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Research Reveals Combat Troops are at Greater Risk for Opioid and Heroin Addiction

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A new working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) revealed that combat exposure puts US troops and veterans at substantial risk for opioid and heroin abuse.

The study, entitled “Did the War on Terror Ignite an Opioid Epidemic” was created by economists with NBER, a non-profit that conducts economic research and disseminates it to policymakers, corporations, and academia. They determined that opioid abuse among combat-exposed veterans was 7 percent higher than among those who were deployed but did not see a firefight.

The authors noted that combat exposure also had something to do with higher use rates of heroin. They found that combat-exposed personnel took heroin at more than 1 percent higher than fellow service members who never directly engaged with the enemy.

The authors wrote that the study was the first to “estimate the causal impact of combat deployments in the Global War on Terrorism on opioid abuse.”

University of Connecticut associate professor of healthcare economics Resul Cesur said that he and his colleagues took on the study in order to understand the impact of the US post 9/11 war footing and its relationship to the veteran opioid epidemic. The study was motivated by an earlier research they conducted in 2010 that examined the relationship between combat and the development of post-traumatic stress disorder. The study revealed that service members with PTSD were taking opioids.

“We have an opioid epidemic in the military population. That is well known. And nearly three million deployed since 9/11, so what is the impact of this combat?” Cesur pondered. “We wanted to know if it was driven by combat or by some other selection factor. For example, are people who are prone to opioid abuse drawn to enlist? …Our evidence shows strong evidence that the reason why so many military people are using opiates is because they are exposed to combat.”

The authors further noted that the differences were driven in part by the number of personnel wounded in combat and prescribed opioids. Opioid abuse could be explained by war injuries, the researchers stated.

This also applies to heroin, with which nearly 58 percent of all abuse could be linked to a war injury. They did note that while illicit drug abuse is rare in the US military, Army and Marine Corps had the highest rates of use. The Navy came in third and the Air Force had the lowest rate of heroin use.

While the number of US troops and veterans who misused opioids or used heroin is unknown, VA officials reported that they had seen a 55 percent increase in opioid use disorders among veterans following combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan back in 2015.

In 2016, VA treated roughly 68,000 veterans for opioid addiction. It is estimated that 1 in 4 troops have an opioid prescription in a given year. Between 2010 and 2016, 6,485 veterans in the VA health care system died of opioid-related causes.

Researchers estimated that the economic impact of opioid addiction among service members is roughly $1 billion a year. As for heroin use, the economic impact is estimated to be $470 million.

“These are likely to be the lower estimates of the economic impact of combat on treatment-related expenses,” Cesur said.

If someone in the family is struggling with drug or alcohol addiction, it is important to seek help. A combination of medical detox and behavioral therapy can go a long way in the fight against drug abuse. But because every individual is affected by addiction differently, a comprehensive program tailored to their specific needs is necessary. Look for a nearby addiction treatment facility today and find out how drug treatment programs work.

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