Prescription pill misuse has grown in recent years. Many users of prescription pills feel that it is safer to use a pharmaceutical product then “street” drugs. In the United States there are many forms of medical drugs, many of these drugs fall into one of two categories, prescription and nonprescription. Are the doctors or the pharmaceutical companies to blame for the increase in prescription pill addiction, or is the person who goes to the doctor seeking the pills. How has society help the epidemic on prescription pill addiction in the recent years and what can we as a society doing to combat this epidemic.
Prescription drug misuse is “the use of a prescription medication in a way not intended by the prescribing doctor” (Mayo Clinic, 2012).
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When self-medicating the user is trying to escape something unpleasant for them, usually pain. Generally the user is treating some unidentified medical problem, and a lot of times the user doesn’t even realize they have a medical problem. Once the user starts to self-medicate they begin to feel better, and this eventually leads to the addiction of the form they were using to self-medicate. Self-medicating is usually pain management medicine, street drugs, and/or alcohol. Depending on the type of symptom they want to mask determines what time of medication they will use. If the person wants to suppress their anxiety they will use a depressant, with aggression they will use opiates, and for depression the person will want to use stimulants. Many of the people who are self-medicating are suffering from some form of mental illness and have a dual diagnosis of a mental disorder along with some form of substance abuse.
“Physical dependence is characterized by a withdrawal syndrome when the opioid is abruptly discontinued” (Gordon, D., & Dahl, J. (2011).) Withdrawal is a scary thing to people who are addicted to prescription and can be enough of a fear to keep the person from stop using. Withdrawal symptoms include craving for drugs, diarrhea, abdominal pain, chills and goose bumps, nausea and vomiting, body aches, agitation and severe mood swings. Many people will do anything to avoid going through
Prescription and pharmaceutical drug abuse is beginning to expand as a social issue within the United States because of the variety of drugs, their growing availability, and the social acceptance and peer pressure to uses them. Many in the workforce are suffering and failing at getting better due to the desperation driving their addiction.
The United States of America accounts for only 5% of the world’s population, yet as a nation, we devour over 50% of the world’s pharmaceutical medication and around 80% of the world’s prescription narcotics (American Addict). The increasing demand for prescription medication in America has evoked a national health crisis in which the government and big business benefit at the expense of the American public.
Doctors work under intense pressure, and if a pill could fix a patient’s problems than many saw nothing wrong with that. What exacerbated the problem was that many hospitals also changed their modus operandi with regards to treatment. In some hospitals, “doctors were told they could be sued if they did not treat pain aggressively, which meant with opiates (95). However once the patient became addicted and could no longer get their prescription legally refilled, the drug dealers saw their chance. What is surprising is the fact that pharmaceutical companies acted in the same manner as drug dealers. Both sides did not care about the end user, and the problems they would have to deal with after using what was given to them. Their motive was purely to profit as much as possible, and they did not care about who would get hurt as a result of their
But often the symptoms do not stop at acute withdrawal. After the body makes initial adjustments to the absence of drugs, the changes that have occurred in the brain still need time to revert back to their original state. During this period, a variety of symptoms known as Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS) begin to occur. In the book Uppers, Downers, All Arounders, published by CNS Productions, authors Darryl Inaba and William Cohen define PAWS as “a group of emotional and physical symptoms that appear after major withdrawal symptoms have abated” (Inaba & Cohen, 2011).
More than often, American’s argue that if we have the technology to gain access to these “miracle meds”, then we should take advantage of it. To receive an opposing view, the National Institute of Drug Abuse asked teens around America why they think prescription drugs are overused, and the results were shocking; 62%: “Easy to get from parent's medicine cabinets”, 51%: “They are not illegal drugs”, 49%: “Can claim to have prescription if caught”, 43%: “They are cheap”, 35%: “Safer to use than illegal drugs”, 33%: “Less shame attached to using”, 32%: “Fewer side effects than street drugs”, 25%: “Can be used as study aids”, and 21%: “Parents don't care as much if caught”. I believe the major problem here isn’t the medication, but instead the fact that our nation is extremely uninformed on the “do’s and dont’s” of prescription medication. When “the United States is 5 percent of the world’s population and consumes 75 percent of the the world's prescription drugs” (CDC), there is a problem present, no matter the reason. Clearly, many critics believe the breathtaking amount of pills we consume in America is simply for the better good, but tend to forget the effects that are soon to follow.
Almost everybody on Long Island, and probably all around the world, has been prescribed a drug by a doctor before— whether it was to knock out a nasty virus, or relieve pain post injury or surgery. However, what many people don’t realize is that these drugs can have highly addictive qualities, and more and more people are becoming hooked, specifically teenagers. But when does harmlessly taking a prescription drug to alleviate pain take the turn into the downward spiral of abuse? The answer to that question would be when the user begins taking the drug for the “high” or good feelings brought along with it—certainly not what it was prescribed for (1). The amount of teens that abuse prescription medications has been rapidly increasing in recent
Now is not the time for the United States federal government to decriminalize or legalize illegal drugs, including marijuana. However, nor can the government continue to do nothing about the financially, economically, and socially expensive domestic drug policy it currently follows. The United States Congress should pass legislation to remove mandatory minimum penalties from drug offenses, and the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Prisons should add in-house rehabilitation programs for its incarcerated drug offenders. These policies would increase the cost-effectiveness of current drug policy and reduce crime and drug use, and do not face the political obstacles or have the uncertain consequences of decriminalizing or legalizing drugs.
Stat News states that physical dependence to opioids means that the body relies on an external source of opioids to prevent withdrawal, and treatment is predictable, and can be easily managed with medication, resulting with a slow taper-off of the opioid.
The rate of death due to prescription drug abuse in the U.S. has escalated 313 percent over the past decade. According to the Congressional Quarterly Transcription’s article "Rep. Joe Pitt Holds a Hearing on Prescription Drug Abuse," opioid prescription drugs were involved in 16,650 overdose-caused deaths in 2010, accounting for more deaths than from overdoses of heroin and cocaine. Prescribed drugs or painkillers sometimes "condemn a patient to lifelong addiction," according to Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This problem not only affects the lives of those who overdose but it affects the communities as well due to the convenience of being able to find these items in drug stores and such. Not to mention the fact that the doctors who prescribe these opioids often tend to misuse them as well. Abusing these prescribed drugs can “destroy dreams and abort great destinies," and end the possibility of the abuser to have a positive impact in the community.
When people go to their doctors, they trust that these medical professionals have the knowledge necessary to prescribe a medication that will have no harmful interactions with any current medications or have any dangerous side effects that will cause more harm than help. People don’t pick up drugs that they find sitting on the side of the street and just start taking them without knowing exactly what they are putting into their bodies; however it is a frightening reality that people are unknowingly ingesting unknown pharmaceuticals in their drinking water. Nearly seventy percent of Americans are on at least one prescription drug, and more than half take two, according to Mayo Clinic and Olmsted Medical Center researchers (Nearly 7 in 10 Americans).
It is also easy to see the American people’s infatuation with drugs by simply looking at our current number of prescriptions filled at pharmacies annually. An active data table hosted by The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation states that about four billion prescriptions are filled annually (Kaiser). This is enough prescriptions for every person in the country, children and adults, to have twelve each. Once a person is on a drug, it is often hailed as an immediate fix to the problem, but many don’t think or just don’t care about the long-term side effects it could hold.
It is hard to really determine the extent of this problem, but researchers believe that there are a few common reasons why this populations misuse is becoming an epidemic. Some use drugs and alcohol to deal with their transition into later life, while others use it as a coping mechanism to deal with grief or loneliness. “Surveys indicated that as much as 17% if the over-65 age group may be suffering from abuse” (Alpert, 2014). As many know, once one becomes of a certain age, doctor visits start to seem like home. Since older adults are visiting doctors and hospitals more frequently, they are more likely to be prescribed different medications. Much research shows that prescriptions drugs are the most common form of drug abuse among this population. “Elderly persons use prescription medications approximately three times as much as frequently as the general population but have the poorest rates of compliance with directions for taking medication” (Morgan & Brosi, 2007). Because of the amount of prescription medications that are prescribed to older adults, they are more likely to misuse their medications leading to drug
Abuse can cause countless medical problems to the body. A person who is addicted will continue to stimulate themselves regardless if they are aware of the negative chain reactions. Once addicted, it becomes difficult to stop due to how the body has become dependent. Health will be harmed the more a stimulant is used. Health effects include: cardiovascular disease, strokes, cancer, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, lung disease, mental disease, birth defects. Mental health is what keeps a person in the right mind to make better decisions and have better control in life. Drugs have the ability to change mood and behavior. If drugs have affected the brain already, the desire increases which changes mental health. Some may not realize that they have been affected their health negatively. “A person who abuses drugs may not realize they have a problem until pronounced effects of drug abuse are seen, often physically. While drug abuse effects on the body vary depending on the drug used, all drug abuse negatively impacts one 's health (Addictions Community). Since drugs create many health issues, treatment is not a simple task. Treatments are hard to obtain and addictions often go
Drug abuse is defined as the excessive use of medication or substances which are either legal or illegal without the prescription of a physician. While some drugs are legal, overdosing is considered as drug abuse as the medicine is only healthy and helpful when taken in the required amount with the permission of a doctor. Other forms of drug abuse entail the use of substance that is either discouraged by healthcare association or illegalized by authorities. The users may use the drugs in order to feel a rush of energy or appear calm than normal. Drug abuse is a problem that affects the users, their close relatives and the society they live in (Barnard, 2007). There are different types of drugs that are abused ranging from extremely
For many years, people have suffered many devastations about addiction. It has become a common killer in the United States just like murder. Addiction has affected over 23 million people from the age 12 and older. These addictions are wide ranging, they can include alcohol, drugs, sex, video games, food, pornography, and gambling. People like to keep quite because they view this disease as morally wrong. Addicts sometimes shut out their family member because they are afraid of the reaction if anyone knew their problem. The Nation Institute of Drug Abuse states Addiction is as a chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences.Today in 2016 addiction is spreading across