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Essay / Case Study: Pain Management and Substance Abuse
Addiction does not result from medical use and is also supported by Sees & Clark (1993). The medicine provides optimal treatment to suffering patients. Gilson et al. (2004) also indicated that its effects are predictable due to its medical purpose and that its withdrawal could cause unacceptable harm to the patient. Dependence and abuse of opioid medications depend on the period of use. As according to Compton and Volkow (2006), the longer an individual is exposed to the drug, the higher the risk of developing dependence as well. Nowadays, access to the medicine is also openly easy for the public. It came to pass that doctors were no longer needed to prescribe the medicine; it therefore becomes an illicit drug. In recent studies, the frequency of painkiller abuse or dependence ranges from 5% to 50% of different