
How does the opioid epidemic affect rural communities?
The effects of the opioid epidemic are more intense in rural communities where employment opportunities are often limited and isolation is pervasive. Between 1999 and 2015, opioid death rates in rural areas have quadrupled among those 18-to-25-year-olds and tripled for females.
What happened to the opioid crisis during the pandemic?
Another point to consider is that the pandemic took away the attention—from the media, from legislators, from public health agencies—that was being focused on the opioid crisis. We have an addiction crisis in the U.S. that was being discussed quite a bit in 2019 and it seemed like we were starting to inch toward policy solutions.
What is the economic impact of opioid misuse?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the total "economic burden" of prescription opioid misuse alone in the United States is $78.5 billion a year, including the costs of healthcare, lost productivity, addiction treatment, and criminal justice involvement (NIDA, 2018).
Does the opioid epidemic know no boundaries?
“The opioid epidemic knows no boundaries. It has cut through communities of all sizes and families of all socio-economic backgrounds,” Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said during an October 2017 interview with Successful Farming .

What impacts does the opioid epidemic have on communities?
Devastating consequences of the opioid epidemic include increases in opioid misuse and related overdoses, as well as the rising incidence of newborns experiencing withdrawal syndrome due to opioid use and misuse during pregnancy.
How has Covid made opioid epidemic worse?
"That seemed to have an impact on substance use practices." For opioid users, the pandemic created an added risk by disrupting supply chains for illicit drugs, he noted. It's very similar to the way COVID-19 caused shortages in food, toilet paper and other necessities.
How does the opioid epidemic affect public health?
A range of public health issues are associated with the current crisis of opioid abuse, including opioid use disorders, opioid overdoses, neonatal abstinence syndrome, and increased spread of infectious diseases like HIV and hepatitis C (HCV).
What is the most common adverse effect amongst opioid users?
The most common side effects of opioid usage are constipation (which has a very high incidence) and nausea. These 2 side effects can be difficult to manage and frequently tolerance to them does not develop; this is especially true for constipation.
Is the opioid crisis worse than Covid?
Transcript. SHANOOR SEERVAI: More than half a million Americans have died of an overdose from opioids in the past two decades, and the number of people dying has only gone up each year. This public health crisis has gotten worse than the pandemic, and it gets a lot less attention than COVID-19.
Why is it so easy to become addicted to opioids?
Opioids are highly addictive, in large part because they activate powerful reward centers in your brain. Opioids trigger the release of endorphins, your brain's feel-good neurotransmitters. Endorphins muffle your perception of pain and boost feelings of pleasure, creating a temporary but powerful sense of well-being.
Is OxyContin still available?
OxyContin, a trade name for the narcotic oxycodone hydrochloride, is a painkiller available in the United States only by prescription. OxyContin is legitimately prescribed for relief of moderate to severe pain resulting from injuries, bursitis, neuralgia, arthritis, and cancer.
Why is the opioid epidemic growing?
In recent years, the opioid overdose epidemic has worsened with a rise in the use of illicit opioids. Of particular concern is illicitly manufactured fentanyl, which is 50-100 times more potent than morphine. CDC has forged new partnerships with law enforcement to address the growing illicit opioid problem.
What is the strongest pain killer?
Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic (human-made) opioid that is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine, and is prescribed for extreme pain. It is extremely dangerous if misused, and is sometimes added to illicit drugs sold by drug dealers. Find out more about Fentanyl.
Which is stronger hydrocodone or oxycodone?
However, a different study found that oxycodone, the drug in Percocet, was 1.5 times more potent than hydrocodone, the drug in Vicodin, when prescribed and taken at equal doses.
What does long term use of opioids do to your body?
Studies show that long-term opioid treatment increases the risk of fractures, infections, cardiovascular complications, sleep-disordered breathing, bowel dysfunction, overdose, and mortality. Opioids may potentially affect cancer development.
Why is golf booming?
Golf is booming because of the pandemic. Players wearing face masks warm up on the range at the Miami Beach Golf Club on April 29, 2020 in Miami Beach, Florida. (CNN) The pandemic has popularized a lot of unexpected activities.
How many viewers will watch the 2020 PGA Championship?
The first round of the tournament averaged 1,246,000 viewers, making it the event's most viewed first round telecast since 2015, and the second best opening round in the last 10 years.
Is golf resurgence?
Thanks to social distancing, the sport of golf has seen a resurgence, too. At the beginning of 2020, golf courses were seeing business as usual. There was no big nationwide increase in the number of rounds of golf played, according to data from Golf DataTech.
Present Conditions of Coronavirus (COVID-19)
More than 153,648 cases found in 146 countries among them more than 5,746 resulted in deaths from COVID-19 until I am writing this article. The SARS-like virus was first found on 23rd January 2020, in Wuhan, China and is spreading into neighboring Asian countries, and as far afield as Australia, the US, and Europe.
Impact on Golf & Golfers
The pandemic situation has surely left a huge impact on golf like other sports.
What Should We Do Now
Golfers prepare to stay safe, major tournaments are called off and most golf courses are closed. Golfers are staying at home without an emergency. So, should you. Safety comes first always. Keep your hands clean and washed with soap or hand sanitizer, eat and drink warm foods.
How much will the NGF increase in 2020?
The NGF’s optimistic line of projections suggest that a strong finish to the year could mean an 8% rise year over year, while even a downturn over the last four months of 2020 would still likely result in a year-over-year gain of at least 2%.
Is golf outdoors?
We’ve learned that staying outdoors means a lower risk of transmission, and golf is entirely outdoors. We’ve learned that keeping other people at a distance helps, too, and golf requires no real proximity.
Is golf a quarantine outlet?
But as we learned more about the virus and about our collective response; one thing became more and more clear: golf had the potential to serve as an ideal quarantine outlet.
Can you play golf alone?
You can play golf alone, and you can play without ever going inside, and there’s a good chance you can play without driving too far from your home, too. Golf course operators had reasons to be cautiously optimistic that if they were able to reopen, golfers would flock to the fairways.
Is golf safe?
Plenty of golf’s growth can be directly attributed to the coronavirus: golf is safe, it’s distanced and people have fewer options available. But there are other factors to consider, too, including the weather. The NGF cited a warm, dry summer as partially responsible for the uptick in play, too.
How many people die from opioids every day?
Every day, more than 90 Americans die after overdosing on opioids. That’s three people every hour. As if the death rate wasn’t bad enough, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that the “economic burden” of prescription opioid misuse in the United States is $78.5 billion a year, including the costs of healthcare, ...
How many babies were born with opioid withdrawal in 2012?
In 2012, an estimated 21,732 babies – one every 25 minutes – were born with opioid withdrawal symptoms, a condition known as Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS). According to a study by University of Michigan and Vanderbilt University. , NAS has risen twice as fast in rural areas compared with metropolitan areas.
