1. What You Need to Know By Joanne P. Shelby-Klein BSN RN
Opiod Epidemic
What You Need to Know
By Joanne P. Shelby-Klein BSN RN

2. What are Opiods? Pain medications prescribed by a doctor or dentist
Made from Opium that comes from the poppy plant
Can also be illegal street drugs such as heroin or fentynal
They work to cut down on the intensity of pain signals traveling through the body
Chemically similar to the bodys natural pain reducers

3. Teens and Opiods
Teens start on opiods usually after a dental procedure or a sports injury.
Teens may like the changes that happen in their brain, especially the good feeling from a dopamine overload
Then may develop an intense feeling of needing the drug known as a craving.
The cravings then lead to teens feeling they need the drug leading to dependence and addiction.

4. HEROIN
Is an illegal drug that is purchased on the streets and not from a pharmacy
Is a white or brown powder from the Asian opium poppy plant
Is also known as ‘smack’, ‘dope’, ‘horse’ or ‘junk’
Once in the body, the drug causes a feeling of euphoria or being high, a feeling of floating in and out of consciousness and cloudy or foggy thinking

5. LONG TERM EFFECTS OF OPIOD ABUSE
Collapsed veins
Infection in the lining of the heart as well as heart valves
Liver failure
Kidney disease that may lead to dialysis
Permanent brain damage
Sharing needles can lead to hepatitis and HIV/AIDS
Overdose can lead to stopping breathing and the heart stop beating

6. IS OPIOD ADDICTION AN EPIDEMIC?
An epidemic is defined as a wide spread occurrance of a disease that happens very suddenly and unexpectedly over a wide area.
The use of opiods has shown a 10 fold increase since 1960 with teens using 40% higher use than any other age group
In 2016 drug overdoses were the leading cause of death in the US, with 52, 404 deaths reported
276,000 teens were using prescription pain killers for non-medical issues with 122, 000 considered addicted
2015 showed an estimated 21,000 teens using heroin.

7. LEGAL RAMIFICATIONS
Suspended from sports teams and after school activities
Fired from your job
Not able to be hired for the job you really want
May not be able to join the military
May not be able to get or keep college loans
May get a criminal record especially if caught stealing
Spend time in jail, state or federal prison up to 7 years or more

8. New Book on Teen Addiction
Teen Addiction: A Chronic Disease Not A Moral Flaw
By Dr Meenashi Noll and The Scrutinizer.org
Coming early in 2018