Prescription Painkillers and the risk of Drug Abuse

Like all Americans risk becoming injured every day from car accidents, work mishaps, sports injuries, and during workouts at the gym. The same potent painkillers that are used for cancer and arthritis patients often treat persistent and acute pain. Pain management can quickly morph into Substance Abuse and then Chemical Dependency, because patients using opiate-based painkillers are not fully informed of the addictive nature of these drugs.

Opiates elicit their powerful effects by activating opiate receptors that are widely distributed throughout the brain and body. Once an opiate reaches the brain, it quickly activates the opiate receptors that are found in many brain regions and produces an effect that correlates with the area of the brain involved. Two important effects produced by opiates, such as morphine, are pleasure (or reward) and pain relief. The brain itself also produces substances known as endorphins that activate the opiate receptors. Research indicates that endorphins are involved in many things, including respiration, nausea, vomiting, pain modulation, and hormonal regulation. Within the reward system, the morphine activates opiate receptors in the VTA, nucleus accumbens, and cerebral cortex (refer to the Introduction for information on the reward system).

Research suggests that stimulation of opiate receptors by morphine results in feelings of reward and activates the pleasure circuit by causing greater amounts of dopamine to be released within the nucleus accumbens. This causes an intense euphoria, or rush, that lasts only briefly and is followed by a few hours of a relaxed, contented state. This excessive release of dopamine and stimulation of the reward system can lead to addiction. Substance Abuse often develops gradually and many victims are unaware that they are in need of a Drug addiction treatment until they are highly dependent on opiates.

Research indicates that every year nearly two million Americans use prescription opioid painkillers, and in some communities, drug abuse involving prescription painkillers has overtaken cocaine and marijuana use. The 2002 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) showed that approximately 9% of the U.S. population has used pain relievers illegally in their lifetime. An estimated 1.6 million Americans used prescription-type pain relievers non-medically for the first time in 1998. This represents a significant increase since the 1980s, when there were generally fewer than 500,000 new users per year. Among youth ages 12-17, the incidence rate increased from 6.3 per 1,000 potential new users in 1990 to 32.4 per 1,000 potential new users in 1998. For young adults age 18-25, there was also an increase in the rate of first use between 1990 and 1998 (from 7.7 to 20.3 per 1,000 potential new users).

In response to the pervasiveness of opiates use, and the subsequent Substance Abuse problem in California, the Waismann Method offers patients a highly successful rapid detox Drug addiction treatment. Not only does this procedure reverse opiate dependency, it also eliminates the cravings that often accompany traditional detoxification treatments. The Waismann Method has been a clinically proven solution for Substance Abuse involving a wide range of opiates including OxyContin, Vicodin, Norco, methadone, heroin, Stadol, LAAM, Lortab, Percocet, Dilaudid, Darvocet, Percodan, Lorcet, MS Contin and others.

If you or a loved one seeks drug rehab in California, consider the Waismann Method of rapid detox. Contact our California drug rehab specialists and we will assess your case.