Prescription Drug Abuse In California

Safford School District, like many school districts, has a policy strictly prohibiting the use, possession, or sale of any drug on school grounds, including prescription drugs, without advanced administrative permission. Students in violation will be subject to removal from school property and will be subject to prosecution in accordance with the provisions of the law.Students attending school in the District who are in violation of the provisions of this policy shall be subject to disciplinary actions in accordance with the provisions of school rules and/or regulations. Safford is like many other public schools where it finds itself on the front lines of a war against drug abuse among students. As such, Safford has firsthand experience with some of the trends in this area that are by no means unique to its community. With students beginning to experiment with drugs at a rapidly earlier age precisely middle school. the abuse of prescription and over-the- counter drugs has become more prevalent because of the relatively easy access to these drugs and a prevailing notion that they provide a “safe” high. As a result of student giving out over the counter drugs one boy who took the pills had a bad reaction and became seriously ill leaving him several days in an intensive care unit.

Suicide, Anxiety, Anger, Depression and constant disobedience can all be a part of drug usage. Along with brain damage and lung damage. Countless teens around the world use drugs for social advantages.The United States represents 5% of the world's population and 75% of prescription drugs taken. 60% of teen who abuse prescription drugs get them free from friends and relatives. Doctors are already training to find ways to help.If teens smoke to much it can cause them to die or overdose.

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?

    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.

to unnecessarily overprescribe medications to their pediatric patients. Of these prescription drugs, opioid pain killers, antibiotics, and psychiatric medications are the most commonly overprescribed in child care. For example, opioid prescriptions have increased 300 percent in the past seventeen years (Boerner 20), over 50 million unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions are written each year (Murray 266), and 6.4 million psychiatric prescriptions are given to children between the ages of four and seventeen each year (Johnson 19). The overprescribing of these medications leads to children experiencing unnecessary side effects, increases the chances of addictions, and encourages drug resistance. In this essay, I will be proposing that there should be a (i) government enforced set of extensive regulations and checklists that each patient must fulfill before receiving a prescription and (ii) governmental laws prohibiting careless prescribing by doctors and hold doctors more accountable for the prescriptions they write.

This is not much of a surprise since the rate of teen and children opioid users are on a continuing rise in the United States (Mills para 1). Per Pannoni’s article “High Schools get Frank with Teens on Heroin Epidemic”, the rate has nearly doubled since 2002 (Pannoni para 1). Alcabes use his personal high school narrative to show that it is not uncommon for students to use opioids/psychoactive medications to help them throughout the day. The normal acceptable usage is shown in Alcabes himself while abusive use is shown in his classmate who raids his parents medicine cabinets every morning before school. This opioid epidemic is a problem for children and adults. According to Curtis Mills in his article “opioid Epidemic takes a toll on U.S. Children, teens”, most poisoning among teens result from accidental overdose but some have been a suicide attempts and that teens use opioids to get high like any other recreational drugs they use (Mills para. 6). Alcabes tries to explains what addiction is as well as explains the multiply other issues that come along with

The recommendations of the article are therefore useful in concluding a study or exploring future areas of research. 4. Jafari, S. (2014). Prescription medication abuse. BC Medical journal, 56(2), 92-93. Jafari (2014) specifically focuses on the issue of misuse of prescription painkillers. Terming it as an urgent issue, the author systematically accounts for the total number of fatalities in Ontario, noting that drug abuse killed more individuals than HIV. Jafari uses data from the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in presenting statistics to show the significance of the issue. In addition, Opioid abuses as well as other emerging addictions specifically in the young population are also expounded. The author cites the process of obtaining the drugs as a plethora of activities by unscrupulous individuals in the society. In the conclusion, the author proposes for a dedicated system to counter prescription drug abuse among individuals; as well as additional mechanisms to monitor the chief distributors of the drugs. This is therefore a relevant article in our research. 5. Jena,

Prescription drug abuse is not a new problem within our society. Prescription drug abuse has in fact been an ongoing problem that is currently spinning out of control. There are many people within our society that are currently dealing with prescription drug addiction. Prescription drug abuse is the intentional use of a medication without a prescription; in a way other than as prescribed; or for the experience or feeling it causes (The Science of Drug Abuse & Addiction, 2014). Prescription drugs are developed to assist with various medical problems, and when prescribed by a medical professional are helpful for patients. The using prescriptions for those other than intended for may cause a number of serious issues

Overdose deaths from prescription painkillers have skyrocketed during the past decade. The non medical use and abuse of prescription drugs is a serious public health problem in this country (NIDA). Although most people take prescription medications responsibly, an estimated 52 million people (20 percent of those aged 12 and older) have used prescription drugs for non medical reasons at least once in their lifetimes( NIDA). Young people are strongly represented in this group (NIDA). Now a days young people are easily influenced. Based on the group of friends he or she hangs out with, when one person does something they all tend to follow and do the same, maybe prescription drugs are one of them. When a teenager in Jan Sigerson's office mentioned “pharm party” in February [2006], Sigerson thought the youth was talking a keg party out on a farm (Engdahl 213). “Pharm,” it turned out, was short for pharmaceuticals, such as powerful painkillers Vicodin and Oxycontin (213). Sigerson, program director for Journeys, a teen drug treatment program in Omaha, soon learned that area youths were organizing parties to down fistfuls of prescription drugs (213). Drug counselors across the USA are beginning to hear about similar pill-popping parties, which are part of a rapidly developing underground culture that surrounds the rising abuse of prescription drugs by teens and young adults (213). The results of taking prescription medication in teens is treatment programs to help stop the abuse or death(NIDA). The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that there are 44 deaths each day from prescription pain medication which is a staggering number exceeding 16,000 persons a year (Thomas-Bush and White

In the United States, more than 2 million people suffer from substance abuse disorders that correlate with use of prescription opioid painkillers. Over the past 15 years, overdose deaths due to prescription opioids have more than quadrupled. One of the underlying causes is the over prescription of pain relievers by physicians. This was demonstrated in 2013, with the writing of 207 million prescriptions for opioid pain relievers.

To put it in perspective, in a list of substances most abused by Americans ages 14 and older, prescription drugs came third with marijuana and alcohol taking the top two (“Prescription Medication Abuse” 4). Opioids specifically are contributing to this problem. The amount of opioids being used has also increased by 400% since 1997 (“Is Substance” 2). With about 2.1 million Americans being addicted to legal narcotics, opioid addictions make up the majority of prescription drug abuse in America (“Prescription Medication Abuse” 2-3). It doesn’t take long for an addiction to these substances to form either. In fact, one-third Americans who took prescription opioids for a minimum of two months became addicted to them (“Prescription Medication Abuse” 7). Although it may seem like a small problem, with about 30,000 Americans dying from opioid overdoses every year and an estimated 78 Americans dying every day, it is anything but (“Prescription Medication Abuse” 3). Not only can these addictions lead to death, it can also lead those suffering from opioid addictions to turn to illegal drugs. Those who become addicted to opioids will often switch to illegal opioids such as heroin or fentanyl (“Safer Alternatives” 1). There are a couple reasons why some may want to switch these drugs rather than the prescribed opioids. One, heroin is cheaper than

Prescription drug abuse has become a major epidemic across the globe, shattering and affecting many lives of young teenagers. Many people think that prescription drugs are safer and less addictive than “street drugs.” After all, these are drugs that moms, dads, and even kids brothers and sisters use. The dangers are not easily seen, but the future of our youth will soon be in severe danger if the problem is not addressed,it will continue to get worse if action is not taken soon. Prescription drugs are only supposed to be consumed by patients who have been examined and have a medical report by a professional, more and more teens are turning to the family’s medicine cabinet to “get high” but what they are

To illustrate the magnitude of the research problem and provide a frame of reference, this section begins with a brief overview of the increased use of pharmaceuticals and prescription drug abuse in the US. The section continues with the relationship between illicit drugs and prescriptions, adolescents’ abuse, personal and social factors; then concludes with the theoretical approach. The Social-Ecological Theory, will be applied in researching prescription drug abuse, possible influences and protective factors in adolescents in relation to prescription drug abuse, to develop focused intervention strategies and educational programs for this population, similar to other substances such as tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana.

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).