What starts off as a means to get better, often turns into a dead end street in addiction. Painkillers have long served a valued and needed purpose in human history. The affects of pain on the human body are no joking matter. They can disable, distress and steal away a person’s desire to live. The powerful, painkilling effects of the opium poppy has been known for by humans for thousands of years. Though undeniably addictive, its benefits in the numbing of pain have far outweighed the potential negatives as a recreation drug by a minority of drug abusers. Regardless, the issue of the abuse of painkillers has and continues to be in the forefront of opiate regulation and production by every pharmaceutical company and government in the world. It is estimated by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration that a greater number of Americans abuse prescription opiates than any other recreational drugs such as cocaine, stimulants, hallucinogens and heroin. And among teenagers, pain killers are second only to marijuana in terms as the drug most commonly abused. Major drug manufacturers and governments around the world have long wrestled with the most effective way to discourage or neutralize the secondary market for opiate based prescription medicine recreational use. Some doctors have even gone as far as under treating pain symptoms by refusing to prescribe opiates, though it is approximated that only a minority of five to 10 percent of patients prescribed such medication become addicted. In other words, at least 90% of patients prescribed opiates for pain treatment do not become addictive, yet they are denied the more effective treatments because of a the recreational user. Pharmaceutical companies have toyed with a number of option in terms of limited, if not eliminating the abuse of painkillers. One was the introduction of slow release formulations, where the opiates are released into the bloodstream over time, thereby preventing the euphoric, or addictive effects. But addicts resorted to grinding and snorting the powder, eliminating the slow-release effects of the medication.
