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Copyright (c) 2013 Scott McKinney, MS I am not sure why or how I remember this short kid's rhyme but a few things struck me about the choice of verbiage. The correlation between oxy and antifreeze, two extremely common terms with poisonous properties; well based on how they're used. Ask anyone around you if they have ever heard of antifreeze and they will probably tell you that they have. Ask those same individuals if they have ever heard of Oxycontin or Oxycodone and they will again say that they have. All of these may seem so sweet but underneath it all is disaster waiting to happen. One that can easily be prevented for many individuals. In 2011 in the United States alone over 200 million prescriptions were written for opioid painkillers. This is a staggering amount given the population of this country. And while these little devils are great for relieving pain, many times, they also come with a price. Opiate and Opioid painkillers have highly addictive properties and many of the individuals that are prescribed these pharmaceuticals become dependent, and a negative toll begins to take shape. So how do we decrease the amount of opiate dependent individuals in our cities and throughout the country? The argument that we should get rid of this medication is one that neither makes sense at the moment nor seems very possible. What can be done to combat this growing epidemic? Two things would have a much needed impact if properly utilized; education and non-pharmaceutical pain management. Education is vital if patient are going to truly make well informed decisions when it comes to their health and treatment. Each patient needs to be made well aware of how addictive Opiates and Opioids can be and what this would mean if they themselves became dependent on the medication. In this way patients might make informed decisions about medication amount and the duration in which they desire to utilize the medication. Putting an increased emphasis on research and the practice of non-narcotic pain management could also help to decrease the prevalence of opiate and opioid dependency within this country. In fact the United States consumes over 90% of the world's opiates. How does this make sense when we are but a fraction of the overall population? I doubt that Americans are just more prone to pain and highly doubt that we are so active as a country that injury is becoming epidemic. Scott McKinney is the Vice President at Midwest Institute for Addiction; a state liscensed medically assisted treatment center in St. Louis, Missouri. MIA is committed to providing quality treatment. http://www.midwestinstituteforaddiction.org/ http://www.soberway.org
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