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Sunil Sirohi,1 Amit K Tiwari21Laboratory of Endocrine and Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Division of Basic Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Xavier University of Louisiana, New Orleans, LA, 2Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, USAOpioids remain the drug of choice for the clinical management of moderate to severe pain. However, in addition to their most effective analgesic actions, opioids also produce a sense of well-being and euphoria, which may trigger significant concerns associated with their use.1 In fact, there has been an alarming increase in prescription opioid use, abuse and illicit use; and according to the National Center for Health Statistics, the total number of deaths related to opioid overdose has more than tripled from 2011 to 2014.2–5 Although representing 5.0 % of the global population, studies report that Americans consume 80% of the global opioid supply,3 and the United States is experiencing an opioid abuse epidemic.6 Considering this unprecedented rise in opioid consumption, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has listed prescription opioid overdose among one of the 10 most important public health problems in all the 50 states.7

The state of Rajasthan is highly vulnerable to climatic extremes. The perception of local communities regarding climate change and their indigenous coping management strategies is important for decision-making and policy formation. In this paper, the perceptions of farmers and their coping strategies were studied using primary data collected from 180 farmers of Bikaner and Kota districts. The data were collected through personal interviews as well as focused group discussions. The findings indicated that the risk of droughts, rainfall anomalies and wind-storms increased over the decade. The people at drought-prone regions were more food insecure in comparison to flood-affected regions. However, their traditional wisdom and indigenous species like Khimp (Leptadenia pyrotechnica), Kair (Capparis decidua), Phog (Calligonum polygonoides), Khejri (Prosopis cineraria), etc. helped them in coping with climate extremes. Adjustments in the dates of sowing, deep summer ploughing in morning hours, dry sowing, increased seed rate, mixed cropping and farming; especially croplivestock integration were common coping management strategies. Farmers perceived that with modernization of agriculture, biodiversity of the region is declining. The study suggests that local communities need to be incentivized for conserving these species. These indigenous products have high market value. Therefore, the value chains of these products need to be strengthened by providing processing equipment such as solar drier at subsidized rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]