Substance abuse, which can lead to addiction, is about the intense “need” to escape reality and/or self-medicate emotional pain, some of which can be caused by underlying mental health disorders. The substance of abuse is merely the main symptom of very complex mental health issues known substance abuse and addiction. Also, most opioid abusers and addicts have abused many different substances prior to any exposure to opioids (legal or illicit).

Sex is not the “cause” of sex addiction. Food (nor the “exposure” and access to food) is not the “cause” of addiction to food. Gambling is not the “cause” gambling addiction. Shopping is not the “cause” of shopping addiction. Exposure and consumption of alcohol is not the cause of alcoholism. Again, if this was true, most of us would be addicted to sex, food, gambling shopping and alcohol, as most of us have been exposed to most or all of these activities and substances.

We as a society need to quit blaming an inanimate object without a mind of its own, such as a substance, including a potentially abusable and/or addictive substance, for what some humans choose to do with them (abuse them, as opposed to using them as directed). (Before anyone jumps on the “addiction is not a choice” bandwagon, I agree; however, making the conscious decision to purposely take more medication than directed, which is almost always what leads to addiction, to obtain a “euphoric” effect is a choice). The same goes for doctors … quit blaming them for the actions of their patients.

Experts on these subjects all agree that the substance abuse and addicton rates throughout history have all stayed relatively the same. It’s the substance itself that changes. We’re only having high rates of overdose deaths due to illicit street drugs being spiked with another illicit (and much stronger) substance, illicit fentanyl, often with the user not knowing. As long as there are humans, there will be a small minority who feel the need to self-medicate emotional pain or escape reality.

Heroin was widely abused in the late 60’s through the 70’s in both the US and Europe. This was many years prior to most cases of pain, chronic non-malignant and post-op pain, was treated with opioid-based medication. The same is true about fentanyl, which was widely abused in the 70’s. Blackmarket name was China White. This was many years prior to fentanyl citrate (the only one of more than 30 analogs of fentanyl approved by the FDA for medicinal use in humans) being made available in the form of a patch, lozenge and lollipop for palliative care within the home. Prior to the fentanyl patch, it was only available as an injectable normally used for surgery patients.

Does anyone understand why counterfeit opioid-medication is so “popular” nowadays? Because most doctors, including pain management specialists and oncologists, are now too frightened of Big Brother to treat patients in pain with compassion (including some cancer patients and terminally ill patients). They are literally too afraid to continue doing one very important part of their job – to help reduce their patient’s pain and suffering adequately until he either heals or dies.

Too many law-abiding citizens have been (and are currently being) forced to either find relief in blackmarket substances that possess pain-relieving/ properties or take their own lives out of a desperate attempt to relieve their pain. Each and every one of us is just a second away from a life-changing, disabling inoperable injury or a diagnosis of cancer, chronic regional pain syndrome, or some other possibly incurable disease/disorder/syndrome – all of which can cause severe intractable pain which can only be relieved through opioid-based medication.

The addicted do NOT change until the family does. As families become informed and change their unhealthy behavior this causes disruption in the addicteds life forcing them to confront the addiction. Nothing changes until someone changes. We can’t control the addicteds behavior. We can control our own.