You’ve read about it. You’ve seen it on television. Maybe you or a loved one has experienced it. It’s the opioid epidemic, a widespread addiction to opioid (opium-like) drugs.
How widespread? Well, the places affected by opioid epidemic problems include many regions of the United States and the world:
West Virginia. In addition to its striking natural beauty, regions of Appalachia such as West Virginia are known for other things, including a massive opioid problem.
The state has seen huge numbers of people addicted to OxyContin, the brand name for the opioid drug oxycodone. This addiction might be fueled in part of the existence of pill mills, facilities that illegally issue huge amounts of prescription drugs.
Congressional investigators claim that drug manufacturers shipped more than 20 million pills of the prescription opioids oxycodone and hydrocodone to two pharmacies in a West Virginia town. The population of the town? 2,900 people.
Kentucky. The state of Kentucky is suing several pharmaceutical companies and has sued such companies in the past.
The state claims that the pharmaceutical companies misled the U.S. public by claiming that their drugs were not addictive. These claims, according to the state, contributed to the widespread addiction of drugs such as oxycodone in the state.
New Hampshire. New Hampshire is another state known for its beauty and opioid problems. The opioid fentanyl is a particular problem in the state.
How big of a problem is fentanyl in New Hampshire? According to U.S. News & World Report, the drug “was involved in nearly two-thirds of the state’s drug deaths in 2015” and the state is first in the United States “for fentanyl-related deaths per capita.”
Texas. Texas is among the other places affected by opioid epidemic problems. One of these problems is cheese heroin.
Cheese heroin is a combination of crushed heroin with an over-the-counter pain medication that has also been crushed. This medication is Tylenol PM, a drug intended to fight pain and promote sleep, so combining an opioid such as heroin (which can make people drowsy and depress their systems) with a painreliever and sleep inducer can create dangerous effects.
This drug is popular among children due to its availability and low price, which can be as low as $2.00 a gram.
Florida. Like West Virginia, Florida has been the home to a number of pill mills that distributed large amounts of prescription drugs. Despite crackdowns on such facilities, the state experienced a surge in prescription-drug related deaths in 2016.
A 2017 SunSentinel story reported that “prescription drugs killed more people in Florida last year than heroin and cocaine combined.” According to the site, opioids contributed to 5,725 deaths, heroin at least 952 deaths, and fentanyl 1,390 deaths. Drugs similar to fentanyl known as fentanyl analogs contributed to 965 deaths in 2016.
Russia. Drug addiction isn’t just confined to the United States, of course. Other countries in the world are among the places affected by opioid epidemic problems and other drug-related issues.
Russia is one such country. This massive country has a massive problem with injection drugs and the problems such drugs can create. A 2010 United Nations report claimed that “[t]o date, there are over a quarter of a million registered HIV cases (although the number of unregistered cases is estimated to be much higher than this) in the Russian Federation. Of these, over 80% are intravenous drug users.”
Mexico. Drugs in Mexico create problems for both that country and its northern neighbor, the United States. Drug cartels have contributed to the deaths or disappearances of thousands of Mexicans and have threatened the lives of many others.
Mexican cartels have produced and trafficked drugs such as methamphetamine, heroin, and fentanyl to Mexico and United States. The cartels have also transported drugs such as cocaine and marijuana.
Canada. Drugs are also causing problems in Canada and its southern neighbor, the United States.
Fentanyl and related drugs are particular problems in the country. The drugs have spread from western Canada across the country with deadly results. For example, a small community of indigenous Canadians experienced thirty overdoses in just one week in 2018.
China. Speaking of fentanyl, China is the source of a great deal of illegally manufactured fentanyl. Investigators in the U.S. Senate found it easy to order fentanyl and carfentanil online. (Carfentanil is a drug similar to fentanyl but is considerably stronger.)
These examples illustrate that drugs and drug abuse are prevalent across the United States and around the world. Luckily, help is also available in many places.
