Opioid Addiction Is Getting Worse

IS LOVE THE ONLY SOLUTION? –

Dec. 9, 2021 – Maia Szalavitz writes for the New York Times about her experience being hooked on heroin. In her case, it wasn’t the happiness that sucked her in; it was the “relief from my dread and anxiety, and a soothing sense that I was safe, nurtured and unconditionally loved.”

The isolation during the pandemic likely contributed to this skyrocketing problem. Anyone can see the draw of addicts to the drug if they feel alone or despondent. We can empathize with drug abusers who use it to keep those feelings of love, especially if they come from a broken place.

Tragically, babies born to mothers dependent on opioids will be born addicted to opioids and face extreme developmental challenges. Legal opioids received FDA approval for pain relief and became a multi-billion dollar industry. Pause and think about every time you go to the pharmacy and the high cost of medicine without insurance. Now multiply that times hundreds of millions.

That is the industry money we’re discussing.

In the ’90s, doctors were being pressured to provide opioids with more prescriptions for pain relief. At that key moment, several companies, the main one being Purdue Pharmaceuticals, began selling their opioids like OxyContin.

These pharmaceutical companies spent $40 million between 2013 and 2015 advertising to doctors. They had hundreds of traveling salesmen who would pitch their opioid drugs and encourage doctors to prescribe them. All the while, the pharmaceutical companies intentionally underplayed the drugs’ addictive nature.