SPORTS AND EXERCISE MEDICINE Open Journal ISSN 2379-6375 PUBLISHERS Opioids and Athletes: A Growing Problem and a Deadly Combination Kimberly R. Outlaw, MSW, LCAS-A, CCSOTS 1,2,3 ; Tracy Carpenter-Aeby, LCSW, PhD 1* ; Victor G. Aeby, MS, EdD 1 1 East Carolina University, 201 Rivers, ECU, Greenville, NC 27858, USA 2 Licensed Clinical Addictions Specialist Associate 3 Clinical Certifed Sex Offender Treatment Specialist * Corresponding author Tracy Carpenter-Aeby, LCSW, PhD Professor, 220 Rivers, School of Social Work, College of Health & Human Performance, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858, USA; E-mail: carpenteraebyt@ecu.edu Article information Received: April 20 th , 2018; Revised: August 9 th , 2018; Accepted: August 13 th , 2018; Published: October 4 th , 2018 Cite this article Outlaw K, Carpenter-Aeby T, Aeby VG. Opioids and athletes: A growing problem and a deadly combination. Sport Exerc Med Open J. 2018; 4(1): 63-65. doi: 10.17140/SEMOJ-4-163 Opinion Copyright 2018 by Carpenter-Aeby T. This is an open-access article distributed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which allows to copy, redistribute, remix, transform, and reproduce in any medium or format, even commercially, provided the original work is properly cited. 63 Opinion | Volume 4 | Number 1| cc T he use and abuse of opioids has become a public health issue in the United States and is identifed as especially problematic among populations that are prone to high levels of pain like cancer patients and those who have undergone surgery as well as those who more frequently experience injuries and are prescribed nar- cotic pain relievers, such as athletes. 1 In fact, while existing research tends to support that participation in sports works for many young athletes to keep them away from drugs, the inherent risk of injury that is associated with sports makes them more vulnerable than their non-athletic peers to being prescribed an opioid pain medica- tion during their athletic career. 2 In an earlier study by Veliz, et al the researchers established that young people who participated in youth sports during high school were more likely than those who did not to experience a lifetime problem of medical prescription opioid use as well as diversion of opiate medications to others. This is critical information when considering that as much as 20% of student athletes sustained injuries during interscholastic sports events with just short of 50% of those injured requiring surgery and the consequent prescription of opioid pain relievers. 2 Even more, it supports the notion of athletes who typically pride them- selves in pursuing proper training and leading healthy lifestyles ul- timately using heroin and other opioid drugs only to “fnd them- selves mired in a life of street drugs and crime." While the issue of opioid use among athletes is addressed primarily in the research that focuses on the use of opioid drugs among young athletes, there is some research that points to their use among athletes in professional sports. Unfortunately, there is a general lack of statistical evidence published on the use of drugs by athletes, which may be attributed to the fact that athletes are typically less likely than non-athletes to report opioid abuse as well as the fact that opioids do not improve athletic performance and therefore cannot be explained away by anything more than a clear addiction. 3 What statistics do exist show that as much as 71% of former National Football League players interviewed by researcher reported that they were involved in the non-medical use of pre- scription opioid drugs during their careers, many of which were initiated into opioid drug use following sports-related injuries. 4 The research by Ford et al. 4 found that athletes, injured athletes, male athletes and injured male athletes were at greater risk for the use of opioid drugs. An especially compelling aspect of the use of opi- oids by athletes is that, unlike steroid or stimulant use, the use of opioids does not improve athletic performance and, in many cases undermines performance. Findings like these point to the fact that even athletes, who depend on the quality of their performance in their respective sporting events are vulnerable to the addictive at- tributes of opioid drugs like codeine, oxycontin, vicodin and even heroin. The research demonstrates that the primary reason that athletes are vulnerable to opioid addiction is not because it im- proves their athletic performance. On the contrary, while opioid drugs can initially elicit the feelings of “euphoria and overall well- being,” they work to reduce athletic performance because they cause the user to feel tired, sedated and confused as well as cause their respirations to decrease, none of which supports athletic per- formance. 5 Opioids can also have a devastating effect on athletic performance because they can change heart, lung and bone func-