It's Everywhere.
Substance abuse is anywhere and everywhere. It can affect anyone no matter the age, sex, gender, social status, or ethnicity. It surrounds us wherever we are, and often times goes completely unnoticed by anyone. You may never truly know when someone may be suffering. They could be your coworker, your neighbor, your classmate.
Unlike domestic abuse, substance abuse does not always display noticeable, physical ailments. Yet, the problems and even fatalities that this abuse takes is unimaginable.
There are a number of substances that have lasting effects on those who develop an addiction towards them. Each instance, though vastly different, are just as terrorizing and deadly. Here are the most common substances that are not only addictive, but very easily obtainable by most anyone:
Alcohol, Tobacco, and Opioids
According to the "2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health," conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, an estimate of 164.8 million people aged 12 or older in the US were classified as past month substance users. This included the use of alcohol, tobacco or illicit drugs / opioids. Within this study, there were approximately 20.3. million people who has a Substance Use Disorder (SUD) related to alcohol or illicit drugs in the past year. 14.8 million had an alcohol use disorder while 8.1 million who had an illicit drug use disorder.
Alcohol
In 2018, the survey reported that 139.8 million Americans age 12 or older were classified as "Past Month" alcohol users, 67.1 million were "Binge Drinkers," and 16.6 million were "Heavy Drinkers." Between the ages of 12 to 17, 2.2 million had reported that they consumed alcohol in the past month, and 1.2 million had concluded that they binge drank in that same period.
When excessive drinking becomes an issue, this "problem drinking" becomes an actual medical diagnosis known as AUD. AUD, or "Alcohol use disorder" is a chronic relapsing disorder of the brain that is characterized by the impaired ability to stop or control the use of alcohol, regardless of the consequences. It is estimated that 15 million people living in the United States have AUD. In 2018, approximately 401,000 adolesnces between the ages of 12-17 were diagnosed with AUD.
Tobacco
In the same 2018 study, the NSDUH reported that 58.8 million people were tobacco users. Of them, 47 million 12 years and older were past month smokers. Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death. The CDC reported that smoking causes more than 480,000 deaths each year in the United States.
It's not only tobacco that does damage, either. In the 2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey, conducted by the CDC, indicated a 78% increase in e-cigarette use among high school students. There was also a 49% increase in middle school students.
Opioids
The NSDUH reported that in 2018, 10.3 million people aged 12 and older had misused opioids in the past year. A majority of them motioned how they misused prescription pain relievers. An estimate of 2 million people who are 12 and older have an opioid use disorder. The CDC reports than an average of 130 Americans die each day due to an opioid overdose.
Prescription Opioids
Prescription opioids can be used as treatment of moderate-to-severe pain, and is often prescribed after surgery, injury, or even in treating cancer. In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in the use of prescription opioids for chronic, non-cancer related pain, such as back pain or even osteoarthritis. The use of prescription opioids have been shown to hold serious risks and there is a lack in evidence about their long-term effectiveness to cure such pain.
Any who take prescription opioids run the risk of becoming addicted to them. Once addicted, they possibility of waning off of them is almost impossible. In 2016, more than 11.5 million Americans had reported misusing prescriptions in the past year.
Overuse of prescription opioids can make someone stop breathing, and can lead to their death.
Prescription opioid overdose deaths often involve a substance called benzodiazepines, which are central nervous system depressants that are used to sedate, induce sleep, prevent seizures, and relieve anxiety.
The following contain benzodiazepines: alprazolam (Xanax®), diazepam (Valium®), and lorazepam (Ativan®).
2.3% of high school seniors misused OxyContin in the past year
How did issue become an issue to begin with?
In the late 1990s, pharmaceutical companies had reassured medical comminutes that patients taking these opioids would not become addicts, and healthcare providers began to prescribe these drugs at greater rates than before. This then led to a wide sores diversion and misuse of these medications before it became publubally apparent that they are in fact highly addictive; thus, leading to an increase of overdose.
In 2017, more than 47,000 Americans died as a result of an opioid overdose, including prescription opioids, heroin, and illicitly manufactured fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid. In the same year, an estimate of 1.7 million people in the United States suffered from substance use disorders related to prescription opioid pain relievers, and 652,000 suffered from a heroin use disorder (and this is not mutually exclusive).
According to data collected in 2018, 128 people in the United states dies from an opioid overdose every day.
Nearly 85% of overdose deaths involved illicitly manufactured fentanyls,* heroin, cocaine, or methamphetamine (alone or in combination)
Such misuse and addiction of these opioids, be it pain relievers, heroin, or fentanyl, has developed into a serious national crisis.
Heroin
Heroin use has increased sharply across the United States among men and women, most age groups, and all income levels. Some of the greatest increases occurred in demographic groups with historically low rates of heroin use, including women, people who are privately insured, and people with higher incomes.
In 2018, around 15,000 people died from a drug overdose involving heroin in the United States. That's a rate of about 5 deaths for every 100,000 Americans.
In the same year, the NSDUH stated that approximately 808,000 people had used heroin.
Heroin is an illegal, highly addictive opioid drug. An overdose can cause slow and shallow breathing, coma, and death. Often times, anyone who uses Heroin is often taking it along additional drugs and even alcohol. These mixtures of substances then leads to an increased risk of overdose.
What exactly is fentanyl?
Pharmaceutical fentanyl is a synthetic opioid pain reliever, approved for treating severe pain, typically advanced cancer pain. It is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. It is prescribed in the form of transdermal patches or lozenges and can be diverted for misuse and abuse in the United States.
Most recent cases of fentanyl-related harm, overdose, and death in the U.S. are linked to illegally made fentanyl. It is sold through illegal drug markets for its heroin-like effect. It is often mixed with heroin and/or cocaine as a combination product—with or without the user’s knowledge—to increase its euphoric effects.
Rates of overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone, which includes fentanyl, increased 10% from 2017 to 2018. Over 31,000 people died from overdoses involving synthetic opioids (other than methadone) in 2018.
The Aftermath
The number of drug overdose deaths decreased by 4% from 2017 to 2018, but the number of drug overdose deaths was still four times higher in 2018 than it was in 1999. Nearly 70% of the 67,367 deaths in 2018 involved an opioid.
From 1999–2018, almost 450,000 people died from an overdose involving any opioid, including prescription and illicit opioids.
This rise in opioid overdose deaths can be understood in three distinct waves.
- The first wave began with increased prescribing of opioids in the 1990s, with overdose deaths involving prescription opioids increasing since at least 1999.
- The second wave began in 2010, with rapid increases in overdose deaths involving the use of heroin
- The third wave began in 2013, with significant increases in overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids, particularly those involving illicitly manufactured fentanyl.
Many opioid-involved overdose deaths also include other drugs being used as well.
What can be done?
Well, if caught earlier, the abuse of substances can be cured. There are a number of organizations that are willing, and were created as a venue of help. One such organization would be Slave 2 Nothing, a non-profit that aids in both substance abuse and human trafficking.
The organization was created by the owner and heiress of the popular fast-food company, In-N-Out Burger. In response to her father whom she had lost to an overuse of alcohol when she was young, and her husband who lost his brother to substance abuse, the organization was created as a means to aid anyone who feels as though they are chained to their ailment.
The organization works in three branches:
PREVENTION - Helping prevent adults, teens and children within our communities from being enslaved to any substance by promoting education and increased awareness.
TREATMENT - Helping anyone enslaved to a substance through interventions, detox, short or long-term care, inpatient and outpatient programs, and holistic therapy (including psychological, emotional, medical, physical, social, cognitive, and spiritual).
SUPPORT - Helping those no longer addicted to a substance restore their lives, relationships, and direction through understanding their life purpose.
If you, or someone you know, is suffering from any form of substance abuse, do know that there is help.
National Substance Abuse Helpline
1-800-662-HELP(4357)
References
1. Wide-ranging online data for epidemiologic research (WONDER). Atlanta, GA: CDC, National Center for Health Statistics; 2020. Available at http://wonder.cdc.gov.
2. Wilson N, Kariisa M, Seth P, et al. Drug and Opioid-Involved Overdose Deaths—United States, 2017-2018. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2020;69:290-297.
3. https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/atod
4. https://www.slave2nothing.org/
5. https://www.drugabuse.gov/drug-topics/opioids/opioid-overdose-crisis
6. https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohols-effects-health/alcohol-use-disorder
7. https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/pubs/featured-topics/VS-overdose-deaths-illicit-drugs.html
8. https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/opioids/heroin.html
9. https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/opioids/fentanyl.html
10. https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/opioids/prescribed.html
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