Drugs of Abuse, A DEA Resource Guide, is designed to be a reliable resource on the most commonly abused and misused drugs in the United States. This comprehensive guide provides important information about the harms and consequences of drug use by describing a drug’s effects on the body and mind, overdose potential, origin, legal status, [...]
Drug overdose deaths continue to increase in the United States. From 1999 to 2017, more than 700,000 people have died from a drug overdose. Around 68% of the more than 70,200 drug overdose deaths in 2017 involved an opioid. In 2017, the number of overdose deaths involving opioids (including prescription opioids and illegal opioids like [...]
We are in the midst of an opioid epidemic. Prescription opioids are being over-prescribed and misused. People have become addicted when taking opioids prescribed for them by doctors for acute, chronic, or post-surgical pain; or when inappropriately taking meds prescribed for others; or when buying illegal drugs on the street. https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/just-how-addictive-are-opioids/
U.S. employers are increasingly seeking ways to reduce the abuse of prescription opioids, according to new findings from the Washington, D.C.-based National Business Group on Health (NBGH), which represents large employers. https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/benefits/pages/steps-to-address-opioid-crisis.aspx
Use of opioids during pregnancy can result in a drug withdrawal syndrome in newborns called neonatal abstinence syndrome or neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NAS/NOWS). Every 15 minutes a baby is born suffering from opioid withdrawal. https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics/infographics/dramatic-increases-in-maternal-opioid-use-neonatal-abstinence-syndrome
Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) throughout the United States has risen dramatically. Fentanyl is approximately 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin. 1 in 10 pregnant women reported alcohol use. https://issuu.com/usdtl/docs/neotox_winterspring_2019_for_issuu?e=16760800/68221836
