2020, the year defined by a medical crisis that plunged the world into quarantine and fear, but the Covid epidemic overshadowed a more pervasive and more ominous social issue: the drug addiction epidemic. Covid-19 simultaneously drew attention away from the Opioid crisis and made it significantly worse, the number of deaths skyrocketed to 13 per day in Philadelphia alone making 2020 the worst year in recent history for drug deaths. The increase in drug use during the pandemic disproportionately impacts those affected by the loss of income and social isolation and this is where we see the greatest spike in drug deaths. The increase in unemployment, financial hardship, and social isolation during Covid has caused a substantial increase in addiction rates because these factors are shown to be highly correlated with people turning to drugs. These factors are especially dangerous for recovering addicts and individuals who suffer from addiction and are compounded by the additional stress of the dangerous risk of containment which leads many to turn back to drugs. The pandemic has accelerated and expanded the plague that is drug addiction in America, and the pandemic simultaneously drew attention and resources away from this crisis in a time when people needed it the most.

The keystone state of Pennsylvania has been hit hard by drug addiction and the opioid epidemic, significantly more than many other states. Pennsylvania’s opioid overdose death rate was nearly 40 percent higher than the nation’s during the peak of the opioid epidemic between 2016-2017. In 2016, 80 % of Pennsylvania’s counties had an overdose death rate higher than the national average. In 2017, the rate of increase for drug overdoses in Pennsylvania was higher than in any other state, and Pennsylvania was among 20 states with a higher rate of fatal overdoses. One area that has been hit especially hard is Philadelphia which has the fifth-most drug-related activity in the United States. The drugs are responsible for the drug crisis in Pennsylvania: fentanyl– 52 percent of cases, heroin – 45 percent of cases, benzodiazepines – 33 percent of cases, cocaine – 27 percent of cases, and prescription opioids – 25 percent of cases.

Every day, more than 130 people in the United States die after overdosing on opioids. The misuse of and addiction to opioids—including prescription pain relievers, heroin, and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl—is a serious national crisis that affects public health as well as social and economic welfare. In Philadelphia alone an estimated 1,100 people are counted in the year-end fatal overdose tally, a number climbing at a frightening pace with 2020 estimated to have surpassed 2017 as the worst year on record for drug overdose deaths.

The drugs responsible for the drug epidemic include opioids as a primary offender, but the overprescription of addictive medication in the United States has seen a swell in rates of addiction in America. OxyContin is the drug many people first point to when trying to understand the current opioid epidemic and with good reason. OxyContin was created for cancer patients at end-of-life care to deal with severe pain but has been over-prescribed for every pain under the sun and even marketed as a non-addictive alternative to opioids which has proven to be the antithesis of the truth. Another drug partially guilty of kicking the opioid epidemic into overdrive is Codeine. Codeine is an opioid used to treat moderate pain and is not nearly as addictive or overprescribed as OxyContin, but because it is less addictive, there is significantly less regulation of Codeine making it easy to acquire. Codeine can start very innocently with codeine-laced cough syrup and people are unaware that Codeine can be addictive and that drug use may escalate when tolerance develops causing people to seek stronger opioids like Oxy, morphine, or even heroin to chase that same high.

A drug that not many thinks of when they hear the words drug addiction but are certainly guilty of is called Prozac. An antidepressant used to treat depression, bulimia, panic disorders, and OCD, Prozac is the most prescribed antidepressant in history and yet is susceptible to addiction. Those who become addicted to Prozac develop a psychological dependence on the mood and behavior-altering effects. The barbiturate Xanax is extremely similar to Prozac because of its prescription for treating anxiety disorders, sleep disorders, and how people develop a psychological dependence on the mood-altering effects of the drug. With an estimated 15 million people in the United States addicted to Prozac, Xanax, and similar prescription drugs, the drug abuse problem in the United State clearly spans beyond the opioid epidemic.

A drug that is frequently abused and easily accessible in America Adderall, a stimulant prescribed to treat ADD/ADHD. Adderall is commonly abused by students because of the high stress, pressure, and demand of school many students face like cramming for tests or writing lengthy papers and the stimulant allows students to stay awake for long periods of time and focus often called the “study buddy” or the “smart drug”.

The over-prescription of addictive drugs coupled with the high demand and high stress of modern life has caused a surge in drug abuse and addiction across America and this has only been worsened by the Covid-19 crisis.  During a time where an epidemic is used constantly, America is ignoring an epidemic that has been festering and growing for a long time and can’t be solved with a simple vaccine. With a measured 19.7 million Americans addicted to drugs in the U.S and that number on the rise, what can we do? How can we stop people from becoming addicted and help those who have already encountered these pitfalls? How do we make American’s understand the threat that addiction poses to our fellow citizens and the urgency with which we need to address this issue because the age people are becoming addicted is shifting, it’s decreasing? With the age people are becoming addicted to and abusing drugs affecting targeting the youth, it is imperative that we work toward helping and preventing drug addiction before it dismantles the next generation.

Written By: Sarah Frishman