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Hydrocodone , Juneau Alaska

Hydrocodone is a semi-synthetic opioid produced from codeine, an opioid found in opium poppy plant. The drug falls under the narcotic analgesics or pain killer medicines. Commonly comes in a liquid form, doctors prescribed the drug to relieve pain, stops and even prevents a cough.  The drug is considered as an opioid which affects the nervous system and used as a pain medication to alleviate moderate to severe pain.

The drug proved as more helpful than codeine for suppressing cough but more deadly that morphine.

History of Hydrocodone

In 1920 Carl Mannich and Helene Lowenheim first synthesized hydrocodone in Germany.  The Food and Drug Administration approved the use of the drug on March 23, 1943. The Health Canada also approved hydrocodone under the brand name, hycodan.

The two added oxygen to codeine to solve the common side effect of it such as stomach discomfort and high level of toxicity.

Knoll first marketed hydrocodone as Dicodid in Germany on February 1924. Within a few years, several drugs came out in the market such as Dilaudid, Dihydrin, Dinarkon and Dimorphan.

Reports of addiction from the drug did not become apparent until 1961, more than 30 years since it first marketed.

How it is abused

As a painkiller, hydrocodone acts in the thousands of opioid receptors on the body. It does not cure the pain through its source, it only changes the patient’s perception of the pain. The feeling can be habit-forming particularly to people who seek the sensation. Some of the sought after sensation includes, numbness, sleepiness, reduced stress even increased the sense of one’s self.


According to the International Narcotics Control Board, hydrocodone is prescribed mainly in the United States. Reports stated that the US consumed about 99% of the international supply in 2007. The prescribed name of Hydrocodone includes Vicodin, Norco, and Lortab.


In a study of the National Institute of Health or NIH, it estimated that 20% of Americans consumed the drug such as Vicodin for non-medical reasons. An increasing number of people abused the drug. A more alarming report came from the Drug Enforcement Administration or DEA in 2013. The report shows that in the US alone, 24 million over the 21 years of age used hydrocodone for no apparent reasons.


One key factor that made hydrocodone as one highly addictive drug is its availability. The DEA reported that 136 hydrocodone dispensed prescription were made in 2013. Numbers continues to rise with an added increase of 20 million of prescription each year since 2006.


Hydrocodone use resulted to an estimated 100,000 abuse-related hospital emergency related in the US for the year 2011. To decrease the numbers, the US government created stricter prescribing rules for the drug in 2014.

Signs and symptoms

Addiction to hydrocodone usually starts with a prescription which leads to its dependence. It then gradually rises for the need to consume hydrocodone in spite of its side effects. The effects of hydrocodone can be deadly like that of morphine and heroin.

The drug works in the reward system of the brain which fortifies for its dependence. Prolonged abuse of the drug can result in the short and long term damage in both physical and mental state.

Mild Side Effects

Patients taking hydrocodone may experience some mild effects which gradually wears off. These may include:

  •    Dizziness
  •    Drowsiness
  •    Headache
  •    Nausea
  •    Muscle weakness
  •    Itchiness
  •    Trouble sleeping

Severe Side Effects of Hydrocodone

Long-term exposure to hydrocodone can lead to irreversible outcomes. The drug can affect the normal function of the brain reward system, thus making it hard to find pleasure in most activities.

Hydrocodone contains depressant quality and can result to some of the serious side effects listed. The drug can slow down the heart rate which may stop the beating of the heart. It is important to seek immediate medical attention when these symptoms are noticed or felt:

  •    Trouble urinating
  •    Slowed or erratic heartbeat
  •    breathing problems
  •    bowel obstruction
  •    severe itching, hives or swelling
  •    vomiting

Problem with Hydrocodone Addiction

The most difficult about hydrocodone addiction will be the intervention. The drug’s availability made it impossible to stop a user since their perception is that they are following a legitimate doctor’s order. It is important to consider the options for the overall treatment of the patient. RehabNear.Me is dedicated to providing insightful articles and the best addiction treatment centers near you!

About Juneau

The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( JOO-noh; Tlingit: Dzánti K'ihéeni Athapascan pronunciation: [ˈtsʌ́ntʰɪ̀ kʼɪ̀ˈhíːnɪ̀]), is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alaska, located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle. Juneau was named the capital of Alaska in 1906, when the government of what was then the District of Alaska was moved from Sitka as dictated by the U.S. Congress in 1900. On July 1, 1970, the City of Juneau merged with the City of Douglas and the surrounding Greater Juneau Borough to form the current consolidated city-borough, which ranks as the second-largest municipality in the United States by area and is larger than both Rhode Island and Delaware. Downtown Juneau is nestled at the base of Mount Juneau and it is across the channel from Douglas Island. As of the 2020 census, the City and Borough had a population of 32,255, making it the third-most populous city in Alaska after Anchorage and Fairbanks. Juneau experiences a daily influx of 6,000 people or more from visiting cruise ships between the months of May and September. The city is named after a gold prospector from Quebec, Joe Juneau, although it was once called Rockwell and then Harrisburg (after Juneau's co-prospector, Richard Harris). The Tlingit name of the town is Dzántik'i Héeni ("Base of the Flounder's River", dzánti 'flounder,' –kʼi 'base,' héen 'river'), and Auke Bay just north of Juneau proper is called Áak'w ("Little lake", áa 'lake,' -kʼ 'diminutive') in Tlingit. The Taku River, just south of Juneau, was named after the cold t'aakh wind, which occasionally blows down from the mountains. Juneau is unique among the 49 U.S. capitals on mainland North America in that there are no roads connecting the city to the rest of the state or North America. Honolulu, Hawaii, is the only other state capital which is not connected by road to the rest of North America. The absence of a road network is due to the extremely rugged terrain surrounding the city. In turn Juneau is a de facto island city in terms of transportation; all goods coming in and out must be transported by plane or boat, in spite of the city's location on the Alaskan mainland. Downtown Juneau sits at sea level with tides averaging 16 feet (5 m), below steep mountains about 3,500 to 4,000 feet (1,100 to 1,200 m) high. Atop the mountains is the Juneau Icefield, a large ice mass from which about 30 glaciers flow; two of them, the Mendenhall Glacier and the Lemon Creek Glacier, are visible from the local road system. The Mendenhall Glacier has been gradually retreating; its front face is declining in width and height. The Alaska State Capitol in downtown Juneau was built as the Federal and Territorial Building in 1931. Prior to statehood, it housed federal government offices, the federal courthouse, and a post office. It also housed the territorial legislature and other territorial offices, including that of the governor. Today, Juneau is the home of the state legislature and the offices of the governor and lieutenant governor. Some executive branch offices have moved certain functions to Anchorage and elsewhere in the state .

About Alaska

Alaska ( ə-LASS-kə) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. It borders the Canadian province of British Columbia and the Yukon territory to the east; it shares a western maritime border in the Bering Strait with Russia's Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. The Chukchi and Beaufort Seas of the Arctic Ocean lie to the north and the Pacific Ocean lies to the south. Technically a semi-exclave of the U.S., it is the largest exclave in the world. Alaska is the largest U.S. state by area, comprising more total area than the next three largest states of Texas, California and Montana combined, and is the seventh-largest subnational division in the world. It is the third-least populous and most sparsely populated U.S. state, but is, with a population of 736,081 as of 2020, the continent's most populous territory located mostly north of the 60th parallel, with more than quadruple the combined populations of Northern Canada and Greenland. The state contains the second-largest and largest cities in the United States by area: the state capital of Juneau, and its former capital, Sitka, respectively. The state's most populous city is Anchorage and approximately half of Alaska's residents live within its metropolitan area. Indigenous people have lived in Alaska for thousands of years, and it is widely believed that the region served as the entry point for the initial settlement of North America by way of the Bering land bridge. The Russian Empire was the first to actively colonize the area beginning in the 18th century, eventually establishing Russian America, which spanned most of the current state, and promoted and maintained a native Alaskan Creole population. The expense and logistical difficulty of maintaining this distant possession prompted its sale to the U.S. in 1867 for US$7.2 million (equivalent to $157 million in 2023). The area went through several administrative changes before becoming organized as a territory on May 11, 1912. It was admitted as the 49th state of the U.S. on January 3, 1959. Abundant natural resources have enabled Alaska—with one of the smallest state economies—to have one of the highest per capita incomes, with commercial fishing, and the extraction of natural gas and oil, dominating Alaska's economy. U.S. Armed Forces bases and tourism also contribute to the economy; more than half the state is federally-owned land containing national forests, national parks, and wildlife refuges. It is among the most irreligious states, one of the first to legalize recreational marijuana, and is known for its libertarian-leaning political culture, generally supporting the Republican Party in national elections. The Indigenous population of Alaska is proportionally the second highest of any U.S. state, at over 15 percent, after only Hawaii.
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