TIMELINE
THE OPIOID CRISIS In the 1990s, opioids were prescribed for pain management, as they reduce the nervous system’s reception of pain and increase feelings of pleasure. Opioids became very popular – and addictive. Higher doses can slow heart rate and breathing, which is where they become dangerous. Since 1999, over 500,000 people have died from an opioid overdose.
1993
1996
A prescription for pain
The arrival of OxyContin
Drug use, addiction and overdoses have devastated communities and families for centuries, but this is a whole new scale. In the 1990s, doctors began prescribing opioids for pain management. It wasn’t till 1993 when doctors noticed a rise in overdose deaths, especially from those mixing the opioid with other substances.
Purdue Pharma, which is owned by the Sackler family, began selling the opioid OxyContin in an aggressive marketing campaign, claiming users could take their lives back from chronic pain, with little risk of addiction. It took just a few years for annual sales to reach US$1bn.
14
August 2022
