VOA慢速英语2019 中国有止痛药成瘾者，但没人在指望他们（在线收听）

China Has Painkiller Addicts, But No One Is Counting Them

In 2013, doctors expected Wu Yi to live only a few more years. He was only 26 years old at the time. Cancer was destroying his body.

2013年，医生预计吴仪只能再活几年。当时他只有26岁。癌症正在摧毁他的身体。

After six months of unending pain, Wu says, a doctor at the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center in Guangzhou, China, tried to make him feel better. The doctor gave Wu a note permitting him to take a drug called OxyContin. OxyContin is a painkiller created to help people like Wu – cancer patients in the final months of life.

吴说，经过六个月的无休止的疼痛，中国广州中山大学癌症中心的一名医生试图让他感觉好些。医生给了吴一张纸条，允许他服用一种叫做OxyContin的药物。 OxyContin是一种止痛药，旨在帮助像Wu这样的人-癌症患者在生命的最后几个月中使用。

But those who take OxyContin risk becoming addicted to it. In the United States, about 400,000 people have died from taking too much of the drug. They died after taking increasing amounts of it to be able to feel its effects.

但是那些服用OxyContin的人可能会对此上瘾。在美国，约有40万人死于服用过多的毒品。他们服用了越来越多的维生素以致于感觉死亡后死亡。

Wu said no one in China warned him about addiction risks. He said his doctor told him to take as much OxyContin as he wanted.

吴说，中国没有人警告过他成瘾的风险。他说他的医生告诉他要服用尽可能多的OxyContin。

So he did. And it worked; the drug brought him relief from his pain.

所以他做到了。它奏效了；毒品使他从痛苦中解脱。

Six years later, Wu was still alive. The cancer was no longer in his body, and the pain was under control. But he was still taking OxyContin. When he tried to stop using it, he found that he could not do it.

六年后，吴还活着。癌症不再存在于他的体内，疼痛得到了控制。但他仍在服用OxyContin。当他尝试停止使用它时，他发现他做不到。

"This drug is addictive," Wu said. "One hundred percent addictive."

吴说：“这种药物会上瘾。” “百分之一百上瘾。”

Painkiller abuse in China

中国的止痛药滥用

Wu fell into drug abuse the same way many Americans do – through a doctor's prescription. But while the U.S. is battling its prescription drug crisis, China appears to be ignoring the rise in the use of painkillers there.

Wu像许多美国人一样，因医生开处方而陷入药物滥用。但是，尽管美国正在与处方药危机作斗争，但中国似乎无视那里使用止痛药的人数上升。

The country offers few treatment choices for addicts. And it does not count prescription drug addiction in its official count of drug abuse.

该国为瘾君子提供的治疗选择很少。而且在官方的滥用药物统计中，处方药成瘾不算在内。

Hao Wei is president of the Chinese Association of Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment. He said he believes abuse of prescription drugs is limited in China. But he adds that official data largely overlooks it.

郝伟是中国药物滥用预防与治疗协会主席。他说，他相信处方药的滥用在中国是有限的。但是他补充说，官方数据在很大程度上忽略了它。

Chinese officials say the situation in the United States is different than the situation in China. In the U.S., they say, the painkiller addiction epidemic comes from the large number of people who are asking for the drugs. They also say use of the drugs is not well controlled.

中国官员说，美国的情况与中国的情况不同。他们说，在美国，止痛药成瘾症的流行源于大量寻求毒品的人。他们还说，对药物的使用没有得到很好的控制。

In China, strict laws and policies govern where and how painkillers can be given. But more painkillers may be available in China than officials admit. Addicts can turn to online black markets for OxyContin and other prescription drugs.

在中国，严格的法律和政策规定了在何处以及如何使用止痛药。但是在中国，止痛药的数量可能比官方承认的要多。吸毒者可以转向网上黑市购买OxyContin和其他处方药。

Reporters with The Associated Press found people were buying and selling the drugs on at least 13 e-commerce and social media services.

美联社的记者发现，人们正在至少13种电子商务和社交媒体服务上买卖毒品。

Withdrawal

退出

Wu Yi says his parents locked away his painkillers. After that, he was one of the people looking for the drugs on the internet. He joined an online group of abusers and dealers. They connected with grieving family members who were trying to give away leftover pain medicine after a loved one had died.

吴仪说，他的父母锁住了他的止痛药。在那之后，他是在互联网上寻找毒品的人之一。他加入了一个在线滥用者和经销商团体。他们与悲伤的家人联系在一起，他们的家人在一名亲人死亡后试图提供剩余的止痛药。

By then, Wu was trying hard to limit the number of pills he used every day. In April 2019, he ran out of money and was forced to stop taking OxyContin completely.

那时，吴正努力限制自己每天使用的药丸数量。在2019年4月，他没钱了，被迫完全停止服用OxyContin。

Quitting the drug was extremely difficult, however. He was not able to sleep for four days. Finally, a doctor gave him sleeping pills – and a warning. Do not take more than three at a time. Wu took 15.

但是戒烟非常困难。他无法入睡四天。最后，医生给他安眠药-并警告。一次不要超过三个。吴拿了15。

For weeks, Wu visited a number of doctors to get more sleeping pills. He took so many that the pills stunned him. He did not sleep. Instead, he would fall down unconscious.

数周以来，吴拜访了许多医生，以获取更多的安眠药。他吃了太多药使他震惊。他没有睡觉。相反，他会昏迷不醒。

"It's good I didn't die," he said.

他说：“我没有死是好事。”

Doctors finally sent him to a hospital for the mentally ill. But Wu did not believe he had a mental problem. He told doctors he was going through withdrawal – the painful process when someone stops using an addictive drug.

医生终于将他送往精神病医院。但是吴不认为他有精神上的问题。他告诉医生，他正在戒断药物–当有人停止使用成瘾性药物时，这是一个痛苦的过程。

AP reporters later called the mental hospital. The man who picked up the phone said the place does not have an addiction treatment program. And he said doctors had never dealt with prescription pill abuse.

美联社记者随后致电精神病院。接电话的那个人说这个地方没有成瘾治疗程序。他说，医生从未处理过滥用处方药的问题。

In time, Wu's withdrawal symptoms eased without medical help.

及时，吴的戒断症状在没有医疗帮助的情况下得到缓解。

Suffering worse than pain

痛苦不如痛苦

Another prescription drug abuser who spoke to AP reporters is still battling his addiction. Yin Hao buys his drugs illegally from online drug stores, and lies to doctors to get more.

与美联社记者交谈的另一位处方药滥用者仍在与他的成瘾作斗争。殷浩从网上药店非法购买毒品，并向医生撒谎以获取更多。

Sometimes he worries the police are following him, Yin says. He does not want to go to prison. He wants to get help for his addiction.

尹说，有时他担心警察会跟着他。他不想去监狱。他想为他的上瘾寻求帮助。

If he could do it again, Yin says he would change the way he reacted to the medical crisis that started his addiction. He would take the pain instead of the drugs.

尹说，如果他能再做一次，他将改变对开始上瘾的医疗危机的反应方式。他会忍受痛苦而不是服药。

Words in This Story

addictive - adj. causing a strong and harmful need to regularly have or do something

prescription - n. a written message from a doctor that officially tells someone to use a medicine

epidemic - n. an occurrence in which a disease spreads very quickly and affects a large number of people

grieving - adj. to feel or show grief or sadness

stunned - adj. very confused, very dizzy, or unconscious

unconscious - adj. not awake especially because of an injury, drug, etc.