Prescription Drug Abuse

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.

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

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.

Addiction to these can happen if taken over a long period of time. Also, irritation of the stomach, liver damage and sleep disturbances as some

Most people are familiar with prescription medications; almost everyone has taken them at one point or another during their lifetime. Not all prescription drugs are addicting, but a large number of them are. Prescription drug abuse is a disease that has become a major problem in the United States, which affects over six-million Americans. Prescription drug abuse not only affects the individual, but can additionally have far-reaching consequences that affect family, personal health, employment, communities and society as a whole. Research has shown that at least 10% of people prescribed an addictive medication will become dependent on the medicine. Due to prescription drug abuse, states are beginning to monitor doctors who prescribe certain medications, more closely, which may scare some physicians away from prescribing helpful medications to people who truly need them.

Prescription drugs are influencing kids in the high schools of California, causing many negative effects in the body of kids, unlike other cities in the U.S and Europe where the number of reported cases are lower. In Southern California the use of prescription drugs has skyrocketed, In 2014 the number of cases involving the prescription drug opioid, a popular pain killer, consisted of 11,638 as opposed to 5,753 cases in 2014 according to the California Department of Public Health. The number of cases has more than doubled in the past years and there are many programs that are being integrated into the school that is trying to prevent the increase of

es and non-prescription drug abuse among minors with the misguided insight that their use is safer than the illegal drugs. Through an online survey, the researchers collect data on the issue and correlate with specific variables such as community stigma, apparent risk and the access to the drugs. The authors discover a positive correlation. This study will aid in gaining an in-depth understanding of the exact nature of relation between community stigma, apparent risk and the access to the drugs to drug abuse in the society. It will serve as viable literature in identifying the various ways and procedures to limit and observe the access of these drugs to adolescents. 2. Goebel, J. R., Compton, P., Zubkoff, L., Lanto, A., Asch, S. M., Sherbourne,

If you notice a strange amount of bottles or empty tablet packets, that can be a serious indication of abuse. Teens tend to be careless with the evidence from cough medicine because they think parents are not aware. That's why it is so important for parents to be informed.

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

Although there are many things contributing to the expanding prescription drug abuse problem, there are also many ways to fix it. To prevent people from obtaining these drugs from home medicine cabinets, locking up the medicine cabinet or simply locking up prescription drugs elsewhere would prevent those searching for them from finding them. Another solution to this problem is to host Drug Take-Back events. In May 2011, the US Drug Enforcement Administration sponsored its second National Prescription Drug Take-Back event and collected more than 188 tons of unwanted or expired medications from 5,361 designated disposal sites around the country (“Is Substance” 1). Michele Leonhard, a DEA administrator who was involved in the planning of this event, commented, "With the support and hard work

Fleary et al. (2010) explores the degree to which prescription and non-prescription drug abuse among minors with the misguided insight that their use is safer than the illegal drugs. Through an online survey, the researchers collect data on the issue and correlate with specific variables such as community stigma, apparent risk and the access to the drugs. The authors discover a positive correlation. This study will aid in gaining an in-depth understanding of the exact nature of relation between community stigma, apparent risk and the access to the drugs to drug abuse in the society. It will serve as viable literature in identifying the various ways and procedures to limit and observe the access of these drugs to adolescents.

Prescription pain abuse is one of the fastest growing addictions in the country. Vicodin, Percocet and OxyContin have replaced some street drugs. I think that the abuse is the patient's fault but in a way it is also the doctor’s fault. The doctor’s are the ones to prescribe the medicine.

Those who abuse prescription drugs put themselves at a much higher risk for cardiovascular and respiratory failure, seizures, stroke, and other physical and mental health problems to name a few. The health problem outlined in this paper is the adverse reaction of non-prescription drugs with alcohol or other illicit drugs among college students, which puts them at increased risk for the previous stated health problems. This paper does not focus on one particular prescription drug, but a number of common drugs that are readily available to the general student

Since the 1960’s heroin use disorders has become worse when pertaining to societal issues since Heroin an opioid drug made from morphine, which is a natural substance this various opium poppy plant is highly addictive. Heroin may be smoked, snorted, or injected, the reason for this use has increased across the United States particularly amongst gender, various age groups, and typically all income levels through legal and illegal purchase of this drug. Several dynamics contribute to the severity of the recent societal prescription drug abuse which is problematic from a global perspective. Basically the number of prescriptions written by physicians that’s distributed to patients. Partaking in countless social acceptability of using medications

The second most commonly abused prescribed drug is sedatives/depressants. These types of pills are used for anxiety and sleeping. If these types of prescriptions are abused it can make the person really high and not remember what they are doing. Signs can be excessive sleepiness, slurred speech, and acting really mean (Davis).people usually look for this kind of drug because they are depressed and the want to try to hide something in their life. This drug slows down the heartbeat so if someone takes to many it can cause their heart to stop. The two most commonly abuse depressants are valium and