Opioid Epidemic

The Opioid epidemic in America has come to light over the past few years as usage and overdoses of the drug have skyrocketed and ravaged whole communities from the inside out.  Everyday more than 115 people overdose on Opiods such as prescription pain relievers, heroin, and Fentanyl.  This rampant drug use has never been seen before in the U.S. and is leaving authorities and Americans heart broken and at a loss for solutions.

This epidemic all started when pharmaceutical companies began issuing strong pain killers and assured that these drugs would not be addictive.  With the all clear insurance companies began giving the drugs to patients at higher rates than most other prescription pain killers.  This allowed for more people to gain access to the pain killers and in turn left millions of people in the U.S. with an addiction to the opiates.  This epidemic has cost tax payers more than $78.5 billion dollars in 2015 alone and killed 33,000 people that same year. (Drug Abuse Statistics)  These issues then transcend into even bigger ones with patients who need to get their fix and then turn to illicit street drugs.  The notorious drugs, Heroin, and Fentanyl are the most dangerous and easy to get access to.  Addicts turn to these drugs which in many cases are laced with other substances and are deadlier than the original substance which causes many deaths and feeds the black market.  This mess has left authorities and pharmaceutical manufactures with no idea and power to stop this epidemic which raises the question of why were the drugs not fully screened before being put into the market?