Opioid use and abuse in the United States

<p>Opioids have quadrupled the number of unintentional drug overdose deaths since 1999 and are now among the leading causes of death in the United States. Though some reform has recently occurred, the United States continues to operate largely under a punitive criminal justice model despite unsuccessful legislative schemes and voluminous research stemming from a previous war on drugs. This thesis serves to explore the history and extent of opioids in the United States and to analyze salient catalysts responsible for creating an epidemic of abuse. While private and governmental coalitions have formed to develop successful interventions and treatments, they are drastically underfunded. Beginning in the early 2000s, there have been a number of civil and criminal lawsuits against manufacturers, distributors, and prescribers of opioids, with the hope of curbing overdose deaths and disrupt the illicit opioid market.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Open Access Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology

Year dc:date.available

2018

Author dc:creator

• Pellerin, James

Contributors dc:contributor

• Peter Wood, Ph.D
• Brian Sellers, Ph.D
• Grigoris Argeros, Ph.D

• opioid
• epidemic
• Sackler family
• Perdue Pharma
• OxyContin®
• pain scale
• opioid intervention
• opioid treatment
• opioid legislation
• opioid litigation
• Criminology
• Sociology

Repository record dc:identifier

https://commons.emich.edu/theses/990

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:commons.emich.edu:theses-2387