When Danish youth experiment with dangerous opioids, most end up taking them again, many develop a daily addiction, and a significant number are very young when they first try them.
That is the short summary of a brand-new study on young people’s opioid abuse. It’s seriously concerning according to an expert who has researched the misuse of these pills, intended as powerful painkillers but often abused to achieve a high.
»Opioids are so dangerous because the margin between a high and an overdose is very small. They’re also incredibly addictive, and when you combine these two things, it’s truly problematic,« says Henrik Vigh, professor at the University of Copenhagen.
He wasn’t involved in the new study. Politiken presented him with the results.
The study, recently published in Danish Medical Journal and soon to be fully featured in Ugeskrift for Læger, is based on an anonymous survey of 1,222 responses from youth aged 13 to 26, collected from high schools and educational institutions.
Here, a quarter indicated they had tried opioids. However, it should be noted that the study is not representative, and the figure cannot be generalized to all young people in Denmark. Nevertheless, it remains relevant.
»It shows that there are groups of young people in Denmark where opioid abuse is very widespread. That is truly worrying,« says Jakob Hartvig Thomsen, chief physician and one of the authors of the study.
The study also reveals other significant findings about young people’s opioid abuse.
One in five ends up with daily addiction
Although the study only serves as an indicator of how many Danish youth actually abuse opioids, it provides significant insights into those who end up trying these pills.
For instance, it’s often not a one-time experiment.
85 percent of the group who’ve tried opioids report taking them multiple times, and almost one fifth end up with a daily addiction after their first encounter with the pills.
»It’s hard to imagine how addictive opioids are. The body quickly becomes so accustomed to the substance that the withdrawal symptoms themselves are dangerous. This often leads to severe addiction,« says Henrik Vigh.
A third of those who’ve tried opioids say in the study that they did so for the first time before turning 16. Another third were between 16 and 18 years old the first time.
Henrik Vigh’s research shows that some young people mistakenly perceive opioids as less dangerous than many other drugs, even though forensic institutes in Denmark consider them the most dangerous substances in circulation, ahead of, for example, cocaine.
Compared to other drugs, they are also easier to consume.
»If you smoke hash, the smell can be detected throughout the building, and if you take cocaine, you often become very aggressive. Opioids are easy to hide and consume discreetly, making it difficult to detect someone is using them until it’s too late,« he says.
The tragedy of opioids
One individual who has felt the consequences of opioid addiction firsthand is 21-year-old Marcus Fogt.
He has previously shared how he got caught in an opioid addiction at the age of 16, witnessed a friend die from an overdose, and struggled multiple times to break free from his dependency.
He is certain about why they are becoming more popular.
»It’s so cheap and easily accessible. The pills are almost cheaper than hash and provide a much more intense high,« he says.
However, it’s only cheap in the beginning, he notes, because you quickly build a tolerance and need more and more of the substance to keep withdrawal symptoms at bay.
This is a point Henrik Vigh also emphasizes. The addiction becomes so severe that you will do anything to get the pills, leading ordinary young people into insurmountable problems.
»The tragedy here isn’t the drug itself. It’s the lifestyle that accompanies such severe addiction.«
More popular than cocaine
The study is conducted by the association Antidote Denmark, which combats overdose deaths, where Jakob Hartvig Thomsen also serves as chairman.
He explains that the motivation to investigate young people’s opioid abuse arose at a time when there were virtually no statistics on it. Since then, data has emerged from sources like the Danish Health Authority and the Rockwool Foundation, but according to the chief physician, they seem too low
The Danish Health Authority’s study was published last June but was criticized by experts in Politiken for weaknesses in its design, leading to changes in the conclusion.
The Rockwool Foundation’s study from October indicates that four percent of 15-19-year-olds tried opioids in the past year, making the pills the second most popular drug, only surpassed by hash.
Jakob Hartvig Thomsen stresses that Antidote Denmark does not claim to have the definitive truth for all young people in Denmark when the study shows a quarter reporting they have tried opioids. He estimates the actual figure likely lies somewhere between this and the Rockwool Foundation’s findings:
»It’s very difficult to measure illegal opioid use, but there’s no doubt that the pills have rapidly gained popularity among young people in Denmark.«
