Opioid abuse is said to be one of the biggest issues that is facing the health industry today in the US.
And some are starting to criticize the government as being the biggest part of the opioid problem, daring to suggest that they might not be the solution to the problem.
In 2015 it's estimated that there were over 50,000 deaths due to a drug overdose; more than one third of adults in the US were prescribed an opioid medication during that year.
Even though the government has spent billions of dollars on the problem, and countless hours of work have been conducted from law enforcement around the country, illegal drugs appear more readily available than ever and there is no shortage of addicts.
To many, it appears that the war on drugs has failed and criminology experts, among others, maintain that the War on Drugs has been counterproductive in addressing the opioid crisis. They argue that it has fueled problems like the creation of counterfeit opioid medications; leading to a rise with drugs being laced with things like fentanyl.
Other issues with government involvement have been moves from the government to encourage pharma companies to create tamper-resistant opioid prescriptions which is supposed to prevent users from being able to crush and snort the pills. What did they turn to instead? They started boiling and injecting the drugs, which is an effective way to spread hepatitis C and HIV.
Some studies indicate that efforts from the state to aggressively monitor health care providers and their actions to give out prescription opioid medications, has in-turn pushed individuals to seek to access the illegal market.
Seeing as their contributions have done little to curb the problem, perhaps it is time for the government to step out of the equation; turning the situation from a criminal one to a matter for healthcare professionals.
Lawmakers in several states around the US, like Ohio and Mississippi, have already looked to point the finger of blame at pharma companies and they've sued a number of big pharma corporations for their alleged contribution in the opioid crisis. Those companies are well-known names like Johnson & Johnson, Purdue Pharma, Teva Pharmaceuticals, and others.
A Solution With Cannabis..
A study that was published several months ago, in Clinical Psychology Review, suggested that cannabis might be a solution to issues such as drug addiction and alcohol abuse. It's no surprise then that we would find alcohol and drug companies spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on anti-cannabis drug policy. They don't want to lose billions of dollars if more people decide to turn to cannabis rather than purchasing their products (alcohol or pharma pills etc).
According to one study that was published in Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research, a majority of patients would prefer cannabis over their opioid medication. The results from that study found that about 93 percent would prefer cannabis to their opioids; patients will use less of their opioid prescription when they also have access to cannabis.
Cannabis has helped millions of patients to seek relief from their symptoms and cannabis doesn't provide a host of negative side effects like Opioid medications do; there has never been one death that was caused from an overdose of cannabis.
Pics:
Education Images/UIG via Getty Images
CDC/VOX via medicalcannabisreport.com/one-way-to-fight-the-opioid-epidemic-medical-marijuana/
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The information that is posted above is not intended or implied to ever be used as any substitute for professional medical advice, or diagnosis or treatment. The above is posted for informational purposes only.
Sources:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/government-opioid-abuse-1501542119
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/07/government-panel-calls-for-a-state-of-emergency-on-opioids/535485/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/08/01/opioid-government-problem-not-solution-editorial-debates/527160001/
https://www.statnews.com/2017/07/31/opioid-emergency-declaration/
https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2017/07/15/makers-of-oxycontin-percocet-sued-by-us-governments-over-opioid-crisis.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-opioids-prescriptions-idUSKBN1AG2K6
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