Opioid Abuse

The opioid epidemic affects virtually every community across America, even Adair County, Kentucky. Get the information you need to help yourself or a loved one find the help they need.

What are opioids: The National Institute on Drug Abuse defines opioids as a class of drugs that includes heroin, synthetic opioids like fentanyl, and legally prescribed pain relievers, such as oxycodone.

Sometimes called: Happy Pills, Oxy, Oxycotton, and Percs

The crisis: The National Vital Statistics System with the Center for Disease Control (CDC) says over 49,000 opioid-related overdoses occurred in 2019. In Kentucky, nearly 1,000 people died of opioid overdoses in 2018.

About 25% of patients prescribed opioids for chronic pain misuse the prescription.
About 4% to 6% of patients who misuse prescription opioids go on to use heroin.
The chances of someone developing an opioid use disorder depends on factors such as the length of time a person is prescribed opioids for acute pain, and the length of time people continue taking opioids.
You can visit the National Institute on Drug Abuse to see more information about opioid use.

Download PDF Infographic about national opioid abuse

What if you take legally prescribed opioids?:

Here is what the CDC recommends:

Take the lowest effective dose prescribed.
Follow up with your doctor after taking new opioid medications.
Follow up every three months with your doctor if you take an on-going prescription of opioids.
Know what not to take/use with your opioids, like sedatives and alcohol.
Tell your doctor if your pain does not subside or gets worse while taking opioid medications.

Visit the CDC to read more about how to responsibly take prescribed opioids.

Although Century Medicines does not necessarily recommend specific treatment facilities for opioid addiction, if you need help with an addiction, we encourage you to talk to your doctor.

Our pharmacy can help guide you on using legally prescribed opioids responsibly and safely.

All images and graphics displaying on this page were taken from the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s website, which can be visited HERE. All images are the property of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.