Pain killer (and other opiates), and prescription drug abuse is one of the largest growing problems in America today. The users (and abusers) of pain killers and other prescription drugs come in all ages, shapes and sizes.
Prescription drug abuse in general is a huge problem today, but pain killers are probably the most largely abused prescription drug.
It has been hitting America hard for the last few years. It practically came out of no where. Kids as young as fourth and fifth grade are stealing pain killers such as percocets, vicodins, and oxycontins from their parents prescription bottles. Many of them are even buying the pain killers from their fellow classmates, again as young as eleven and twelve years old!
As a person who has had a pain killer addiction first hand, I don't think America is aware of just how out of control, and how dangerous this addiction is becoming.
Being addicted to pain killers is definitely no fun. Trust me, I know!
After doing pain killers for long enough, they actually start to change your brain chemistry, making it almost impossible for even those with the best of self control to quit.
Those who have never been addicted to pain killers just have no idea of how addicting pain killers and opiates are. It simply takes over you. The addiction becomes an obsession, and it really is nearly impossible to quit without the help of methadone or suboxone.
And people who take methadone to rid a pain killer or opiate addiction sometimes must stay on methadone for the rest of their life. And of course there are those who just use methadone as another drug to abuse, again covering their pain killer or opiate addiction up.
Suboxone is a great way to ease the pain killer or opiate addiction, but I believe for it to be effective you must take the drug for at least a year which can be quite expensive. And even coming off of suboxone is no fun, although it is no where as painful as coming off of pain killers and other opiates.
America really needs to get a control of the pain killer and opiate addiction problem that is simply taking over America.
I don't know if it is just the area I live in or what, but almost everyone I know has a problem with pain killers, other opiates, or other prescription drugs. I predict that this will be the next "drug epidemic" that plagues America (like crack did when it hit). It really is getting that bad, and quitting is unbelievably hard even with the help of other drugs.
Not to mention how many people switch from pain killers to heroin to "save money", or as a substitute when they cannot get pain killers (pills).
To get more information on pain killer addiction check out [http://www.mypainkilleraddiction.com]
It is a site that I put together with all kinds of information on opiates and other pain killer addictions. I also describe my story of addiction, how I got through it, information on withdrawal, what to look for if you're afraid someone you know is addicted, and much much more.