Essay about Abuse of Prescription Drugs

With access to prescription drugs, people are able to treat a multitude of diseases and illnesses. These drugs help deal with pain, inability to sleep, depression, and much more. Every day we are increasingly living in a world where there is better living through chemicals. However, what most do not seem to see is the rising tide of pain, illness, and ultimately death being caused by the pills people take every day. Most keep drugs in a special place in their minds, where they see them as harmless. Sadly, this is not the case, and in some cases our prescription drugs can be just as harmful as illegal drugs (King 68).

Years ago, the common image of an adolescent drug abuser was a teen trying to escape from reality on illegal substances like cocaine, heroin, or marijuana. Today, there is a great discrepancy between that perception and the reality of who is likely to abuse drugs. A teenage drug abuser might not have to look any further than his or her parent’s medicine chest to ‘score.’ Prescription drug abuse by teens is on the rise. Also, teens are looking to prescription drugs to fulfill different needs other than to feel good or escape the pressures of adulthood. Teens may be just as likely to resort to drugs with ‘speedy’ side effects, like Ritalin to help them study longer, as they are to use prescription

In addition to Vicodin, the pain killer Oxycontin is also widely abused. It is used to treat severe pain that is expected to last a prolonged amount of time. Oxycontin has many similar side effects of Vicodin along with sweating, itching, loss of appetite, and severe weakness. It works by blocking the brain from receiving pain messages. The reason Oxycontin is so dangerous is because it is highly addictive and is a central nervous system depressant. It is believed that a younger healthier college student is more likely to become addicted to the drug rather than an older adult taking it for pain reasons. This is because taking Oxycontin to get high has a completely different effect on the body (“Oxycontin”).

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.

Prescription drug abuse has become an epidemic in the United States especially among the youth of our country. The Partnership for a Drug Free America says that 2,500 teens a day abuse prescription drugs. Abuse of these narcotics can lead to serious mental and physical consequences. Why is this such a problem, what can we do to solve it, and how is it affecting our social lives?

Individuals who use Opioids are Addicts. The history of this very debatable topic is very educational and interesting. Opioids are drugs that are prescribed for severe to chronic pain, some examples of opioids are: morphine,?methadone, Buprenorphine,?hydrocodone, and?oxycodone.?Heroin?is also an opioid and is illegal. Opioid drugs sold under brand names include: OxyContin?,?Percocet?, Palladone?(taken off the market 7/2005),Vicodin?, Percodan?, Tylox? and?Demerol? among others. These drugs are also classified as a schedule II drug. Substances in this schedule have a high potential for abuse which may lead to severe psychological or physical dependence. Substances are placed in their respective schedules based on whether they have a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, their relative abuse potential, and likelihood

The earliest form of painkillers was first created in the 16th century where people used laudanum or opium prepared in alcoholic solution as pain relivers. In the early 19th century, people extracted morphine from old opium poppy plants and this form of painkiller was most commonly used in the American Civil War. As Morphine was found to be very addictive, chemists in the 1870s produced heroin that did not turn out to be a success as it was proved to be more addictive than morphine. Many other synthetic opiates such as Vicodin, OxyContin, Percocet were produced respectively in 1984, 1995 and 1999. However, these synthetic opiates could only be given if prescribed by a doctor as they could also be addictive. There were also other options of

Tegan Dalton Ms. Gibbons English Senior Thesis 11 December 2017 The Prescription for Society The biggest problem within the realm of pharmaceuticals themselves is the belief held by people that prescription drugs are not dangerous. In order to understand the use and abuse of prescription drugs, the observations of commercializing and glorifying the industry must be taken into account to realize why they are harmful to society as a whole. According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, “Misuse of prescription drugs means taking a medication in a manner or dose other than prescribed; taking somebody else’s prescription even if, for a legitimate medical complaint, such as pain; or taking a medication to feel euphoria.” This problem is complex

Why is it that prescription drug abuse is increasing at a high rate? The answer to this question can be somewhat complex. There are multiple reasons as to why this is happening, but the reasons all come together and create a laddering effect. Prescription drug abuse is currently at an all-time high because prescription drugs are so easy for a person to obtain. The chain reaction starts at the doctor over-prescribing medications then continues to consumers becoming what I would call drug dealers and ending with and addict or in more often than not death.

For at least two centuries different morphine and opium derived tinctures were sold by various pharmaceutical companies. It wasn’t until 1898 when a morphine derived cough suppressant named heroin was created that a problem with such opiates arose. Within a short time heroin's addictive nature affected around three hundred thousand people in the U.S. Soon opiate based medications would be banned unless for medical use. In 1916 two German Scientist synthesized what they thought was a non-addictive replacement for narcotics like heroin. This drug would be known as oxycodone. Oxycodone is an odorless, white, crystalline powder derived from the opium alkaloid, thebaine. Its molecular formula is C18 H21NO4. Although it was brought to America in 1939, it wasn’t until 1950 that it became a popular drug for use. This happened when it was combined with aspirin into Percodan which quickly became a highly abused drug. However, people would still frequently look toward oxycodone for the treatment of chronic pain. 1966 was a big year for Purdue Pharma when they released OxyContin, a pure oxycodone tablet with a time release base which would hopefully prevent abuse. This drug soon earned the nickname “Hillbilly Heroin” and a mass breakout of overdoses and arrests

In the United States of America, there is prescription drug abuse epidemic that continues to be a growing concern. Prescription drugs cause a large amount of overdoses and result in an abundant amount of deaths each year. A government study conducted shows this epidemic is scarily on the rise, “A recent government study found a 400% increase in prescription drug abuse between 1998 and 2008” (Schreiner 531). The excessive use of prescription drug abuse is leading to nonmedical use of the drugs, and creating addiction. Furthermore society is paying an extreme amount of money in this battle. With this drug abuse on the rise, legislators must create a law preventing doctors and pharmacists from over prescribing prescription medications as well a law to require they both participate in drug monitoring programs to prevent drug abuse. Now is the time that doctors and the pharmaceutical industry must be held accountable for their role in causing one of America’s worst addictions. The over medication of prescription drugs in the United States must be brought to an end by legislators creating laws to stop

Prescription drug abuse is a problem in America for various different reasons. There are many people in America whom end up overdosing on prescription drugs. There are numerous amounts of people who grow an addiction of taking their medication longer than prescribed too, and there are very many people who abuse their prescription of medical marijuana or medical prescriptions and start selling it to whom don't need it or overdosing.

Prescription painkiller abuse is a problem that is affecting the economy, society, and wellbeing of the entire globe. As many as 36 million people worldwide abuse prescription painkillers. Prescription painkiller abuse deals with anything relating to taking one’s medications at a higher dose, taking someone else’s medications, or taking medication to feel euphoria. As a result of people wanting a temporary fix for their pain, they take extreme measures to acquire the drug they crave, in which the addiction could cause

There are three types of prescribed abused drugs: opioids, depressants, and stimulants. The most powerful is opioids. Opioids are used to block out pain. Some of these include opanas, oxycontin, and roxicodone, and 5.1 million Americans abuse them regularly (Drugabuse.gov). Some of those pills can cost any where from five dollars a pill all the way up to ninety dollars a pill (Drugs a-z) and could even cost more than that depending on where you live. Some of the street names can be roxy, o.p.s, oxy, and captain coden(Drug abuse.gov). ´“At the age of 20, I became an addict to a narcotic,which began with a prescription following a surgery.¨´-James. People normally become addicted to painkillers because of doctor giving them prescriptions after a major surgery.

Drug use is part of life in the United States. Some people use drugs for