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Opioids are powerful painkillers, but they’re also incredibly addictive, and there’s a significant risk of overdose if they’re abused. According to the World Health Organization, 39.5 million people were living with drug use disorders in 2021, and prescription opioid abuse accounts for a growing percentage of those addictions.
If you’re not following opioid crisis trends, you could be forgiven for thinking these drugs are old news, as people have been talking about opioids for decades. But the problem is ever-present and must be taken seriously.
Understanding Recent Opioid Crisis Trends
Opioids are a class of drugs that act on the body’s opioid receptors to block pain signals. There are many drugs that fall into this category, including morphine, fentanyl, tramadol, heroin and oxycodone.
These drugs can be a lifeline for people experiencing severe or chronic pain, but in addition to being powerful painkillers, they also create a feeling of confidence and euphoria, which leads to some people abusing them. In addition, they’re addictive, and it’s possible to build up a tolerance to them, causing people to take increasingly large doses.
One side effect of opioids is respiratory depression, which can be fatal. Mixing opioids with other drugs or alcohol can increase the risk of a fatal overdose.
Overview of Previous Waves
The first wave of the opioid crisis was in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when prescription opioids were relatively common. Doctors noticed a rise in overdose deaths due to these drugs. The second wave was in 2010 and was linked to heroin.
The third wave of opioid addiction came later when synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, became more readily available. Some drug manufacturers marketed these opioids as a safer alternative to traditional drugs, but that wasn’t the case. Recent opioid epidemic updates focus on the failure of regulation and concerns that the pharmaceutical industry is too heavily motivated by profit.
The Emergence of the Fourth Wave
We’re now seeing a fourth wave of opioid-related deaths. Methamphetamines and cocaine are being used alongside fentanyl. This is a dangerous trend, as combining drugs in this way can increase the risk of overdose and lessen responses to the drugs used to treat an overdose.
Factors Contributing to the Fourth Wave
Opioid addiction is something that affects people of all ages and from all walks of life. Some people who are struggling with opioid addiction had never used illicit drugs and became dependent on opioids after being prescribed them by a doctor. Others may have fallen into a pattern of drug use and decided to experiment with synthetic opioids, unaware of how addictive they can be.
Opioid overprescription was a driver of addiction in the early days of the crisis, but we’ve seen a consistent decline in opioid prescription rates in the United States over the last decade. Despite this, deaths related to opioid misuse have increased over the last decade. It’s thought that the increase in the availability of synthetic opioids has been a major contributor to the third and fourth waves of the crisis.
It’s difficult to clamp down on opioids, both because synthetic ones are so readily available on dark markets and because many people do need to take them on prescription. Because of this, health care professionals are looking at other ways to manage the crisis, such as providing access to Narcan to help treat overdoses.
How Opioid Abuse Affects Communities
Opioid abuse can devastate families and even whole communities. In 2020, the rate of drug overdose deaths increased by 31% compared to 2019. Surprisingly, the highest number of deaths was in the 35-44 age group, despite the stereotype that teenagers and young adults are more likely to experiment with drugs.
Opioid addiction can lead to drug-seeking and risk-taking behavior. Those who are struggling with addiction may steal, get into debt or behave in other ways that put their relationships and families at risk. These behaviors can have a long-lasting impact on communities, especially in rural areas, reducing the overall quality of life and damaging the economy in those neighborhoods.
Response and Intervention Strategies
The opioid crisis is a worldwide issue, and approaches to addressing opioid addiction vary. It takes a multipronged approach of prevention, harm reduction and treatment to make a lasting impact on the problem.
Physicians are thinking twice before prescribing opioids, using other medications where possible and monitoring those who are given such medication carefully. Law enforcement officers are working to take illicit drugs such as fentanyl off the streets, making it more difficult for people to access them.
Education is also an important part of the equation. Many young people are unaware of the risks of mixing stimulants and depressants or think synthetic drugs are safe. It’s unrealistic to think that simply telling people “Don’t do drugs” will work, but increasing awareness of the risks associated with mixing drugs could help reduce the likelihood of overdose.
The final part of the equation is recovery. Opioids are highly addictive, and many people who go into rehab still relapse once the drugs are out of their system. A long-lasting recovery requires a person to learn what triggers their desire to take drugs and to build coping mechanisms to help them avoid those triggers and say no.
Learning these skills takes time, and a good rehab center will offer medically assisted detox to help a person go through withdrawal and provide ongoing counseling and therapy to help them stay drug-free. All this needs to be provided in a nonjudgmental manner by specialists who understand it may take more than one try for a person to beat their addiction.
Getting Help for Opioid Addiction
More than three decades after the original opioid crisis, we’re still seeing the damaging effects of these drugs. Recent opioid crisis trends show the battle is far from won. However, help is available. If you or someone close to you is struggling with opioid addiction, don’t try to fight it alone. Call FHE Health today to book a confidential consultation with our drug addiction counselors. We’re here to support you as you take the first steps to recovery.
