too potent and seldom used anymore.
Officials and law enforcement are scrambling to provide solutions to the epidemic even as the market continues to be flooded by novel opioids designed to produce the same effects as illegal drugs, but different enough in chemical composition to avoid pre-existing legislative control.
Legislators are forced to play a “cat and mouse game” with manufacturers of these illicit, synthetic opioids. However, education could be the key to preventing more overdoses. A recent editorial in the international journal Annals of Emergency Medicine stated thoughtful questioning in the emergency room, coupled with public health intelligence and public education can help curb the rates of fatal overdoses attributed to these drugs that “are not for human consumption.”
Author: Topher Avery
Topher Avery is a contributor and editor at Addiction Now. A natural wordslinger, Topher studied English at the University of Colorado at Boulder and received his JD from Chapman University. Currently, Topher resides in Southern California beneath a pile of cats and books. Contact Topher at christophera@drugaddictionnow.com
