Opioid addiction has spread like wildfire in U.S. homes over the past several years, stemming largely from what experts believe is the over-prescription of painkillers that act as gateway drugs to heroin abuse. In fact, according to SAMHSA, two of the most prescribed painkillers in the country—Oxycodine and Hydrocodone—have the highest risk of addiction for those who take them.
Dazed: “Accessibility means availability, and availability means that heroin addiction is everywhere. Long gone are the stereotypical views of addicts as the homeless people that sleep under the highway. What is so terrifying about the epidemic is that addiction and death by overdose has become so common that it almost feels as though it has been normalized.”
Twin Cities Public Health 