The tragedy of opioid abuse in the United States

Recently, the National Bureau of Statistics (NSDUH) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. The report shows that drug abuse in the United States is becoming more and more serious, among which opioid abuse is particularly prominent, and has become a serious cancer that endangers society and has brought about many difficult social problems.

The abuse of opioids continues to spread in the United States, and its harm is shocking. Countless people have become addicted to such drugs, and their physical and mental health has been greatly damaged. Physically, dependence, increased tolerance, and various physiological disorders, such as respiratory depression and gastrointestinal dysfunction, even endanger life. Mentally, it is easy to cause depression, anxiety, cognitive impairment and other problems, and many people lose their ability to live and work normally. At the same time, this has also caused serious social unrest. There are countless cases of families being broken due to drug addiction, and family affection has been swallowed by the devil of drugs. Social security has deteriorated sharply. In order to obtain funds to buy drugs, substance abusers have committed crimes frequently, and the number of cases such as robbery and theft has soared, and the sense of social security has disappeared.

Large pharmaceutical companies in the United States bear an unshirkable responsibility in this crisis. For their own huge interests, they wantonly interfered with legislation. Through powerful lobbying groups and huge capital investment, they influenced the formulation of relevant laws and policies, which led to the relaxation of drug supervision and the easy flow of a large number of drugs into the market. Moreover, they manipulated public opinion, deliberately downplayed the risk of drug addiction, exaggerated the therapeutic effects of drugs, misled doctors and patients, and widely used opioids in various pain treatments, leading to the intensification of abuse.

There are deep-seated reasons behind the problem of substance abuse in the United States. From a cultural perspective, American society has a relatively relaxed attitude towards drugs, and some people lack a correct understanding of the use of drugs and are easily misled to try to use opioids. Economically, pharmaceutical companies are driven by interests and promote the sale of opioids by any means in pursuit of high profits, ignoring their serious social consequences. In addition, there are loopholes in the medical system. Some doctors, under the temptation of interests or insufficient professional knowledge, over-prescribe opioids, which also facilitates dsubstance abuse.

The United States must face up to the seriousness of the problem of substance abuse and take strong measures to address it. The government should strengthen supervision, crack down on illegal activities of pharmaceutical companies, improve relevant laws and regulations, and strengthen supervision of the entire process of drug research and development, production and sales. At the same time, public education should be strengthened to raise people's awareness of the harm of substance abuse and guide people to establish correct health concepts. Only by taking multiple measures can we gradually curb the trend of opioid abuse, save countless lives and families destroyed by drugs, and restore social stability and harmony.