Based on a United Nations survey from 2008 the use of opiates in the United States by the normal populace has remained constant over the past several years. Roughly 0.6% of Americans frequently use opiates like oxycontin, heroin, methadone and vicodin. This ranks 17th in the World where by Iran has the highest usage at 2.8%. This is not normal usage, but utilization of persons dependent on opiates.
One more bit of information from a study on opiate addiction discovered that use among individuals without jobs is 20 times that of people that hold down full-time, or even part-time, jobs. Surprisingly many people in America can hold down jobs and use opiates recreationally, but these individuals constitute just over 1% of the employed population whilst amongst the unemployed, opiates use is more than 3%.
Ingestion of opiates can happen in a wide range of ways, depending on the kind of drug and the preference of the user. Heroin for example can be injected, smoked, or snorted while many other opiates come in pill form-like the most popular forms vicodin and oxycontin. Even when it is manufactured in pill form, however, addicts still can inject it, snort it, or smoke it to accelerate the entry into the blood stream and take full advantage of the euphoric effects. To inject or snort the substance it must first be smashed into powder form. From there it can be “cooked” with water and transferred to a needle for injection. Methadone is usually in liquid form for the higher doses and most addicts usually buy it from heroin addicts that are splitting their methadone maintenance prescription.
The euphoric effects of opiate usage arise soon after the drug gets into your bloodstream and will disappear after only a couple of hours. If it is injected, the addict feels a rush followed by a warm flushing of the skin, dry mouth, and heavy limbs. After this the addict goes into an alternating status of drowsiness and alertness (called the nod). Since the central nervous system is depressed by the drug, mental acuity is decreased, speech becomes slurred, lethargy sets in, eyelids droop, vomiting can occur, and more often than not constipation.
Longer term effects of opiate usage can include pulmonary complications due to infection of the heart valves and lining, collapsed veins if injection is the usual form of delivery, and various types of pneumonia due to the general poor way of living of the addict. In addition to the effects of the drug itself, numerous forms of opiate purchased on the street (like heroin) will have additional substances added to increase the volume of the product available for sale thereby increasing the profits of the dealer. These additives may not always be dissolved once the opiate is introduced into the bloodstream resulting in clogging of the blood vessels that lead to vital organs. This may result in necrosis (death of cells).
If you or a loved one has developed an addiction to opiates, including methadone, and is wishing to get help, the first step in the recovery process would be going through a detox treatment process where the opiates are given a chance to leave the tissues of the body. Because the withdrawal symptoms can be difficult, especially for methadone detox, and include nausea, body aches, cravings, cold sweats, and insomnia it is generally best if you seek professional help. A good quality opiate detox treatment program will last about 10 days and incorporate prescription drugs to help alleviate the pain of withdrawals and get you on the right track to recovering from your opiate addiction and living a productive, sober life.
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