What are Opioids? Drug Detox Centers Explain

Often, drug detox centers field questions from the general population regarding opioids. The most common question people ask experts from drug rehabs concerns the difference between opioids and opiates. So, what is the difference between the two?

Drug detox centers tell us that the terms opiate and opioid are used interchangeably. Opioids are synthetic medications manufactured in a lab or intoxicants manufactured from natural sources, like plants. An example of a synthetic opioid is oxycontin, made from synthetic materials by a pharmaceutical company. Natural opioids are drugs such as heroin and morphine, both derived from the poppy plant. Additionally, drug detox center doctors inform us that the human body makes its own opioids called endorphins. Opioids are drugs or chemicals that attach themselves to brain receptors known as opioid receptors, according to drug rehab professionals.

Opioids are often legally prescribed by doctors for pain, or they are taken illegally simply to "get high." Drug detox centers also inform us that some people are so dependent on opioids they need to take them just to feel "normal."

Because of the pain pill epidemic sweeping the United States, drug rehabs are encountering an influx of opioid patients in their drug detox centers. The Federal Government is currently putting into place actions to try to stop the problem, including strict penalties for doctors who prescribe abusive amounts of opioids to patients.