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How poverty can lead to drug addiction
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The definition of abuse of prescription drugs is using a medication in a manner other than prescribed, by a person who it was not prescribed for, to obtain a particular experience. Many people, but especially teenagers and young adults, have turned to abusing prescription medication. Some people have an increased genetic risk of getting addicted to medications but environmental factors such as economic level, lack of employment and pressure from peers also have a significant impact. Abuse of these drugs has harmful side effects to the person abusing them but can also affect the people around them. They are more likely to have difficulties in many areas of their life including problems with family, friends or coworkers. Abusers frequently ‘doctor shop’ or go to several different doctors to get prescriptions from each of them so they can get a large supply of their drug. They are also more likely to get into trouble with the law because of buying the drug on the street or due to an increased tendency to steal so they can be able to buy more. People who abuse prescription drugs are more likely to steal the drugs from family or friends who have been prescribed the medications.
The most commonly abused prescription medication is painkillers. Throughout history, people have attempted to find ways to relieve their pain with the earliest recordings dating back to the 4th or 5th century B.C. As early as 3400 B.C. the Egyptians, Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians cultivated the opium poppy. Hippocrates, the father of medication, left behind records of pain relief treatments, which included the use of leaves and bark of willow trees to treat headaches, fever and pain. In the 16th century, laudanum which is opium prepared in an alcohol s...
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Before the mid 1900’s the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act was formed to tax those making, importing or selling any derivative of opium or coca leaves. In the 1920s, doctors became aware of the highly addictive nature of opioids and started to avoid treating patients with them (Center, 2004). In 1924 heroin became illegal. However according to a history published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2003, anesthesiologists opened "nerve block clinics" in the 1950s and 1960s to manage pain without having to resort to surgery (Meldrum, 2003). This push for treating pain without surgery was a major factor in the opioid epidemic we see today. In 2008 the overdose death rate was almost four times the rate in 1999, and the sales of prescription pain relievers in 2010 were four times higher than in 1999 (Paulozzi et al, 2011). The substance use disorder treatment admission rate is also greater than in 1999, with it having been six times higher in 2009. Chasing Heroin’s claims surrounding the fear of prescribing pain medications is accurate as you see an increase in public policies surrounding opiate use in the early 1900’s. The climbing rates of overdose deaths and the increased amount of people seeking addiction treatment suggests that the fear of prescription opiates was
Almost one hundred years ago, prescription drugs like morphine were available at almost any general store. Women carried bottles of very addictive potent opiate based pain killers in their purse. Many individuals like Edgar Allen Poe died from such addictions. Since that time through various federal, state and local laws, drugs like morphine are now prescription drugs; however, this has not stopped the addiction to opiate based pain killers. Today’s society combats an ever increasing number of very deadly addictive drugs from designer drugs to narcotics to the less potent but equally destructive alcohol and marijuana. With all of these new and old drugs going in and out of vogue with addicts, it appears that the increase of misuse and abuse is founded greater in the prescription opiate based painkillers.
In 1906, the Pure Food and Drug Act, that was years in the making was finally passed under President Roosevelt. This law reflected a sea change in medicine-- an unprecedented wave of regulations. No longer could drug companies have a secret formula and hide potentially toxic substances such as heroin under their patent. The law required drug companies to specify the ingredients of medications on the label. It also regulated the purity and dosage of substances. Not by mere coincidence was the law passed only about five years after Bayer, a German based drug company began selling the morphine derivative, heroin. Thought to be a safe, non-habit forming alternative to morphine, heroin quickly became the “cure-all drug” that was used to treat anything from coughs to restlessness. Yet, just as quickly as it became a household staple, many began to question the innocence of the substance. While the 1906 law had inherent weaknesses, it signaled the beginning of the end for “cure-all” drugs, such as opiate-filled “soothing syrups” that were used for infants. By tracing and evaluating various reports by doctors and investigative journalists on the medical use of heroin, it is clear that the desire for this legislative measure developed from an offshoot in the medical community-- a transformation that took doctors out from behind the curtain, and brought the public into a new era of awareness.
...y, H. (2008). Drug use and abuse: a comprehensive introduction (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth.
If medical providers are not able to prescribe medications based on an individual's needs, an individual will go into his or her community to locate and purchase medications. This practice can be dangerous, as it is an unregulated amount of medication which can lead to an opioid overdose. Depending on the need of medication from individuals in the community, members will be prescribed medication and then sell their medication at an increased price.Many individuals will have multiple providers for opioid pain relievers and will even fake the need to visit an emergency room.
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Another growing fad in the United States is the abuse of prescription drugs. The abuse is being done by not only adults but by teens. The most current trend today is the misuse of cough syrups and prescription medications to produce a “high.” Other medications abused today are stimulants (Ritalin), and benzodiazepines (Xanax). Health Watch (2004) state girls tend to lean towards the medi...
Typically, almost everyone in the world has taken drugs at some point in their life. Whether it be over the counter medication or prescription drugs. People get sick, they have illness, allegories, sexually transmitted diseases or other aches and pains. As you may already know, there is medication for each aforementioned problem. This is called drug use, which is using drugs for its intended purpose. However, the real dilemma happens when people began to misuse and abuse drugs.
Manchikanti, Laxmaiah. “National Drug Control Policy and Prescription Drug Abuse: Facts and Fallacies.” Pain Physician Journal 10 (May 2011): 399-424. Print.
Users who abuse drugs by prescription improperly use them by taking somebody else 's prescription, taking medication to get high, or taking medication in other ways than applied
West Virginia has one of the highest rates for prescription drug abuse, and overdose in the nation. In order to change this it is important to understand what pharmacists do, their role in prevention, and the severity of prescription drug abuse. Pharmacists are known to dispense prescription drugs to patients and inform them about their use; However, one aspect of their career most people overlook is that Pharmacists must keep a sharp eye out for criminals looking to abuse these prescribed drugs.
The use of drugs is a controversial topic in society today. In general, addicts show a direct link between taking drugs and suffering from their effects. People abuse drugs for a wide variety of reasons. In most cases, the use of drugs will serve a type of purpose or will give some kind of reward. These reasons for use will differ with different kinds of drugs. Various reasons for using the substance can be pain relief, depression, anxiety and weariness, acceptance into a peer group, religion, and much more. Although reasons for using may vary for each individual, it is known by all that consequences of the abuse do exist. It is only further down the line when the effects of using can be seen.