Opioids are drugs that act on the nervous system to relieve pain. They include heroin, fentanyl, and pain relievers that are available legally by prescription, such as oxycodone (OxyContin),...


Opioids are drugs that act on the nervous system to relieve pain. They include heroin, fentanyl, and pain relievers that are available legally by prescription, such as oxycodone (OxyContin), hydrocodone (Vicodin), codeine, and morphine. Although patients can safely use opioid pain relievers for a short period, many patients continue to use them for longer periods because these drugs produce euphoria in addition to pain relief. Unfortunately, continued use can result in dependence, and excessive use can cause death. Every day, 90 Americans die from opioid overdoses. Opioid prescriptions per capita rose 350% nationwide between 1999 and 2015. The use and abuse of opioids are responsible for fewer people working due to premature deaths, an inability to pass a job-drug test, or an unwillingness to work due to sedation and other effects of the drug. The labor-force participation rate of men—the ratio of employed working-age men to all working-age men—was 3.2 percentage points lower during 2014–2016 than during 1999–2001. According to Krueger (2017), labor-force participation fell more in areas where doctors prescribe relatively more opioid pain medication. He calculated that 0.6 percentage points of the decline for men, a fifth of the total, was due to opioid prescriptions. Similarly, the study estimated that about one-quarter of the decline in women’s labor-force participation was attributable to the growth in opioid prescriptions.

Nov 19, 2021
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