The Opioid Epidemic in the US.edited

The Opioid Epidemic in the US
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Over the past decade, the opioid epidemic has grown to be one of the worst drug crises in the US. The healthcare system and policymakers alike have raised a significant concern over the intensity of the opioid epidemic, and indeed, it is beyond a one-sector issue. Statistics have indicated that about 800 Americans lose their lives out of opioid-related overdoses (Felter, 2017). Worse off still, it is projected that millions of Americans are fighting opioid addiction while thousands are on the verge of complete dependence. Aside from the risk that opioid poses to the public health system, the crisis is now threatening other sectors of the economy. Some analysts have noted that the epidemic is slowly developing into a threat to national security. So the big question is, where did the crisis start?
Opioids are extracted from the opium poppy plant. The drug can be described in two broad categories; the opium medication drug (legally manufactured), and the illicit drug (illegally manufactured). Deaths occurring from an overdose of opioid overdose can accrue from both these two sources of opioid medication. That is, Opioid medications (oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine, and methadone) may be subscribed by a physician, but they end up being misused, or they are used by persons they were not prescribed to (Felter, 2017). On the other hand, synthetic forms such as fentanyl are illegally manufactured for drug abuse. In the 1990s, opioid was widely used by physicians as painkiller and treatment to patients with cancer or these that had undergone a surgical procedure.

However, in the recent years, healthcare providers have turned into overprescribing the drug for minor conditions such as back and joint pains.
Opioid is relatively cheaper than heroin, and as some have noted, it is up to 50 times more lethal than heroin. Therefore, this has turned opioid medication into a drug for abuse. In 2016, it was reported that opioid-involved deaths were more than 40,000; which translated to a significant decline in the life expectancy of Americans (Felter, 2017). Indeed, the opioid epidemic accrued from the healthcare sector, therefore, it calls for new measures and strategies to subvert the life-threatening crisis.
References
Felter, C. 2017, December, 26. The U.S Opioid Epidemic. Retrieved from: https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/us-opioid-epidemic. [Accessed April 8, 2018]