36 Thesearejustafewnames of men and women who have succumbed to a growing crisis affecting our nation. The opioid epidemic is spreading, claiming and negatively affecting more lives each day. Deaths related to opioid overdoses have increased twofold in a decade. The National Institute on Drug Abuse claims over 90 Americans die every day from overdosing on opioids, including several of our favorite celebrities. Drug deaths over the past 15 years have risen so rapidly that experts say they’ve never seen anything like it. The opioid epidemic is a runaway train to be stopped. Howdidwegethere? Despite best efforts, drugs have been a part of American culture long before John Hancock placed the first signature on the Declaration of Independence. From the ritualistic use of peyote by Native Americans to the medical benefits of cocaine cough syrup to the peaceful hippies passing around marijuana joints to the party drugs of the 80s and 90s, reaching an altered state of consciousness has become an American pastime. However, the epidemic goes deeper than men and women just wanting to get high. Often, opioid addiction begins with legitimate pain. More and more, people are going to doctors with complaints of pain, and they’re prescribed opiates to treat their symptoms. Opioids are drugs formulated to replicate the pain-reducing properties of opium, and include legal painkillers like morphine, oxycodone, or hydrocodone, and illegal drugs like heroin or illicitly made Fentanyl. Because the medication only treats the symptoms of the pain, users continue taking the pills hoping to manage their symptoms and inadvertently drive themselves to addiction. There is no exact path leading to addiction; it depends on many factors, including family history, dosage and duration of usage. But, as many addicts will attest, the jaws of addiction clamp down on its prey quickly and often without warning. Once a person becomes dependent on the feeling of pleasure and euphoria when on opioids, they constantly seek those feelings, and the more they use, the higher their tolerance becomes. Obtaining enough pills to satisfy the growing addiction gets difficult when they depend on doctors to provide the medication. Doctor shopping was a regular practice; Michael Jackson was rumored to have used 10 doctors and numerous aliases to obtain his 30 to 40 pill per night habit. Now that the cover has been blown from the misuse of opioids, doctors, insurance companies and pharmacies are more cognizant of what they are prescribing and to whom. When red flags are set off, the drug funnel tightens and closes, forcing users to obtain drugs through other means. When dealing with opioid addiction, recovery is not as easy as just stopping. Withdrawal from opiates can be painful; it can cause both physical and emotional symptoms which can be insufferable. These withdrawal symptoms can create a sense of desperation for the user, causing them to seek the easiest solution. This often leads to illegal actions, like buying prescription pills from drug dealers, or switching to unregulated drugs like heroin and black-market Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid painkiller 50 times more potent than heroin. Fentanyl led to the overdose deaths of Prince and Tom Petty, and Demi Lovato’s near-death overdose. OPIOIDCRISIS: ConfrontingaNationalEmergency Heath Ledger. Tom Petty. Michael Jackson. Prince. Carrie Fisher.