Oxycodone: A brief history of a potentially addictive drug
Most of us think of opium and opiates in fairly dramatic terms. We think of Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, lulled into a stupor after falling asleep in a field of poppies or, worse, the image of a junkie hopelessly captivated by heroin. However, the face of drug addiction is changing. Many people are addicted to supposedly healthy, doctor-prescribed painkillers by their physicians. Drugs like oxycodone have the same chemical composition as opiates like heroin, even though they were scientifically created in laboratories. This paper will provide a brief history of the drug oxycodone and its use and abuses. Although oxycodone has many legitimate applications in pain management, it is not a harmless drug and has the potential to become extremely addictive. This addictive property was not initially noted but after cases of abuse began to surface, concerns began to arise. "Until 1995, when the Food and Drug Administration approved OxyContin there was little concern over the abuse of oxycodone producers. But, in 1996 when the manufacturer of OxyContin began to market and distribute the drug, concerns and reports of illicit use and abuse began to increase" ("Oxycodone," 2014).
History of drug
"Oxycodone is a semi-synthetic opiate manufactured by modifying the chemical thebaine, an organic chemical found in opium. It is the active ingredient in a number of commonly prescribed...
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