Drug Abuse: A Rising Concern in America

     Aside from the physiological implications of abuse, the fact that abuse is so demographically widespread is cause for concern. No long is it only the traditional middle-class housewives and medical personal getting hooked, it's former U.S Presidential candidate Paul McCain’s wife Cindy McCain and football great Bret Favre. Vicodin is quickly reaching parity with cocaine and ecstasy in the club scene all over the country. Emergency room visits involving the most commonly abused opioids, hydrocodone (Vicodin, etc.) and

Many people do not understand why or how other people become addicted to drugs. Drug addiction is a complex chronic disease that causes impairment with the mind to express emotion, engage into physical activities and simply being one’s self. In fact, through scientific research, people understand more about how drugs work in the brain more than ever, and they also know that drug addiction can be successfully treated with some help from those who want change in the death rates amongst drug addict Americans. No one will ever truly understand why a person performs such deadly behaviors, but this is their way of crying out for help. It is time to take a stand and help those in need of escape from drugs and

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”).

Prescription drug abuse is the type of problem that can potentially have an effect on a large number of Americans. In 2003, the National Institute on Drug Abuse did a “Monitoring the Future Study” of 8th, 10th, and 12th, graders and found that 10.5% of 12th graders reported were misusing Vicodin and 4.5% of 12th graders had taken OxyContin without a prescription. Vicodin is a popular pain medication prescribed for some of the most common medical procedures, such as wisdom teeth removal. It is an opioid-based pain medication that diminishes pain; it is highly addictive when not used in accordance with the prescribed dosage. OxyContin is a narcotic similar to morphine, containing a high dose of oxycodone. Since its initial approval in 1995, it has gotten a great deal of attention because of the large number of overdoses it is associated with.

There are many various kinds of prescription of pain relievers, which include: opioids, corticosteroids, antidepressants and anticonvulsants (anti-seizure medications). Among them I would like to focus on opioid medications and its side effects. Opioid medications are narcotic pain medications that contain natural poppy plant, synthetic opiates such as; methadone, fentanyl, tapentadol and tramadol, as well as the semi- synthetic opioids such as; oxycodone, hydrocodone, oxymorphone, hydromorphone and heroin. Opioid prescriptions are morphine (C17H19NO3), heroin (C21H23NO5), codeine (C18H21NO3) and thebaine (C19H21NO3). They are highly addictive substances are called opiates. Opioid medications have been used for hundreds and thousands of years to treat both pain and mental health problems. It is also use in a short-term pain after surgery. According to the survey in the past two decades, the prescription of opioid in the United States has been increased to the higher levels that is more than 600% (Paulozzi & Baldwin, 2012). However, that opioid medications are very dangerous to the patients’ respiratory system, other parts of the internal body and even can cause death. It should be only being use after wise discernment and with a great care.

The United States is not immune to the worldwide drug addiction epidemic. Drugs pour in from Mexico daily, then distributed to throughout the country. The economic crisis in America is creating an excuse for drug use (e.g., depression, hopelessness). This chemical fix not only creates problems for the addict, but the family and community as well. Every addict has an enabler, a person who makes the addiction possible through various venues of support (e.g., financial, denial). Addicts are only concerned with their next fix and will resort to any means to obtain it (e.g., theft, prostitution, pan-handling). Some have even resorted to extremely desperate measures; for example, murder for inheritance or life insurance proceeds.

whom the user comes in contact. There are over 40 million illegal drug users in the world today and America is the biggest market for drugs1 . There are more drug dealers in this country, than there are dentists. Illegal drug abuse must be stopped; it hurts our

In Australia between 1997 and 2012, oxycodone supply increased 22 – fold. Oxycodone is the seventh leading drug prescribed in general practices. Opioid distribution is increasing exponentially between the years of 1992 and 2007. In those years opioid increased from 2.4 million to 7 million. Studies have shown that most people enrolled into rehab for drug abuse state that they have used opioids and benzodiazepines in the 4 weeks before. A drug counseling phone service recorded that they receive 36% more calls for opioids than for heroine. Even the many people tested by the police test positive for opioids more times than they do for heroine. The amount of people that say their last drug used was opioids increased from 7% in the year 2000 to 27% in the year 2012. There are more patients that are addicted to opioids seeking help than that of any other drug at the moment.

Since the early 1960’s there have been an alarming increase in drug use in the United States in 1962, four million Americans had tried an illegal drug. By 1999, that number had risen to a staggering 88.7 million, according to the 1999 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse.

Oxycodone, often sold as OxyContin, is an opiate drug that come is an opioid that comes from the poppy plant. Sometimes, Oxycodone will be combined with over-the-counter pain relievers like acetaminophen or ibuprofen to increase the effective and potency of the drug. In all of its forms, Oxycodone changes the way the central nervous system responds to pain by creating a euphoric and sedative effect. This time-released painkiller meant for patients who need of moderate to severe pain relief after surgery or a major

Drug abuse has been a big issue for many years, not only because it affects

Drug abuse is not a new problem, it has been happening for the longest time, abusing drugs has always been an interesting topic to me because I have never been able to grasp the concept of why addicts start or continue when it is clearly obvious that it has negative effects on the human body. It is a popular conception of common sense, but is false. Drug abusers sometimes are not educated enough to know the damages or the addict truly believes they are not addicted. This topic sparks an interest to me because all around me, my co-workers, peers, and close relatives have been hooked and addicted to addictive substances.

Since 2000, the drug use rate in America has risen to the highest it’s ever been. In a survey done in 2009, 8.7 percent of people age 12 and up said that they used illegal substances within a month of taking the survey, a 9 percent increase since 2008 (Abuse, National Institute on Drug, 2010). This statistic alone is very concerning due to

Drug abuse, known since ancient times, is now spread in size, disturbing the entire world community. Narcotic mafia run countries (Latin America), have their own army (Southeast Asia). Revenues clandestine corporations’ drug trade exceed the known oil revenues, and close to world income from the arms trade. Especially fatal abuse among young people - is affected and the present, and the future of society. Full, in terms of drug treatment, propagation pattern of abuse, including forms of abuse, even more tragic. Substances and preparations that is not included in the list of drugs, as a rule, more malignant, lead to even greater damage to the individual,

Many people of every type, are greatly effected by the impact of drug abuse. It’s ever bodies problem.