One pill. One choice. One life.

Stop. Before you make that life altering decision, think. 

Opioids are beyond a fun drug that’ll pass by when misused; they are layered and addictive. 

Opioids can hijack the brain’s reward system, creating a sense of need for the drug even when the user isn’t in need of it. Over time, the body will build a tolerance requiring higher dosages to feel the same effects; if this process is stopped, withdrawals will kick in and symptoms such as anxiety, nausea, sweating, and muscle pain will kick in.

As opioids slow down breathing, higher dosages can lead to death. Overdose is extremely dangerous and common especially when mixed with alcohol or any other form of depressants.

According to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, 130 Americans die everyday from an opioid overdose. Not to mention, the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics states that opioids are a factor in at least 7 out of every 10 overdose deaths. 

Statistics such as these serve as a reminder to the harm that misuse of opioids serve to just about anyone around you. 

It can be seen as a temporary thing but no one imagines themselves in the position we view our statistics in. 

Before you make that decision, think, how could this affect me in the future? 

As your hands become cold and slick with sweat, your fingernails have crept to become a deathly blue by then. It’s pale skin next, and you’ll be clutching your stomach, urging the vomiting to stop as consciousness drifts away. 

Your breathing has slowed as the lungs move towards respiratory failure. Heart problems begin to arise as the heart fails to pump enough blood for the body. Your body becomes overly sensitive to pain, and the pain is sharp — relentless. Constipation becomes much too frequent. 

As they drag your body onto that white bed, the sirens will continue to blare, serving as a constant reminder. 

It doesn’t stop at the trip to the ER; next, is a trip to the grave.