Opium Addiction Treatment

Opium is derived from the opium poppy. This plant contains both morphine and codeine which are highly addictive prescription only pain medications. One of the most insidious uses of Opium is to further refine it into heroin, one of the deadliest and most addictive drugs on the planet.

Other drugs derived from the opium plant include codeine, Demerol, hydrocodone, methadone, morphine, Lorcet, Oxycontin, Vicodin, and Vicoprofen. Collectively these drugs are refereed to as opiods or opiates.

Heroin aside, possibly the most dangerous thing about these drugs is how commonly they are prescribed for pain management purposes. This has led to an opiod addiction crisis across most of the world where otherwise law abiding citizens are being turned into addicts without ever realizing it. The danger of these drugs, oxycontin for example, is that a person who starts out using it for legitimate purposes will find themselves addicted to it without ever realizing it. Oftentimes the pain of an injury being treated with the drug is mistaken for pain caused by withdrawal after the underlying cause has been healed.

Opium, Opiates and Opioids

Treatment of opium, heroin and other opiates is rather difficult because it requires careful and methodical drug management. The danger of these drugs is that the body will have an extreme reaction to being taken off of them cold turkey. This reaction could lead to heart failure and death.

A typical treatment regimen will be too replace the opiod with something that is legal and less intense. For example a heroin user might be prescribed oxycontin. Then they will slowly be weened off the drug, or transitioned into even less addictive versions of it. This is a very slow treatment process, but one that is necessary. There are both in-patient and out-patient clinics available to help with the treatment of opium addiction.