/prescriptionabuse.asp>.

Embey, M. L., & Christine, R. H. Drug Abuse and Drug Abuse Research (1991): The Third Triennial Report to Congress from the Secretary, Department of Health Services. Collingdale, PA: DIANE Publishing, 1999. Print.

Lowinson, J. H., Pedro, R., & Robert, B. M. Substance abuse: a comprehensive text book. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2005. Print.

Office of Applied Studies. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Statistics. 24 Aug. 2009. Web. 2 Feb. 2011. <http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/>

Rosa, M., Bernard, S., & Richard, L. Conducting drug abuse research with minority populations: advances and issues. New York, NY: Routledge, 1998. Print.

United Nations Asia and Far East Institute. Research on the Trends of Drug Abuse and Effective Measures for the Treatment of the Drug Abusers in Asian Countries. 31 July 2003. Web. 2 Feb. 2011. <http://www.unafei.or.jp/english/pdf/researchon.pdf>