Experience Recovery Blog

You’ve probably heard mention of the opioid crisis—an epidemic of drug addiction, centered on a specific category of narcotics. Despite all the media attention surrounding opioid addiction, there remains much misunderstanding about what opioids really are.

Opioid addiction is serious, and in many cases it can even be life-threatening—yet often, it starts off fairly innocently. Opioids include some illicit street drugs, but also a number of perfectly legal medications, foremost among them prescription painkillers. It is not uncommon for an individual to use these legal opioids according to a doctor’s orders, only to have addiction spiral out of control and lead them into more dangerous drugs.

Opioid addiction can have a disastrous effect on one’s physical, mental, and emotional health; in some cases, it can even prove fatal. If it’s not treated promptly, opioid addiction can truly do lasting damage to the individual, and it can be shattering to friends and family members, too.

If you’ve watched the news or read the headlines in recent months, you’ve probably heard about America’s opioid epidemic. Throughout the country, people are becoming addicted to opiate-derived medications as well as street drugs—and the effects have been dire. Even so, there remains a lot of misinformation about what opioids actually are, and how opioid addiction impacts body and mind.

Whether an applicant is looking to be hired into a safety-sensitive position or they are a current employee being transferred into this type of role, chances are, they will be required to submit to drug testing. This is critical because an employer does not want an employee on the job if they are under the influence