Dopesick Terms

Like Ritalin, Adderall is a drug used to treat ADHD. It can be abused as a “study drug” and young people who are prescribed Adderall sometimes progress to taking stronger drugs. read analysis of Adderall

Buprenorphine is the generic name for a drug used in MAT to treat recovering addicts. read analysis of Buprenorphine

DEA is a commonly used acronym for the Drug Enforcement Administration. It is the government branch that deals with drug trafficking and distribution. Many people, including Dopesick author Beth Macy, criticize the way the DEA… read analysis of DEA

Similar to OxyContin, Dilaudid is a heavy opioid painkiller that can cause addiction and lead to abuse. read analysis of Dilaudid

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is up to 100 times more powerful than morphine. It leads to more overdoses than even heroin, in part because fentanyl is sometimes mixed with other drugs, causing users… read analysis of Fentanyl

Iatrogenic means caused by a doctor. If a doctor overprescribes opioids, it can lead to iatrogenic addiction. read analysis of Iatrogenic

MAT is the acronym for medication-assisted treatment. It involves treating opioid addicts with less powerful drugs in order to help them cope with their addiction and avoid dopesickness. Although MAT has been proven to… read analysis of MAT

Medicaid is public health insurance in the United States for people with low income. Many states were given the option to expand Medicaid after the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, an option… read analysis of Medicaid

Methadone is the generic name for a drug used in MAT to treat recovering addicts. read analysis of Methadone

Naloxone is the generic name for Narcan, a drug that can be used to reverse the effects of an overdose. read analysis of Naloxone

Naltrexone is the generic name for a drug used in MAT to treat recovering addicts. read analysis of Naltrexone

Narcan is the brand name for naloxone, a drug that can be used to reverse the effects of an overdose. read analysis of Narcan

An opioid is a compound that resembles opium, and it refers to a wide range of legal and illegal drugs associated with pain relief (including heroin, codeine, and OxyContin). While there are legitimate medical… read analysis of Opioid

OxyContin is the drug that caused the opioid crisis. Introduced by Purdue Pharma in the mid-1990s, the drug was heavily marketed and overprescribed, in part because executives at Purdue misled the public about the drug’s… read analysis of OxyContin

Like Adderall, Ritalin is a drug used to treat ADHD. It can be abused as a “study drug” and young people who are prescribed Ritalin sometimes progress to taking stronger drugs. read analysis of Ritalin

Suboxone is the brand name for buprenorphine and naloxone, drugs used for MAT to treat recovering addicts. read analysis of Suboxone