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Experts once thought opioids were not addictive

On Behalf of | Jan 23, 2020 | Drug Charges |

You may have heard of the opioid crisis, which revolves around drug addiction and often involves overdoses. At this point in 2020, it is clear that these drugs are addictive and many people who take them likely wish they could stop but have no ability to do so on their own.

If you’re wondering how things got to that point, though, you should know that the view of opioids has changed dramatically over the years. They provide very effective pain treatment, and doctors started using them more extensively back in the 1990s. The issue is that they honestly thought the drugs were not addictive, which is what they were told by the companies that produced them.

When used properly, opioids were and still are very effective painkillers. They can be used to treat high levels of pain, something many injured people desperately need. In that sense, the drugs work. They still see use today because of it.

Of course, we can now see that they are not only addictive but highly so, and many people who start taking them legally after surgery or an injury end up getting addicted and going to great lengths to get more drugs to feed that addiction. This is the reason for the current crisis and the high usage rates.

Those who do get addicted may not want to break the law or illegally abuse drugs. They just get trapped in the cycle and cannot break it. When they end up getting arrested as a result, they must learn about their legal defense options.