Drug Dealers Get Off Scot-Free

More Americans now use prescription opioids than smoking cigarettes, according to a report by the U.S. Surgeon General. This happens to kill more Americans than car crashes do. Drug overdose deaths have risen by 33% over the past 5 years. Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that they know of no other medication routinely used for a nonfatal condition that kills patients so frequently.

Illegal drugs and/or misused prescription drugs in 2015 mounted to the use of 27 million Americans. Addiction to these misused drugs, addiction to opioids and heroin usage costs the U.S. more than $193 billion each year. Addiction affects 26% of those using opioids for chronic non-cancer pain. Overdose deaths appear to be part of the life expectancy drop between 2014 and 2015. Overall more than 50,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2015, a rise of 11% from 2014.

Opioid withdrawal is hell on earth and the person feels they are coming undone at the seams and crawling out of their skin. It’s literally physical and mental torture for anyone under the influence of drugs. Becoming addicted can happen to anyone, no matter where you live or how great a family you came from. Drug users do not look any different than you and me and could resemble your best friend, mother or grandfather. They might also include teens and seniors, wealthy or the poor.

Oxycontin and opioid painkillers are the drugs that have been identified as the primary gateway drugs to heroin, and the transition from prescription opioids to street heroin is a very easy one. Even though heroin has topped the list of deadliest drugs in the U.S. in 2014, fentanyl is quickly catching up, with overdose deaths doubling between 2013 and 2014.

The drug-induced brain changes may affect you for life with the use of opioid and can have lifelong ramifications.

Opiate use promotes:

• Bowel dysfunction (severe constipation that can lead to intestinal rupture)
• Endocrine system (hormonal) problems
• Sexual dysfunction and/or reduced fertility
• Reduced testosterone levels in men
• Bone disorders

Recent research indicates that half of all Americans are living with chronic illness, and many addiction specialists believe pain and hopelessness are fueling the opioid crisis we are living with. Pharmaceutical companies need to be held accountable for their role in creating this problem and other health crises. The drug addiction epidemic is snowballing and yet the drug companies are still not doing much to prevent people from dying from their drugs. Some actually appear to be promoting and supporting drug addiction on purpose. West Virginia recently filed a lawsuit against three national painkiller distributors and one physician, accusing them of creating an epidemic of addiction in the county. The three-drug distributors sent 423 million hydrocodone and oxycodone pills to West Virginia pharmacies and doctors’ offices.

The opioid makers hire dozens of the DEA officials and no less than 42 DEA officials joined their corporate ranks. There are many natural pain control methods that one may wish to consider before taking prescription pain killers. Try eliminating or reducing most grains and sugars from the diet, take a high-quality, animal-based omega-3 fat, optimize your production of vitamin D, consider medical cannabis and kratom, try using emotional freedom techniques (EFT), K-Laser therapy, acupuncture, physical therapy, massage, astaxanthin, ginger, curcumin, Boswellia, bromelain, cetyl myristoleate, evening primrose, black current and borage oils, cayenne cream and by grounding yourself by walking barefoot on the earth. Avoid prescription drugs if at all possible, and if not, refrain from a lengthy usage.

Dr Fredda Branyon