Addicts Made Use of Anti-Diarrheal Medicine to Stay High
Abuse of Loperamide, the main ingredient found in anti-diarrheal drugs like Imodium and Diamode, has now become a growing public health concern amid an increasing number of opioid addicts who have been reportedly using Loperamide in order to get high.
In a recently published report on opioid addiction featured in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, the gastrointestinal over-the-counter medication has become popular among substance abusers because it can be easily bought off the shelves at a very cheap price.
Loperamide helps ease diarrhea by slowing down bowel movements. According to a CBS News report, some addicts would pop in as much as 50 to 300 pills per day, six times the amount needed to treat diarrhea, to self-treat withdrawal symptoms caused by opioid addictions. A big box containing 400 Loperamide pills can be bought for as little as $10.
"People looking for either self-treatment of withdrawal symptoms or euphoria are overdosing on Loperamide with sometimes deadly consequences. Loperamide is safe in therapeutic doses but extremely dangerous in high doses," said pharmacist William Eggleston of the Upstate New York Poison Center in an official press statement by the American College of Emergency Physicians.
Recent reports roughly estimate that four in ten Americans admit knowing someone who abuse opioid painkillers that are readily available. A 2014 senate testimony by National Institute on Drug Abuse director Nora D. Volkow revealed that 21 million people in the US were addicted to pain relievers.
In response to this ever-increasing threat of substance abuse of over-the-counter drugs, the Food and Drug Administration is now being pressured by doctors curb the sales of Loperamide the way common cold medicines are being sold in small batches.
"This is another reminder that all drugs, including those sold without a prescription can be dangerous when not used as directed," Eggleston further said as mentioned by The Washington Post.
