Opioid Addiction Essay

Opioid abuse and addiction remains major public health concern and is often referred to as the opioid crisis. The National Institute of Health (NIH) reports there are approximately 2.1 million people in the United States suffering with the abuse and addiction to drugs such as heroin, morphine, and other prescribed opioids, and that number is increasing (NIH). While heroin addiction has been at the forefront of this problem, prescription opioid abuse is on the rise. Overdoses are also increasing, according to the NIH in 2012 the number of accidental overdoses quadrupled in comparison to 1999 (NIH). The National Health Institute reported a strong correlation between the abuse of prescribed opioids and heroin use. Substance abuse and addiction has very serious implications effecting the individual’s health, as well as social, legal, and family ramifications. Addiction can also affect people of all ages and socioeconomic class. Public Health officials,
Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) is the term used to describe exposure and subsequent withdrawal symptoms that occurs to newborns after they are exposed to addictive drugs during pregnancy (March of Dimes). The most common cause of NAS in babies is maternal use and or abuse of opioids during pregnancy, though it can vary from prescription drugs to illegal opioids such as heroin (March of Dimes). This paper will further examine the bill known as H.R. 4978, or the NAS Healthy Babies Act aimed improving knowledge of the prevalence of NAS and the need for specialized treatment in caring for NAS babies (Congress.gov). The NAS Healthy Babies Act seeks to accomplish this by requiring the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to report incidence NAS and other methods to be discussed later in this