Project Proposal
My project
proposal is regarding the epidemic in the United States regarding the increased
rate of opiate addiction. I would like to create a service that would help
individuals suffering with opiate addictions. I believe by becoming more
educated on addiction will help find solutions for the cure of this
disease.
The three
questions that I would like to explore in my research paper are what are the
causes of the increased rate of opiate addictions, what are the effects it has
on the economy, and what are some ways to effectively treat individuals
suffering with opiate addictions. I have found multiple articles that have
studied non-prescription use of opioid prescriptions that will be helpful in
discussing my proposal. I have found five articles that can be helpful. The
article “Initiation Into Prescription Opioid Misuse Amongst Young Injection
Drug Users” examines the premise into prescription opioid misuse amongst young
individuals who are already injection drug users (Bloom, Jennifer Jackson, et
al.). This article will help explore ways to prevent the misuse of prescription
opioids. If we are well educated on the ways that opiate use is initiated we
can educate the community and hopefully prevent opiate prescription abuse. The
article “Denial of Prescription Opioids Among Young Adults with Histories of
Opioid Misuse” discusses the effects of denying opioids to young adults
suffering with pain who have a history of opioid misuse (Fibbi, Meghan, et
al.). This article will help suggest ways into preventing relapse among those
who suffer with issues related to pain. The article “Illicit Use of Opioids: Is
OxyContin a ‘Gateway Drug’?” is about the Community Assessment of Substance Use
in Maine (CASUM) study (Grau, Loretta, at el.). This article will be useful
because it can help distinguish the group of individuals that are in the
greatest need of help for their addiction to opiates. In the article “The
Economic Burden of Opioid-Related Poisoning in the United States” discusses how
opioid-related poisoning and mortalities are a burden to the United States
Economy (Inocencio, Timothy J., et al.). This article will be useful in trying
to motivate citizens in wanting to find ways to help individuals suffering with
this addiction. In the article “Non-Medical Use of Prescription Opioids During
the Transition to Adulthood: A Multi-Cohort National Longitudinal Study”
discusses a research study that examined the longitudinal patterns of
non-medical use of prescription opioids systemically during the transition of
being a teenager to an adult (McCabe, Sean Estebal, et al.). This article will
be helpful by showing the changes in the patterns of use over the years and
associate these changes with ways in which individuals who are suffering from
addiction can be helped.
I hope to
continue to do research to help support my proposal so that individuals
suffering with the illness of addiction from opioids can be helped. Addiction
is a true disease that needs to be addressed. By becoming more educated on the
different aspects of opiate addictions, I believe will help lead to finding
solutions on how to help these individuals find a cure to this disease.
Annotated Bibliography
Bloom, Jennifer Jackson, et al. “Initiation Into Prescription
Opioid Misuse Amongst Young Injection
Drug Users.” International Journal of Drug Policy
23.1 (2012): 37-44. Ebscohost. Web. 25 March 2015.
This article examines the premise into prescription opioid
misuse amongst young individuals who are already injection drug users (IDUs).
The researchers had a desire to study the patterns associated with the
initiation into prescription drug misuse. This study revealed the fundamentals
for the premise into prescription opioid misuse, consequential pathways into
injecting opioids, and associations for current patterns of opioid and heroin
misuse amongst a sample of young IDUs from Los Angeles and New York. The
premise into prescription opioid misuse was aided by easy access to opioids
from family members, friends, or the participant’s own prescription. The study
revealed that most individuals transitioned from sniffing opioids to injecting
opioids due to obtaining a more powerful high. The researchers concluded that
current patterns of drug use begin with young individuals experimenting with
prescription opioids before turning to heroin.
The strengths of this article is the fact that the
researchers used more descriptive data, such as detailed information about
initiation into prescription opioid misuse, regarding young IDU users, whereas
previous studies only provided minimal data. This information will be useful
for the project proposal because it will help suggest ideas on how to prevent
misuse of prescription opioids, which will in turn prevent the illicit use of
heroin. The weakness of this article is the fact that study participants were
particularly only from New York or Los Angeles. If the researchers used study
participants who were from more than just two cities in the United States, it
would be a more efficient study. Unfortunately, this data only pertains to the
cities of New York and Los Angeles and it is unclear if this data is comparable
to other cities located in the United States.
Fibbi, Meghan, et al. “Denial of Prescription Opioids Among
Young Adults with Histories of Opioid
Misuse”. Pain Medicine 13.1 (2012):
1040-1048. Ebscohost. Web. 25 March
2015.
This article studied the effects of denying prescription
opioids to young adults suffering with pain who have a history of opioid
misuse. This study was performed to show that the denial of pain medication to
these individuals could result in these individuals relapsing on opioid
substances and as a result, there should be effective pain management
treatments to help these individuals who are at a high risk of relapsing. The
study revealed that “approximately half reported self-medicating pain with
either illegally obtain prescription opioids or heroin”.
The strengths of this article is the fact that it discusses
reasons why there are relapses amongst recovering addicts. This article will be
useful for my project because it suggests ways in which to prevent relapsing
and that is by addressing those who have issues regarding pain. The weakness of
this study is the fact that it was only conducted on individuals in Los Angeles
and New York and as a result it is difficult to generalize the results of this
study to the whole population.
Grau, Loretta, et al. “Illicit Use of Opioids: Is Oxycontin a
‘Gateway Drug?’.” The American Journal of Addiction 16.1
(2007): 166-173. Ebscohost. Web. 25
March 2015.
This article is about the Community Assessment of Substance Use
in Maine (CASUM) study. This study was conducted in Cumberland County, Maine
due to the fact that Maine is reported to have a substantial issue with
OxyContin. This study was conducted to test two hypotheses. The first
hypothesis is that non-medical Oxycontin users are distinguishable from
non-medical opioid users and the second hypothesis is that individuals who
initiated non-medical opioid use with OxyContin had a greater chance of
transitioning to heroin use. The study revealed that OxyContin users could only
be distinguishable from heroin users. The study also revealed that use of
multiple kinds of opiates within the first year of initiation was associated
with quicker progression to heroin and injection drug use.
The strength of this study is that it distinguishes the fact
that not one particular type of opiate results in a greater incidence of
transitioning to heroin use. Another strength of this article is that it
discusses the “physical, socio-emotional, and contextual factors” that are
associated with non-medical OxyContin use. These strengths will be useful for
my project because it can help distinguish the group of individuals that are in
the greatest need of help for their addiction to opiates. A weakness of this
study is that the study was only performed in one city in the United States.
Because the study only focused on one city it is difficult to generalize the
findings to the rest of the country.
Inocencio, Timothy J., et al. “The Economic Burden of
Opioid-Related Poisoning in the United States”.
Pain Medicine 14.1 (2013): 1534-1547. Ebscohost. Web. 25 March 2015.
This article discusses how Opioid-related poisonings and
mortalities are a burden to the United States Economy. This study was performed
to “help evaluate the economic case for efforts to reverse or prevent opioid
poisoning and its associated morbidity and mortality”. This study was conducted
by collecting information from publically available databases regarding costs
for the treatment of opioid poisonings in emergency rooms, inpatient settings,
costs for ambulances, as well as costs for medications to help reverse the
effects. The study found that the total costs were estimated at approximately
$20.4 billion.
The strengths of this article is the fact that it addresses
opiate addiction from a different perspective. Most studies are focused
directly on individuals who struggle with opiate related addictions. This study
focuses on how opiate addictions are affecting our economy. This article is
away to help motivate citizens in wanting to find ways to help individuals
suffering with this addiction. I will use this information for my project to
help motivate individuals who do not suffer with opiate addictions to help
support the cause of wanting to help individuals fighting addictions. One of
the weaknesses of this study is the fact that information from Veterans Affairs
Hospitals Systems was not included in this study. It would be helpful to know
how much VA hospitals are affected by opioid-related poisonings so that
interventions can be put in place for veterans.
McCabe, Sean Estebal, et al. “Non-Medical Use of Prescription
Opioids During the Transition to Adulthood:
A Multi-Cohort National Longitudinal Study.” Addiction 109.1 (2014): 102- 110.
Ebscohost. Web. 25 March 2015.
This article is a research study that examined the
longitudinal patterns of non-medical use of prescription opioids systematically
during the transition of being a teenager to an adult. This study was performed
to evaluate demographic and individual characteristics that are associated with
the use of non-medical use of prescription opioids, as well as to examine other
substance use that may be associated with the use of non-medical use of
prescription opioids. The researchers studied high school seniors over a period
of time. This study found that approximately one-third of the individuals who
reported non-medical use of prescription opioids continue use beyond age 18 and
also have increased chances of other substance use behaviors at ages 23 and 24.
The strengths of this article is the fact that the study
included nationally representative samples of high school seniors. This means
that the data collected from this article can be applied to multiple settings.
Another strength of this article is the fact that high school seniors were
followed over a period of time. This means that the article can provide and
assess different changes and patterns that occur over the years. These
strengths can help with the project because the information from this study can
be applied to all areas of the country. Also, it can help by showing the
changes in the patterns of use over the years and associate these changes with
ways in which individuals who are suffering from addiction can be helped. A
weakness of this article is the fact that there was not a lot of detail
included regarding why there was a change of pattern of use over the years.
