Opioids

The dangers of opioid abuse are primarily incidental and relatively few pharmacological dangers seem to exist. Morphine, opium, and heroin are taken recreationally by some people over a period of years and they are able to stop without difficulty. Opium can be taken without building up a tolerance to its euphoriant effects, but other opioid addicts must constantly increase their doses. Withdrawal is a painful and lengthy process. The reputation of heroin and morphine as extremely dangerous drugs appears, however, to be unfounded. According to Leavitt even "eminent research workers [and] officials of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs [were not] able to cite a single study or offer any data on harmful effects" (1995, p. 144). As with any drugs, responses to opioids vary and while their euphoric effects are experienced by unhappy people or those in pain, a happy, pain-free individual is likely to experience mild anxiety and fear if s/he uses one of these drugs.

Recent studies do, however, indicate that opioids depres

. . .
at it aids most heroin addicts in managing their lives and reducing opioid use while others hold that it can be as deadly as the other opioids. In addition, methadone has not been shown to produce many cures and its administration by drug recovery programs is an extremely cumbersome process which discourages many recovering addicts. Other pharmacological treatments include buprenorphine and levo-alpha acetylmethadol (LAAM). The former, which has both heroin agonist and antagonist effects, reduces heroin self-administration and cocaine self-administration for those with dual addictions. LAAM also reduces symptoms, may assist with addiction recovery, and has a longer-lasting effect than methadone (which means that daily clinic attendance is not necessary for recovering addicts). LAAM, however, can no longer be patented and pharmaceutical companies seldom produce it. No deterrent drugs are used in the treatment of opioid addiction but two antagonists, naloxone and naltrexone, are employed. Naloxone is a short-acting antagonist, used in treating heroin overdoses, which quickly reverses the drug's effects. Naltrexone is longer-acting and, when administered daily to heroin users, prevents experiencing the drug's positive effec
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Narcotic Drugs, Kubla Khan, Narcotics Anonymous, , Fetal Alcohol, Morpheus Single, Reference Leavitt, De Quincey, leavitt 1995, According Leavitt, heroin addicts, heroin users, heroin morphine, methadone maintenance, leavitt cites, positive effects, heroin morphine methadone, morphine methadone, recovering addicts, opioid abuse, CA Sage,
Approximate Word count = 1242
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

More Essays on Opioids