How To Write An Essay On Prescription Drug Abuse

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 Millions of people throughout the world are taking drugs on a daily basis. If you were to ask someone why they take prescription drugs, most people would be taking them for the right reason. However, it’s estimated that twenty percent of people in the United States alone have used prescription drugs for non-medical reasons.1 Prescription drug abuse is a serious and growing problem that often goes unnoticed. Abusing these drugs can often lead to addiction and even death. You can develop an addiction to certain drugs that may include: narcotic painkillers, sedatives, tranquilizers, and stimulants.1 Prescription drugs are the most common abused category of drugs, right next to marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and

Olivia Rice November 8, 2016 Opioid and Heroin Addiction Lit Review Dr. Hays Comp 105 Opioid and Heroin Addiction in America     There has been an increase in heroin and opioid abuse in america. It has been affecting everyone and the incoming generation greatly. The use of pain reliever drugs is often the leading cause to abusing opioids and/or heroin. These pain relievers are often addictive and once people are addicted and cut off from them they begin searching for other ways to satisfy their cravings. The prescription drugs are often easily dispensed to people so it’s easier to access. This easy access makes it easier for people to get a prescription, leading to a higher risk of addiction.

Prescription drug abuse and overdose-related deaths have reached an epidemic level in the United States and are an urgent public health concern. To combat this opioid crisis, in 2016 Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) was signed into law. CARA authorizes grants to increase access to treatment services and opioid

Would you believe me if I tell you that the number of deaths related to prescription drugs abuse has surpassed the number of deaths related to car accidents? In 2009, according to statistics from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drug abuses accounted for at least 37,485 of deaths in America, doubling the number in the last decade. While most of these deaths are due to the abuse of opioid painkillers, excessive use of antidepressants and antibiotics have also led to many problems. Furthermore, overprescribing by doctors have contributed a huge part in promoting these deaths.

Intro: 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.

With prescription drug overdoses being called “silent killers,” we need to take action. One American dies every nineteen minutes from a prescription drug overdose. It has been called the biggest man made epidemic in the United States. It has been said that more people die from prescription drugs than heroin and cocaine combined. Most people who die from prescription drugs are older adults. But, some teens die from the abuse of prescription drugs as well.

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

Although numerous people believe prescription drugs are challenging to retrieve, they are actually surprisingly accessible. Prescription drugs are drugs that are obtainable at the local pharmacy. These drugs are just as powerful but carry little to no jail time compared to street drugs. Prescription drugs are available to obtain anytime in contrast to street drugs which are only available at certain times. Prescription drugs are accessible at various pharmacies and health care facilities throughout the United States while street drugs are only accessible at scarce locations. Society takes advantage of the accessibility of prescription drugs because they have become accustomed to the availability of these drugs. One could compare this to fast

The first thing Volkow mentions in his reasons for drug abuse is the “number of prescriptions written and dispensed” which is the physician’s responsibility to prescribe and distribute medications. Physicians recklessly prescribing medications are the ones who most likely contribute to the increase of prescription drug abuse in the United States.

Clayton Mills Mrs.Gallos English III 16 November 2017 We need to stop the abuse Even though people need their prescriptions, the abuse of them is getting out of control and we need to find a way to regulate it better,because it can destroy a family, cause some to become addicted, or even kill them. Prescription drugs are no joke, they can be worse than illegal drugs like marijuana, cocaine, and even heroin. The only difference is a doctor can prescribe these types of drugs. The problem we run into with prescription drugs is there is not enough being done to keep the person from becoming addicted or them selling to others. In 2007 2.5 million Americans abused just painkillers (Drug free world). That is not even including the other two types. Now it is starting to affect teens, one out of every ten teenagers admit to abusing a prescribed drug(Drug-free world).

Everyday people abuse prescription drugs, in 2015 approximately 136 people died from overdoses every day. The issue that arises with these drugs is that they are very easy to take and the side effects are relaxingly numbing. These drugs are also steadily available to everyone if they have a prescription or they know someone with one. I’ve personally seen too many people get addicted to these drugs and abuse them to the point of death. One of my buddies, Grant, was addicted to pills when he was in his second year of highschool and it progressed for a few years after. Before school he would take xanax and towards the end of the day he would take percocet, he overdosed several times. Both of these drugs are known for their addictive qualities

Dasgupta, Beletsky, and Ciccarone (2018), state that “diversion, misuse, and abuse of legal drugs may be involved in as many as seven out of ten reports of drug-related injury or death” (p. 182). This is a very important issue because it deals with medicine which controls pain, as human sometimes we are feeling so much pain in our bodies that we will take or do anything to relieve that pain, that includes taking more medication if it means the pain will go away. Medical personnel has to be more aware and trained on the opioid crisis, “a small proportion of physicians were unscrupulous, doling out opioids without adequate regard for medical need,” (Dasgupta et al., 2018, p. 183). Too much of anything is bad for you. Doctors and scientist need

The drug problem in America is indeed a problem by the fact that many people have a preset opinion of drugs without actually coming to their own opinion of these substances. Drugs have been part of human culture for thousands of years, and governments want to put regulations on these substances because they think they know what is best for the people. The American Declaration of Independence insists that humans have certain unalienable rights; this should include deciding what and what not to put in your body. People around the world use drugs for different reasons, whether it is for religious practices, therapy, medicine, or personal experiences.

In recent years drugs have overtaken the United States by storm. The rising death rate of overdose continues to rise as we speak. Whether it is abuse of illegal drugs such as cocaine, or medication prescribed by a doctor such as opioid painkillers, addiction will always be a concern. And in many cases, if substance abuse continues, there is a real possibility of overdose.