Opioids and Athletes: A Growing Problem and a Deadly Combination

63 Opinion | Volume 4 | Number 3| cc T use and abuse of opioids has become a public health issue in the United States and is identified as especially problematic among populations that are prone to high levels of pain like cancer patients and those who have undergone surgery as well as those who more frequently experience injuries and are prescribed narcotic pain relievers, such as athletes.1 In fact, while existing research tends to support that participation in sports works for many young athletes to keep them away from drugs, the inherent risk of injury that is associated with sports makes them more vulnerable than their non-athletic peers to being prescribed an opioid pain medication during their athletic career.2 In an earlier study by Veliz, et al the researchers established that young people who participated in youth sports during high school were more likely than those who did not to experience a lifetime problem of medical prescription opioid use as well as diversion of opiate medications to others. This is critical information when considering that as much as 20% of student athletes sustained injuries during interscholastic sports events with just short of 50% of those injured requiring surgery and the consequent prescription of opioid pain relievers.2 Even more, it supports the notion of athletes who typically pride themselves in pursuing proper training and leading healthy lifestyles ultimately using heroin and other opioid drugs only to “find themselves mired in a life of street drugs and crime."