I had no desire to get high off the pain killers, hell, they didn't even do anything for me in that regard - but I could feel the need to take them. I can easily see how someone without the awareness, willpower and a number of other factors could give in and start down the path of self-destruction. It was a terrifying place for me to be in, and as someone who has responsibly taken prescription opiates for multiple other oral surgeries as well as a septoplasty it was one I never thought possible.
The war on drugs really needs to come to an abrupt end, people who need opioids to manage their pain should have them, people who are hopelessly addicted should have access in a controlled and safe manner, and for crying out loud can we just legalize weed already?
In fact, I don't know anyone who got addicted to opioids due to overprescription, but I know several people who didn't get prescribed opioids they needed because of the fears of overprescription, and thus were left in terrible pain. I don't know how you draw the line, but I think it's evil to leave people in pain because you're afraid they'll use the drugs for fun. Most people who take opioids do not get addicted.
A very real factor of this crisis is the pain aversion, people working in dentistry have higher rates of depression and suicide due to the psychological effects of inflicting pain on people (unless the dentist is played by steve martin ofc) and it's a problem without clear solutions. Legalization of marijuana would probably help reduce the mild-moderate pain classes in a non-addictive manner, but for extreme pain there isn't a good solution.
Anyways... there are plenty of first-hand accounts and plenty of studies showing the connection here, please do a little research before posting unsupported claims.
I haven't seen any evidence that actual rates of heroin abuse increasing year over year. Just wealthier people dying from poorly cut drugs at a more alarming rate.
This was the most recent report I could find: https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUH-FRR1-2...
I too have had a major surgery several years ago. I was given morphine and than Oxycodone when discharged, but not at high enough dosage for adequate relief - 3 or 4 days of pure misery. There is no reason, when short-term opiate use is easily available, for patients to suffer like this.
It seems like the medical establishment was really pushing opiates for years, even when they probably weren't needed. Now they're swung too far in the other direction: under-prescribing them for fear of overdosage, addiction, and even punishment by the DEA and government. Wish we could find some middle ground.
My father is a Anthologist and they are very careful with how much they give. It is a major issue.
For some reason, the US, including doctors, have developed a anti-pain philosophy where they oversubscribe these drugs and it is know to cause addiction.
Then a few things happened: (1) more data was collected that suggested when used for severe pain, the addiction potential was low, (2) adequately controlled pain leads to quicker recovery times and (3) there was a lot of untreated pain at the time.
As a result, opioid use when way up. One could argue it went to far with very strong opioids being given for mild or moderate pain.
The sad thing is that we're already seeing doctors get more stingy with opioids. My guess is we'll swing too far in the other direction and in a decade we'll have people with severe, incurable cancer pain being told "you don't need opioids".
It would be illegal for Purdue to promote on any other than 12 hours. It's called off-label promotion and companies pay multi-billion dollar fines for it.
At the very least it's a case of consumer product safety liability and negligence fueled by profit motive.
A lot of capitalism's woes would be overcome should that standard be applied.