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Emily Davila

Harris

AP Seminar Pd. 4

3 February 2020

The Nonmedical Usage of Opioids through the Scientific Lens

“America is in the midst of an opioid drug epidemic” (“Understanding the Opioid

Epidemic”). The opioid epidemic is a wider concern among high schoolers who are starting to

first use opioids for nonmedical reasons and is a problem trying to be solved by the scientific

community. The main motives for the nonmedical use of opioids are “‘to relax or relieve tension’

(56.4%), ‘to feel good or get high’ (53.5%), ‘to experiment, see what it's like’ (52.4%), ‘to

relieve physical pain’ (44.8%), and ‘to have a good time with friends’ (29.5%)” (McCabe et al).

Many of these can be prevented by teaching high schoolers healthy ways to cope with stress or

know the long-term outcomes of misusage that can also cause addiction. Less than half of high

schoolers use opioids to relieve pain, but once their body becomes dependent on it. Addiction

arises and causes the body and brain to not function normally. Educating high schoolers early

about the effects with using these drugs can decrease or prevent the statistic of opioid addicts

from rising. The need to educate high schoolers on the lasting effects of misusing prescription

drugs is necessary because of the risk of addiction in another substance such as heroin, the

physiological and psychological problems that can occur in the future.

Overusing nonprescribed opioids can lead to drastic changes in one’s body. Long-term

usage of opioids is a larger concern than small-term usage. Xina M. Uhl, worked in substance

recovery treatment programs in Phoenix, Arizona, and now shares information through her

educational books. “Long-term use produces pus-filled infections (abscesses), collapsed veins,
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heart infections, liver disease, pneumonia and other lung diseases, clogging of blood vessels due

to additives, HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C from using contaminated needles, and death from

respiratory failure” (Uhl). It becomes an addiction, in which the user cannot get enough of the

drug, resulting in always wanting more. Users often like the rush or feeling when taking the

substance. This can be prevented by educating students to not misuse drugs. Misusage could

result in death from the diseases caused or possible overdoses. “How intense this rush is depends

on the strength of the substance and how much is taken. Along with the rush comes a warm flush

of skin, dry mouth, and heavy feeling in the limbs. If the dose is very high nausea and severe

itching can result” (Uhl). The stronger the dose is and the more of it is taken, the more severe the

effects are. The rush is only something so temporary, but the changes left from it are

permanently. High schoolers that use opioids to relieve stress enjoy the rush and sense of

euphoria that is given to them. The stronger the dose is and more of it they use, the more

dependent they become on it and adapt to it. Doctors from the University of Camerino in Italy

tested the withdrawal and relapse symptoms. When one tries to stop, they go through negative

side effects such as “… severe withdrawal syndrome, characterized by somatic signs (e.g.,

stomach cramps, diarrhea, rhinorrhea, sweating, elevated heart rate, and increased blood

pressure)” (Guglielmo et al). The side effects urge users to relapse in order to not feel the

symptoms caused. The consequences experienced are not wanted but the body responds in a

negative way, physically and mentally, because of it.

The psychological effects of the misusage of opioids are just as severe as the

physiological ones. MDs Thomas Kosten and Tony George from Yale University discuss opioid

dependence in their article. “Opioid tolerance, dependence, and addiction are all manifestations

of brain changes resulting from chronic opioid abuse” (Kosten). One’s body becomes tolerant
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and dependent to the side effects of the drug because of the long exposure to it. The brain adapts

to the drugs creating dopamine and stops making it on its own. The opioids begin to artificially

produce it. “…mood-altering drugs, however, artificially create this effect and do so more

efficiently and intensely than natural rewards” (“Why Do People Use Alcohol & Drugs Even

After Facing Consequences?”). Natural rewards being the things in life that bring you pleasure,

besides drugs. Since the effect does not last long, it causes users to want more and become

addicted. The brain starts to produce less dopamine as it becomes dependent on the opioids to

make it, so when users stop taking it, the side effects are more prevalent. “When drugs stimulate

mu opioid receptors in the brain, cells in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) produce dopamine

and release it into the nucleus accumbens (NAc), giving rise to feelings of pleasure” (Kosten).

Users start becoming dependent on opioids to create dopamine, the chemical in the brain that

makes the feeling of pleasure. They become tolerant to the effects of the drug. Relying so much

on opioids to be happy could make it difficult to find happiness elsewhere. Also, high school

students do not always have the money to buy prescription opioids leading to using other

substances, such as heroin, which is cheaper and provides almost the same feeling.

Heroin is a much more powerful and dangerous drug to deal with and as the rise and need

for opioids increases, high schoolers are exposed to other illicit drugs. Professor Joseph J.

Palamar from NYU School of Medicine discusses the association between opioid and heroin

usage. “In addition, frequent nonmedical opioid use is associated with increased risk for heroin

initiation” (Palamar et al). Starting off with using opioids nonmedically puts high schoolers at

risk. If resources were given to students about the drugs that they take, it could possibly decrease

the amount of students using them and not put their lives at risk. Doctors Compton, Jones, and

Baldwin discuss in their article how the use of opioids can lead to using heroin. “Coinciding with
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these efforts to reduce nonmedical prescription-opioid use and overdose are reports of increases

in the rates of heroin use (including both injection and noninjection routes of administration) and

deaths from heroin overdose” (Compton et al). As the rate for nonmedical usage of opioids goes

down, the use of heroin rises. This is mainly the reason why the statistics of opioids users have

decreased, because many go on to using other illicit drugs. The effects of using heroin are much

worse than opioids and can cause overdoses from laced heroin. In the long run, both statistics

could be decreased if high schoolers now were prevented from using them. The use of heroin

also begins when high school students cannot afford opioids, so they begin to use heroin as an

alternative. “Some persons certainly use heroin when they are unable to obtain their preferred

prescription opioid” (Compton et al). When they start using heroin instead, now their body

becomes dependent on the heroin and not the opioids, resulting in a heroin addiction. Most

heroin users started off as opioid addicts that wanted to their fix quicker and cheaper. The effects

of misusing opioids should be shared everywhere to prevent the statistic of addicts from going

up.

The dangers of using opioids for nonmedical reasons is addicting and can lead to serious

consequences; some of which include, physiological and psychological effects, and being

exposed to the use of heroin. With proper knowledge of the effects of misusing opioids, high

schoolers would not face health issues in the future or have the risk of overdosing. Though high

schoolers, as they get older, have to make their own decisions, they should also be able to make

correct ones and think for their future. Educating high schoolers now about the dangers of using

nonprescribed opioids can reduce the number of addicts in our society. Addiction can damage

one, physically and mentally, and starting to use them at an early age is more damaging than

starting at an older age. The number in overdose related deaths would drop, and high schoolers
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would be in a healthy state, not relying on opioids daily. The scientific community would not

face the problem of solving the solution to end addiction if addiction never began in the first

place. Addiction can happen to anyone, preventing it is important.

Total Word Count 1319

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Works Cited

Compton, Wilson M., Jones, Christopher M., Baldwin, Grant T. “Relationship between

Nonmedical Prescription-Opioid Use and Heroin Use”. The New England Journal of

Medicine, 14 January 2016, doi:10.1056/NEJMra1508490. Google Scholar. Accessed 25

Jan. 2020.

Guglielmo, Giordano de, Kallupi, Marsida, Scuppa, Giulia, Demopulos, Gregory, Gaitnaris,

George, Ciccocioppo, Roberto. “Pioglitazone attenuates the opioid withdrawal and

vulnerability to relapse to heroin seeking in rodents.” Psychopharmacology, vol. 234, no.

2, January 2017, p. 223. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s00213-016-4452-1. Accessed 20 Jan.

2020.

Kosten, Thomas R., George, Tony P. “The Neurobiology of Opioid Dependence: Implications

for Treatment” Science & practice perspectives, vol. 1, 2002, doi:10.1151/spp021113.

Google Scholar. Accessed 26 Jan. 2020

McCabe, Sean E., Boyd, Carol J., Cranford, James A., Teter, Christian J. “Motives for

Nonmedical Use of Prescription Opioids Among High School Seniors in the United

States: Self-treatment and Beyond.” Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2009.

doi:10.1001/archpediatrics.2009.120. Google Scholar. Accessed 8 Jan. 2020.

. Palamar, Joseph J., Jenni A. Shearston, and Charles M. Cleland. “Discordant reporting of

nonmedical opioid use in a nationally representative sample of US high school seniors.”

American Journal of Drug & Alcohol Abuse, Vol. 42 No. 5, Advanced Placement Source,

September 2016, p530-538, doi:10.1080/00952990.2016.1178269. EBSCOhost. Accessed

8 Jan. 2020.
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Uhl, Xina M. “Preventing and Treating Addiction.” National Highlight Inc, 2018. EBSCOhost.

Accessed 22 Jan. 2020.

“Understanding the Opioid Epidemic.” Directed by John Grant, PBS, 17 January 2018. Accessed

21 Jan. 2020.

“Why Do People Use Alcohol & Drugs Even After Facing Consequences?” Butler Center for

Research, 1 Sept. 2015. hazeldenbettyford.org/education/bcr/addiction-research/drug-

abuse-brain-ru-915#. Accessed 25 January 2020.