Are all drugs narcotics?
I was speaking to a friend of mine and told him how my mother was taking oxycodone for pain. I described it as a narcotic and proceeded to say "Duh! All drugs are narcotics" Is he correct? I thought narcotics were highly addictive drugs
He is absolutely incorrect. Definitely not all drugs are narcotics. Narcotics are opiates that make up a very small percentage of all drugs. And yes, narcotics can be addictive.
December 3rd, 2009 at 12:13 pm
He is absolutely incorrect. Definitely not all drugs are narcotics. Narcotics are opiates that make up a very small percentage of all drugs. And yes, narcotics can be addictive.
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Myself – I’m a paramedic
December 3rd, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Narcotics are drugs which tend to put you to sleep & deaden pain. Other types are not correctly narcotic but are often incorrectly called such.
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December 3rd, 2009 at 1:07 pm
Not at all. Narcotics are a class of drugs that are highly controlled and contain opiates. Some examples: Morphine, Oxycontin, oxyconde, dilaudid, percocet, vicodin and fentanyl. These drugs are only available through a prescription, and are only used when you have chronic pain or post-operative pain. Drugs like advil and tylenol are considered NSAIDs(non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) and are available over the counter. I’m not going to go into all the different drug classes, but narcotics are the most controlled group and they can also be very addicting. Your friend has no idea what he is talking about.
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I am a registered nurse
December 3rd, 2009 at 1:47 pm
NO
Not all drugs that relieve pain come under the blanket term “narcotic.” Most, but not all narcotics, come from opium. More common ones include opium, heroine, codeine, morphine. The Germans invented methadone during WWII due to a shortage of morphine. It has many of the same properties of heroine and is sometimes used to help get heroine addicts off of heroine, although the person then becomes addicted to methadone. These drugs can also be used to help with sleep
Sedatives are barbiturates and benzodiazepines and contain drugs such as Valium, Librium, Xanax, and Phenobarbital. These drugs have several different uses including helping with sleep, seizure control and other uses.
All of these drugs can be very addictive and should only be used under the supervision of a doctor and for only a short amount of time. Some of these drugs are extremely difficult to stop using and are also easy to overdose on.
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30 years in radiology and personal experience