The opioid epidemic, you've no doubt heard the term opioid epidemic.

It's thrown around in the news.

The epidemic also known as the opioid crisis has been a hot button issue for quite a while

now.

You also probably know someone, either someone close to you or someone you know of, that

struggling or has struggled with opioids.

It'll be hard to find a person whose life hasn't in one way or another been affected by

these very powerful drugs.

Opioids are a class of drugs, either naturally found in the opium poppy plant or made in

a lab to work like drugs naturally found in the opium poppy plant.

Naturally, we've been using them for thousands of years, but the opioid epidemic is new,

just a few decades old.

The opioid epidemic specifically refers to the growing number of deaths and hospitalizations

from opioids over the last 20 to 30 years in the U.S., including from prescriptions and

also illicit drugs.

In recent years, death rates from these drugs have ramped up to over 70,000 in a 12-month

span here in the states.

Drug overdoses now the leading cause of accidental death in America, largely due to this opioid

epidemic.

All the epidemic in its havoc may be relatively recent, we meet sacks, have such a long history

using opium and opium derivatives.

We love it.

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