Jessica Bryan 003923958 Psych 333- Drug and Behavior Professor Quinlan June 12, 2013 Increasing the

benefits and reducing the harms of prescription opioid analgesics Research Paper The main idea of this article was centered on lowering the use of prescription opioid analgesics by regulating the consumption of opioids through the pharmacies, professionals, and patients. This study was taken place in Australia, where opioid consumption had raised after the U.S. The problem found with opioid use is the inappropriate prescriptions made by physicians, the unsanctioned use of the drugs, which include the misuse by neglecting the medical instructions, and the use by the third parties. A study was done 4 weeks prior to an alcohol and drug treatment to those attending the treatment, these individuals reported an pharmaceutical drug use within the past 6 months and the study found that 35% of the individuals consumed prescription opioid as prescribed by a physician, but 66% used opioids not prescribed to them or as prescribed by the medical instructions (Hallinan 2011). This is alarming due to the increase in fatal and non-fatal overdoses of prescription opioid analgesics within Australia and the U.S. In order to increase the benefits of prescribed opioid medication, there needs to be a regulation of the supply of the drug through professionals, because they are seen as the gatekeepers of supply. The reduction on the inappropriate supply and demand of opioid prescriptions needs to be the focus on increasing the health benefits and minimizing the harms of misuse. This article relates to the information from the course because it discusses the importance of the proper use of drugs that have medicals benefits. If a drug is put out to

society without some kind of heavy regulation, it can cause severe harm to the community. It also shows how dangerous the drug is to individuals who misuse opioids. The studies found that more than have of the individuals being tested for prescription use were not prescribed the drug. This demonstrates just how powerful opioids are because of their addictive qualities, shown by the increase of medical emergencies related to opioid overdose. I picked this article because it draws positive attention towards the awareness of benefits with opioid use when used appropriately, and also addressing the growing problem of inappropriately prescribing opioids to individuals who make a false claim of suffering with CNCP (Chronic non-cancer pain). I find it interesting that research is being done to raise awareness to increasing the benefits of a opioid use to the appropriate patient, but also regulating on who is able to access the prescriptions. What I learned in this article in relation to class information would be the euphoric affects opioids can cause as an acute affect of drug use, but because it is a psychoactive drug, it increases the likelihood of problematic use and dependence because it creates a negative reinforcement, the drug takes away any unwanted feelings in reality. What I found to be very important, yet alarming within this article, is that the physicians who prescribe these opioids are the center of the problem of fatal and non-fatal overdosing, as well as misdiagnosing patients for chronic pain. Supplying such large amounts to the patients creates a health hazard to the patients and the third parties that misuse these psychoactive drugs. For those that acquired opioid prescription dependence and resulted to outreaching towards other illicit drugs, and further cause problematic drug dependences that have the potential to spread through communities.

Reference Cited Hallinan, Richard, Mary Osborn, Milton Cohen, Malcolm Dobbin, and Alex Wodak. "Increasing the Benefits and Reducing the Harms of Prescription Opioid Analgesics." N.p., 23 Dec. 2011. Web. 20 May 2013. <http://web.ebscohost.com.libproxy.lib.csusb.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid =ebe72b1b-f2a7-44c3-bb53-3d6ad59c236b%40sessionmgr15&vid=4&hid=10>.