By Joanne Bush, Michael Gray and Lindsay Hedrick ( October 27, 2017, 3:50 PM EDT) -- On Oct. 26, 2017, President Donald Trump directed the government to declare America's opioid crisis a nationwide public health emergency. Opioids are a class of pain relievers that includes prescription drugs such as codeine, morphine, oxycodone, hydrocodone, acetaminophen with oxycodone, hydromorphone, methadone, and fentanyl. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, sales of prescription opioids in the U.S. nearly quadrupled from 1999 to 2015.[1] The U.S. now consumes 85 percent of the world's natural and synthetic opiates.[2] According to the CDC, the use of prescription opioids, even when taken as directed, can cause serious risks of addiction, abuse and overdose, as well as other side effects.[3]...
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