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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
NARCONON EUROPE
Complete Educational Resource
Download the complete Narconon painkillers education brochure for comprehensive information.
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What is Addiction?
WHEN A PERSON IS ADDICTED, he doesn't control his drug use; his drug use controls him. When an addict loses the ability to make a rational choice about whether or not to use drugs or alcohol, he or she is addicted.
Addiction is a condition whereby a person experiences an irresistible urge to seek out and use drugs or alcohol despite negative physical and mental consequences.
Addiction is usually accompanied by physical and psychological dependence on the drug and the person suffers withdrawal symptoms when the drug is rapidly decreased or stopped.
Narconon does not believe that addiction is a disease, that it is incurable or that a person must "live with it" for the rest of his life. In the experience of Narconon staff and graduates, it is possible to fully recover from addiction and enjoy a productive, drug-free life.
To understand addiction, you must first understand drugs—what they are, the signs and symptoms of their use as well as the short-term and long-term effects of using drugs.
Addicts will often deny their addiction.
Prescription Painkiller Abuse
of teens believe that taking prescription drugs is safer than using illegal street drugs
THE ABUSE OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS CONTINUES TO GROW. Among teens, prescription drugs are the most commonly used drugs, next to marijuana, and almost half of the teens abusing prescription drugs are taking painkillers.
Why are so many young people turning to prescription drugs to get high? By survey, almost 50 percent of teens believe that taking prescription drugs is safer than using illegal street drugs.
What is not known by most of these young people is the risk they are taking by consuming these highly potent and mind-altering drugs. Long-term use of painkillers can lead to dependence, even for people who are prescribed them to relieve a medical condition but eventually fall into the trap of abuse and addiction.
In some cases, the dangers of painkillers don't surface until it is too late. For example, abuse of the painkiller Fentanyl killed more than one thousand people. The drug was found to be thirty to fifty times more powerful than heroin.
What Are Painkillers?
PRESCRIPTION PAINKILLERS ARE POWERFUL DRUGS that interfere with the nervous system's transmission of the nerve signals somebody uses to perceive pain. Most painkillers also stimulate portions of the brain associated with pleasure. Thus, in addition to blocking pain, they produce a high.
Opioids - The Most Powerful
The most powerful prescription painkillers are called opioids. These are a natural, synthetic or semisynthetic derivative of opium. They are manufactured to react on the nervous system in the same way as drugs derived from opium, such as heroin.
The most commonly abused opioid painkillers include oxycodone, hydrocodone, meperidine, hydromorphone and propoxyphene.
Oxycodone
Oxycodone has the greatest potential for abuse and the greatest dangers. It is as powerful as heroin and affects the nervous system the same way. Oxycodone is sold under many trade names, such as Percodan, Endodan, Roxiprin, Percocet, Endocet, Roxicet and OxyContin.
OxyContin is an extended-release oxycodone. For that reason, if an addict crushes or chews OxyContin, it releases a potentially fatal overdose.
Other Major Painkillers
- Hydrocodone: Available in tablets, capsules and syrups. Trade names include Anexsia, Dicodid, Hycodan, Hycomine, Lorcet, Lortab, Norco, Tussionex and Vicodin.
- Meperidine (Demerol) and hydromorphone (Dilaudid) come in tablets and have been known to be crushed and injected, snorted or smoked.
- Dilaudid, considered eight times more potent than morphine, is often called "drugstore heroin" on the streets.
Street Names for Painkillers
| Generic Name | Brand Name | Street Name |
|---|---|---|
| Oxycodone | OxyContin, Percodan, Percocet, Roxiprin, Roxicet, Endodan, Endocet | Oxy 80s, Oxycotton, Oxycet, Hillbilly Heroin, Percs, Perks |
| Hydrocodone | Anexsia, Dicodid, Hycodan, Hycomine, Lorcet, Lortab, Norco, Tussionex, Vicodin | Vikes, Hydros |
| Hydromorphone | Dilaudid | Juice, Dillies, Drugstore Heroin |
| Meperidine | Demerol | Demmies |
Real Stories of Addiction
James
"At the age of twenty, I became an addict to a narcotic which began with a prescription following a surgery. In the weeks that followed [the operation], in addition to orally abusing the tablet, crushing it up enabled me to destroy the controlled-release mechanism and to swallow or snort the drug. It can also be injected to produce a feeling identical to shooting heroin. The physical withdrawal from the drug is nothing short of agonizing pain."
Alex
"I didn't think I had a 'drug' problem—I was buying the tablets at the chemist [drugstore]. It didn't affect my work. I would feel a bit tired in the mornings, but nothing more. The fact that I had a problem came to a head when I took an overdose of about forty tablets and found myself in the hospital. I spent twelve weeks in the clinic conquering my addiction."
Thomas
"Pretty much as long as I can remember, I've had highs and lows. I would get easily upset by the littlest things, I would have anger outbursts or hate someone for no reason at all. For a long while I thought I was bipolar. I started using drugs last October to help me with my unwanted feelings. But believe it or not, it just made stuff worse—I had to now deal with my addiction and my emotional problems."
Why Painkillers Become So Addictive
OPIOID PAINKILLERS PRODUCE A SHORT-LIVED EUPHORIA, but they are also addictive.
Long-term use of painkillers can lead to physical dependence. The body adapts to the presence of the substance and if an individual stops taking the drug abruptly, withdrawal symptoms occur. Or the body could build up a tolerance to the drug, meaning that higher doses have to be taken to achieve the same effects.
Withdrawal Symptoms Include:
Life-Threatening Risk
One of the serious risks of opioids is respiratory depression—high doses can cause breathing to slow down to the point it stops and the user dies.
The Reality of Painkillers
Like all drugs, painkillers simply mask the pain for which they are taken. They don't cure anything. Someone continuously trying to dull the pain may find himself taking higher and higher doses—only to discover that he cannot make it through the day without the drug.
Notable Case: Rush Limbaugh
Rush Limbaugh's Radio On-Air Statement
"I am addicted to prescription pain medication. I first started taking prescription painkillers [some] years ago when my doctor prescribed them to treat postsurgical pain following spinal surgery. Over the past several years I have tried to break my dependence on pain pills and, in fact, twice checked myself in to medical facilities in an attempt to do so. [I have] recently agreed with my physician about the next steps."
—Excerpted from radio commentator Rush Limbaugh's on-air statement, Friday, Oct. 10, 2003
OxyContin: The "Hillbilly Heroin"
Because it reacts on the nervous system like heroin or opium, some abusers are using one brand of oxycodone painkiller, OxyContin, as a substitute for, or supplement to, street opiates like heroin.
Armed robberies of pharmacies have occurred where the robber demanded only OxyContin, not cash. In some areas, particularly the Eastern United States, OxyContin has been the drug of greatest concern to law-enforcement authorities.
In one county it was estimated that addiction to OxyContin was behind 80 percent of the crime there
OxyContin, widely known as hillbilly heroin because of its abuse in Appalachian communities, has emerged as a major crime problem in the US.
Vicodin: America's Most Popular Opiate
VICODIN IS A STRONG OPIATE PAINKILLER, the most popular one in America.
Vicodin has a high potential for abuse and is highly addictive. Despite the danger of addiction, one in five teens in high school have tried Vicodin. Some of those teens will become addicted. Vicodin is not as heavily regulated as some other prescription drugs, so that may contribute to its extensive distribution.
Short-Term Effects of Vicodin Abuse
A person who takes too much of the drug or combines it with other drugs can suffer from convulsions and seizures and slip into a coma.
Long-Term Effects of Vicodin Abuse
When a person continues to take or abuse this drug, a whole new set of effects comes into play. The most major of these effects is addiction. Addiction routinely sets many other changes into motion.
For example, an honest and loving person who becomes addicted may turn into someone the family doesn't know anymore. He may be untrustworthy for the first time in his life. He may neglect the family, the job and friends.
He may commit crimes by seeing multiple doctors to get enough of the drug or he may buy the drug from drug dealers, or even steal it from friends or a pharmacy. In so many heartbreaking cases, the person's life becomes all about getting enough of the drug to keep withdrawal symptoms away.
Once a person goes through withdrawal, he may have a horror of ever going through it again. It can be an intensely uncomfortable experience, with muscle and bone pain, anxiety, aches, cramps, restlessness, chills, vomiting, diarrhea and nausea.
Mental & Physiological Effects of Painkillers
Some Get Addicted by Accident
IN THE CASE OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS, many people get started on their way to addiction by accident. They may suffer some kind of pain or injury and have the drug prescribed by a doctor. As they build a tolerance to the drug, they need more and more to keep the pain away.
They may exceed the amount the doctor is willing to prescribe and then start getting the drug illegally.
Others start abusing painkillers from the beginning and not by accident—snorting, injecting or ingesting more than would normally be recommended.
Once people are addicted, there is not much difference in how they got started abusing the drug. The addiction eventually becomes more important than just about anything else in life. Care of themselves, their business or their family takes a back seat to acquiring the drug.
Criminal Behavior
Many people who run out of money to buy opiates will turn to criminal actions to get their drugs. Pharmacy theft is one of these crimes. Around the country, Vicodin is a very common drug in pharmacy thefts.
In other cases, items of value may go missing from their home or business or the homes of family members. It may be very hard for a family to understand that someone they have known and loved for thirty years has suddenly changed so much—but that is the nature of addiction.
10 Warning Signs of Dependency
Most commonly prescribed painkillers (OxyContin, Vicodin, Methadone, Darvocet, Lortab, Lorcet and Percocet), while offering relief from pain, can also cause individuals' bodies to start needing the drugs in order to just feel normal.
1. Usage increase
Increase of a dose over time as a result of growing tolerant to the drug and needing more to get the same effect.
2. Change in personality
Shifts in energy, mood, and concentration as a result of everyday responsibilities becoming secondary to the need for the drug.
3. Social withdrawal
Withdrawal from family and friends.
4. Ongoing use
Continued use of painkillers after the medical condition they were meant to relieve has improved.
5. Time spent on obtaining prescriptions
Spending large amounts of time driving great distances and visiting multiple doctors to obtain the drugs.
6. Change in daily habits and appearance
Decline in personal hygiene; change in sleeping and eating habits; constant cough, runny nose and red, glazed eyes.
7. Neglect of responsibilities
Neglect of household chores and bills; calling in sick to school or work more often.
8. Increased sensitivity
Normal sights, sounds and emotions becoming overly stimulating to the person; hallucinations.
9. Blackouts and forgetfulness
Forgetting events that have taken place and experiencing blackouts.
10. Defensiveness
Becoming defensive and lashing out in response to simple questions in an attempt to hide a drug dependency.
Painkillers: A Short History
OPIATES, ORIGINALLY DERIVED FROM THE OPIUM PLANT, have been used for thousands of years for both recreational and medicinal purposes. The most active substance in opium is morphine—named after Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams. Morphine is a very powerful painkiller, but it is also very addictive.
16th Century
Laudanum (opium prepared in an alcoholic solution) was used as a painkiller.
1830
Codeine was first isolated in France by Jean-Pierre Robiquet to replace raw opium for medical purposes. The British dependence on opium reached an all-time high.
1839
The British sent warships to the coast of China in response to China's attempt to suppress the opium traffic, beginning the "First Opium War."
Early 19th Century
Morphine was first extracted from opium in pure form. It was used widely as a painkiller during the American Civil War (1861-1865) and many soldiers became addicted.
1874
Chemists trying to find a less addictive form of morphine made heroin. But heroin had twice the potency of morphine so heroin addiction soon became a serious problem.
1905-1920s
The US Congress banned opium in 1905 and passed the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906. Heroin became illegal in the 1920s.
1937
Methadone was first synthesized by German scientists Max Bockmühl and Gustav Ehrhart at the IG Farben Company, searching for a less addictive painkiller than morphine or heroin. Yet methadone is believed by many to be even more addictive than heroin.
1995
Southeast Asia was producing 2,500 tons of illegal opium annually.
Modern Era
New painkillers came on the market with FDA approval: Vicodin in 1984, OxyContin in 1995 and Percocet in 1999. These are all synthetic (man-made) opiates.
What Are Drugs?
Small Amount
Acts as a stimulant (speeds you up)
Greater Amount
Acts as a sedative (slows you down)
Even Larger Amount
Poisons and can kill
DRUGS ARE ESSENTIALLY POISONS. The amount taken determines the effect. This is true of any drug. Only the amount needed to achieve the effect differs.
But many drugs have another liability: they directly affect the mind. They can distort the user's perception of what is happening around him. As a result, the person's actions may be odd, irrational, inappropriate and even destructive.
Drugs also block off all sensations, the desirable ones along with the unwanted. So while providing short-term relief from pain, they also wipe out ability and alertness and muddy a person's thinking.
Medicines are drugs that are intended to make your body work better by speeding up, slowing down or changing something about the way the body works. Sometimes they are necessary. But medicines are still drugs: they act as stimulants or sedatives and too much can kill you. If medicines are abused, they can be as dangerous as illegal drugs.
About Narconon
NARCONON (MEANING "NO NARCOTICS") drug- and alcohol-rehabilitation program is open to all who desire to end their addictions and lead productive, drug-free lives.
The Narconon program not only addresses the debilitating effects of drug abuse on the mind and body, but also helps resolve why a person turned to drugs in the first place. As a result, tens of thousands have graduated from the Narconon Program to new lives free from drug use.
Drug Prevention Education
Beyond drug rehabilitation, Narconon's drug-prevention staff have educated millions of school children. Narconon has more than fifty years of drug-education experience with demonstrated effectiveness in keeping young people off drugs.
Glossary of Terms
A war in the United States (1861–1865) between eleven Southern states and the states and territories of the North. The war ended with the South's surrender on April 9, 1865.
A term used to describe a manic-depressive condition in which someone alternates between extremes of excitement and depression.
A white crystalline drug derived from opium, but milder in action, used as a painkiller.
A state of unnatural, heavy, deep and prolonged sleep or unconsciousness.
Uncontrollable violent shaking of the body or part of the body.
Making someone physically or mentally weak.
A substance obtained from another substance.
A feeling of great happiness and well-being.
Characterized by euphoria (a feeling of great happiness and well-being).
A powerful and addictive drug that causes a temporary feeling of euphoria but results in slowed breathing, depression and, when overdosed, death. Made from the poppy plant and highly addictive.
Lack of energy, activity or enthusiasm.
A powerful, addictive synthetic drug used as a substitute drug in the treatment of addiction to heroin. Known to cause life-threatening side effects and death.
A powerful addictive drug used in medicine to relieve severe pain. Can produce feelings of indifference and if overdosed, can cause death.
Make something confusing or less clear, figuratively as if stirring mud in water and making it less clear.
A drug that is used to bring about sleep and for relieving pain that contains opium or an opium derivative.
An addictive drug that reduces pain and causes drowsiness. Made from the milky liquid of the poppy plant. Can be further processed to create morphine and heroin.
A drug that relieves pain. Mild painkillers like aspirin do not require a prescription, but stronger painkillers are only prescribed by doctors.
Of the mind, mental.
Thinking in a sensible, reasonable way.
A drug used to cause sleepiness and temporarily relieve pain and nervousness or agitation.
A sudden attack or spasm consisting of violent movement, convulsive jerking of muscles or other parts of the body.
Any substance that temporarily increases the activity of some vital process or organ.
Artificially prepared or made in imitation of a natural product but made from artificial materials.
Unpleasant physical and mental reactions that someone with an addiction experiences when he stops using drugs.
Get the Complete Guide
Download the complete Narconon painkillers education brochure
Download Complete PDF BrochureEducational material from Narconon Europe
Discover more educational articles about painkillers
What happens when you stop taking painkillers
The hidden signs of painkiller addiction
Why painkillers feel safe—but aren’t
✅ Section FAQ – Painkiller Education
Are painkillers addictive even when prescribed?
Yes. Even when used as directed, many prescription opioids can lead to physical and psychological dependence over time.
What makes painkiller abuse so dangerous?
Painkillers often suppress breathing and brain activity. Abuse can lead to overdose, unconsciousness, and even death—especially when combined with alcohol or other depressants.
Can someone recover from painkiller addiction without using other drugs?
Yes. Drug-free programs like Narconon help individuals recover naturally—without relying on medication-assisted treatment or substitute opioids.
How fast can painkiller addiction develop?
Addiction can begin within a few weeks, especially with high doses or frequent use. Many people are unaware they’re dependent until they try to stop.