An opioid crisis is raging in the USA, spreading across Canada, and there is increased opioid prescribing and access to high potency opioids such as fentanyl in other countries. The pathway to opioid use for women is more likely to be through medical treatment than for men. The main reason for prescribing opioids is to treat pain, and population-based studies suggest women are at increased risk for pain and more sensitive to the aversive aspects of most painful stimuli.

Mazure, Carolyn M., and David A. Fiellin, “Women and Opioids: Something Different is Happening Here,” The Lancet 392, no.10141 (July 2018), doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31203-0

URL: www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)31203-0/fulltext