Recreational Use of Opioids: Foundation and Social Stigma

The recreational use of opioids has concerned doctors and professionals due to the drastic increase in overdose caused by opioids observed during the past years. According to studies conducted by Dart et.al., on 2015 an increment in the abuse of opioids was observed from 2002 to 2010 (Figure 1). Nonetheless, on 2011 a mild decrease was observed, professionals suggesting this could be attributed to the implementation of strict judicial regulations implanted regarding these prescriptions drugs.

Figure 1:  The rate of cases of intentional abuse reported to participating poison centers

(Taken from Dart et.al., 2015)

Despite observing a decrease in the abuse of prescription opioids, the mortality rate due to the abuse of heroin has increased exponentially. In addition, the mortality rate for prescription opioids has remained constant, although considerably lower than that observed on 2008. (Figure 2)

Figure 2: The rate of death associated with prescription opioid drugs and with heroin, with

adjustment for population. (Taken from Dart et.al., 2015)

In a recent study developed by Kennedy-Hendricks et.al. about social stigma against people addicted to prescription opioids, the participants showed a high liking to punitive actions against addicts. Some of the most accepted alternatives were arresting and prosecuting people that obtained multiple prescriptions from different doctors and forcing patients to only visit one doctor and one pharmacy. Nonetheless, these showed low interest towards public-health oriented options such as providing naloxone to relatives of patients using prescription drugs or expanding healthcare benefits to cover treatment for opioid abuse.

According to this research, 78.1% thinks addicts are to blame for their addiction. 71.8% thinks addicts lack discipline because they’re unable to use opioids without getting addicted. 56.2% agreed that those abusing prescription opioids are more dangerous than the general population. In addition, they think that those that suffer from opioid addiction can be from any area of residence (79.6%), any racial or ethnic group (79.5%) and any income class (76.5%). However, tendencies regarding opioid abuse show that addicts are usually white, from low income and from non-urban residences.

The recreational use of opioids can lead to addiction due to the high impact these drugs have on our brain. They attack the ventral tegmental area (VTA), highly implicated in our body’s reward system. The VTA connects various segments within the mesolimbic dopaminergic system that works with cognition, motivation and pleasure. It’s believed that the use of these drugs causes a positive reinforcement, where there’s a change in synaptic strength and an association between the act of taking the drug and the pleasure of taking it. Autodiscipline isn’t enough to not get addicted to prescription opioids because using the drug affects our neurons and our dopaminergic system, developing tolerance and dependence without being aware of it.