The Opioid Crisis in Orange County

The Opioid Crisis in Orange County According to a new report by Orange County, California’s health care agency, the overdose deaths in Orange County have greatly surpassed that of Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Ventura, and Santa Barbara counties and, most shockingly, all of California as a whole. The opioid crisis in Orange County has grown so much that a high concentration of treatment centers has popped up in the area hoping to combat this issue, but it doesn’t seem to be enough. In addition, the report details that the majority of state-licensed treatment centers and unregulated sober living homes are located along the coast and in south county, where overdose deaths are highest. What is the Opioid Crisis? To understand the opioid crisis in Orange County, it is important to also understand how the opioid crisis came to be. In the late 1990s, pharmaceutical companies reassured the medical community that patients would not become addicted to opioid pain relievers and healthcare providers began to prescribe them at greater rates. This increased prescription of opioid medications led to widespread misuse of both prescription and non-prescription opioids before it became clear that these medications could indeed be highly addictive. As such, in 2017, the US Department of Health and Human Services declared a public health emergency. Why is it Worse in Orange County? There are many reasons for the growth of an opioid epidemic in Orange County, including: ...
Source: Cliffside Malibu - Category: Addiction Authors: Tags: Addiction Detox Resources for Alcohol and Drugs/Opiates opiate abuse opiate addiction opioid opioid crisis opioids orange county Source Type: blogs