Pain and Chemical Dependency: Addiction & Pain

Pain and Chemical Dependency: Addiction & Pain

This societal decision to regulate medical practice and criminalize the administration of opioid drugs in some contexts led to secondary phenomena, with effects of their own. Prescribers became increasingly concerned about the potential for investigation and sanction or prosecution. To some degree, this concern has contributed to the underuse of opioid drugs. Equally important, the criminalization of opioid addiction fostered an illicit drug trade that, in turn, brought new problems, including the involvement of organized crime and violent gangs in drug trafficking. Over time, all these problems--the undertreatment of pain, the occurrence of opioid abuse and addiction, and the criminal activities surrounding opioid trafficking--have increasingly undermined the public health. Clearly, pursuant to pain management and opioid analgesia, there is a pressing need for rational and consistant policies, initial and continuing education of healthcare professionals, and application of sound principles of assessment, prescribing, and management.