If you have been paying attention to the news over the last couple of years, there is a good chance that you have heard about the growing number of cases of opioid addiction and death from opioid abuse that has been plaguing the nation. And though Pompano Beach, FL, is an incredible place to live, the city has also been heavily impacted by this wave of opioid addiction. Because of the addictiveness and danger of opioids, there has been a huge surge in the number of people going to Pompano drug rehab centers.
The Opioid Crisis
It might be easy to hear that news and believe the media is overreacting (as it so often does – can you recall the last time a news channel didn’t have “breaking news” scrawled across the bottom?), but the opioid crisis truly is at critical levels. In fact, over 100 people die every day because of these narcotic pharmaceutical drugs. Rehab centers in Pompano Beach, FL, are receiving more and more patients every day because of opioid drugs including but not limited to the following:
- Codeine
- Fentanyl
- Hydrocodone
- Hydromorphone
- Meperidine
- Methadone
- Morphine
- Oxycodone
How This Became an Epidemic
While placing blame on doctors for prescribing so many opioid drugs in the first place, they are not to blame for how huge this issue has become. Pompano drug rehab programs are seeing this huge spike in opioid addictions because pharmaceutical companies either lied to doctors or misled them. If not one of those, then the drug companies (and our Food and Drug Administration) neglected to test opioids properly before they were released to the public.
One of these situations has to be the truth because in the late ‘90s, doctors were told that opioid painkillers were in no way addictive. Obviously we know better now, but back then and into the 2000s, doctors were prescribing opioids for practically any kind of pain that their patients had, even to many children. They just didn’t know any better at the time.
Once the addictiveness of these medicines became understood, the medical community began limiting the amount of opioids they would prescribe. Many patients who had been taking opioids for pain relief over a long period of time suddenly saw access to their medicines vanish, but their addictions were too powerful by then. They started turning to other sources to satiate these addictions and would simply purchase opioids on the black market. And when pharmaceutical narcotics weren’t available, many of these people turned to one of the most notorious illegal drugs in America: heroin.
Pompano Drug Rehab
Drug rehab centers in Pompano Beach, FL, like 1st Step are well equipped to help addicts and their families through these difficult times. While there has been a huge spike in the number of patients that these facilities are receiving, the drug rehab centers Pompano Beach, FL, has available have taken steps to ensure that there is enough room for everyone who needs treatment.
If you are addicted to opioid painkillers or you suspect a family member has an issue with opioids, contact a Pompano drug rehab center as soon as possible.
