VOA慢速英语--全球80%内源性阿片类药物来自美国

Americans Take 80% of World’s Opioid Supply 全球80%内源性阿片类药物来自美国

The U.S. government is dealing¹ with an epidemic² of opioid use.

Americans make up about 4.6 percent of the world’s population, but consume 80 percent of the world’s opioid supply. That information comes from the American Society of Interventional³ Pain Physicians.

Opioids offer strong pain relief. But they are addictive⁴, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Taking too many or too much can be fatal.

Forty Americans die every day from opioid prescription⁵ drug overdoses, said the CDC.

This week, the center released new guidelines for relieving pain.

It calls on family doctors to consider other pain relief options before prescribing opioids. Options should include high doses of anti-inflammatory drugs, such as Ibuprofen and aspirin⁶, the CDC said.

When doctors believe severe pain requires opioids, they should prescribe the lowest possible dosage, the CDC said. And patients should be told to exercise and take other steps that could get them off opioids, the agency said.

CDC Director Tom Friedman said: “Overprescribing opioids -- largely for chronic⁷ pain -- is a key driver of America’s drug-overdose epidemic.”

The CDC is not acting⁸ alone. President Barack Obama in February proposed $1.1 billion to increase treatment options for people addicted⁹ to opioids.

And the U.S. Senate recently voted 94-1 to fund treatment programs.  

The U.S. presidential candidates have been asked about the problem at town halls and debates. The issue often came up in the first primary state of New Hampshire. New Hampshire has one of the highest opioid addiction¹⁰ rates in the United States.

“We can't be here in New Hampshire and not talk about the addiction problem,” said Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at a town hall meeting. “Not talk about the fact that there have been more deaths by overdoses than car crashes in this state.”

Republican candidate Donald Trump¹¹ also spoke¹² about opioid addiction during a New Hampshire rally. “We are going to try and help the young people, and the old people, and the middle-age people, and everybody that got addicted,” he said.

The data show the problem of opioid addiction is growing. This is from a 2016 report prepared by the American Society of Addiction Medicine:

Four of every five heroin¹³ users start by misusing¹⁴ prescription painkillers¹⁵.

94 percent of people in treatment for opioid addiction said they turned to heroin because prescription opioids were “far more expensive and harder to obtain.”

In 2012, doctors wrote 260 million opioid prescriptions¹⁶ – enough to give every U.S. adult a bottle full of pills.

Words in This Story

epidemic – n. a situation in which a disease or problem spreads very quickly and affects a large number of people

opioids – n. a pain reduction drug that is very addictive

addictive – adj. causing a strong and harmful need to regularly have or do something

prescription – n. a written message from a doctor that officially tells someone to use a medicine.

guidelines – n. advice on how something should be done

option – n. something that can be chosen

dosage – n. the amount of a medicine, drug, or vitamin that should be taken

chronic – adj. continuing pain over a long period of time

1 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

2 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

3 interventional   

[医]介入的； 干涉的

参考例句：

• AM Contrast Nephropathy: What the Interventional Cardiologist Should Know and Do? 对比剂肾病：介入医师必须想到的和做到的是什么？ 来自互联网
• This article reviews some progresses in interventional therapy of liver cancer. 本文就肝癌介入治疗方面的研究进展简要综述。 来自互联网

4 addictive   

adj.(吸毒等)使成瘾的，成为习惯的

参考例句：

• The problem with video game is that they're addictive.电子游戏机的问题在于它们会使人上瘾。
• Cigarettes are highly addictive.香烟很容易使人上瘾。

5 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

6 aspirin   

n.阿司匹林

参考例句：

• The aspirin seems to quiet the headache.阿司匹林似乎使头痛减轻了。
• She went into a chemist's and bought some aspirin.她进了一家药店，买了些阿司匹林。

7 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

8 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

9 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

10 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

11 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

12 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

13 heroin   

n.海洛因

参考例句：

• Customs have made their biggest ever seizure of heroin.海关查获了有史以来最大的一批海洛因。
• Heroin has been smuggled out by sea.海洛因已从海上偷运出境。

14 misusing   

v.使用…不当( misuse的现在分词 )；把…派作不正当的用途；虐待；滥用

参考例句：

• This means we must stop misusing them. 也就是说，我们已必须停止滥用抗菌素不可了。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 预防生物武器
• Misusing organic fertilizer may cause a decrease in the soil's quality. 滥用有机肥料可能会导致土地的土质下降。 来自互联网

15 painkillers   

n.止痛药( painkiller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The doctor gave him some painkillers to ease the pain. 医生给了他一些止疼片以减缓疼痛。 来自辞典例句
• The primary painkillers - opiates, like OxyContin - are widely feared, misunderstood and underused. 人们对主要的镇痛药——如鸦片剂奥施康定——存在广泛的恐惧、误解，因此没有充分利用。 来自时文部分

16 prescriptions   

药( prescription的名词复数 )； 处方； 开处方； 计划

参考例句：

• The hospital of traditional Chinese medicine installed a computer to fill prescriptions. 中医医院装上了电子计算机来抓药。
• Her main job was filling the doctor's prescriptions. 她的主要工作就是给大夫开的药方配药。