What are Opioids?
Opioids are commonly prescribed because of their effective analgesic, or pain-relieving, properties. Medications that fall within this class - sometimes referred to as narcotics - include morphine, codeine, and related drugs. Morphine, for example, is often used before or after surgery to alleviate severe pain. Codeine, because it is less efficacious than morphine, is used for milder pain. Other examples of opioids that can be prescribed to alleviate pain include oxycodone (OxyContin), propoxyphene (Darvon), hydrocodone (Vicodin), and hydromorphone (Dilaudid), as well as meperidine (Demerol), which is used less often because of its side effects. In addition to their pain-relieving properties, some of these drugs - for example, codeine and diphenoxylate (Lomotil) - can be used to relieve coughs and diarrhea.
Most people who take prescription medications take them responsibly; however, the nonmedical use or abuse of prescription drugs remains a serious public health concern. Certain prescription drugs - opioids, central nervous system (CNS) depressants, and stimulants - when abused, can alter the brain's activity and lead to dependence and possibly addiction.
An estimated 9 million people aged 12 and older used prescription drugs for nonmedical reasons in 1999; more than a quarter of that number reported using prescription drugs nonmedically for the first time in the previous year. We would like to reverse this trend by increasing awareness and promoting additional research on this topic.
According to a recent national survey of primary care physicians and patients regarding substance abuse, 46.6 percent of physicians find it difficult to discuss prescription drug abuse with their patients. Prescription drug abuse is not a new problem, but one that deserves renewed attention. We hope this scientific report is useful to the public, particularly to individuals working with the elderly, who because of the number of medications they may take for various medical conditions, may be more vulnerable to misuse or abuse of prescribed medications (Excerpts from the National Institute of Drug Abuse NIDA Reports). |
