Prescription Drug Abuse Research Paper

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.

Depending on the source, some would term the heroin and opioid problem in the United States a crisis, while others would use the word epidemic. Regardless of which expression is more accurate, the situation regarding heroin and opioid use, abuse and dependence has ignited national, if not global concern. History shows us that pervasive dilemmas have a tendency to cultivate a variety of intervention and the heroin and opioid crisis is no different.

    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.

Since the 19th century, the illicit drug, heroin, has been a part of American society. When heroin was first discovered it was thought to be a wonder drug because of the euphoric feeling a person is said to feel after using it. However, once the debilitating effects of this highly addictive drug was realized the anti-drug law, the Harrison Narcotics Act, was enacted that restricted its use to medicinal purposes only. In 1920, heroin was banned altogether through the Dangerous Drug Act (Habal, 2011). Heroin for the most part was thought to have gone underground until the Vietnam War.

In the US, according to CQ Researcher, the number of those that used heroin had more than doubled between the years of 2002 and 2004 and doubled again between 2011 and 2013. It is a growing issue especially due to

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.

) Discuss the public health impact of opioid misuse and abuse, including costs related to healthcare and criminal justice costs. Opioid drugs are valuable medications in treating acute and chronic pain that cannot be managed with nonopioid therapy, but inappropriate prescribing can cause serious harm. Taking higher doses or a combination of short-acting and long-acting opioids are likely to be abused and can also cause serious dose-related adverse effects that can include death. Opioid abuse affects the community and families in some way. It can lead missed work and sometimes it can be a problem keeping a job. Therefore, it is important that we obtain medication history to give us a picture of the patient pain medication history. While opioid

Today prescription medication is taken for reasons or in ways or amounts not intended by a doctor, or taken by someone other than the person for whom they are prescribed. The estimated deaths from prescription medications are increasing each year. Narcotics are the most common abuse substance by Americans, after alcohol and marijuana. By keeping track of prescriptions could cut down the deaths and prevent the escalation of addiction.

The elderly population is the generation most treated by healthcare professionals, so it stands to reason that drug abuse within the elderly presents a much higher risk than drug abuse among younger generations. Ignoring the problem leads to diminished quality of life and a less attentive healthcare system. Sadly, prescription drug abuse is a silent epidemic among the elderly population and it is a growing problem. With proper attention and diagnosis, there can be a reduction in injuries, such as hip fractures from falling, excessive hospitalizations, and even untimely death.

It's scary to think that we live in a world where drug addiction is a growing epidemic plaguing families on a daily basis. One of the most common drug abuse problems to date is that of addiction to prescription medications, but more specifically opiates. Opiates are used to help treat chronic and severe pain, but the drug can become highly addictive. In recent years, more people have overdosed as a result of prescription medications than both heroin and cocaine combined.

Heroin is bad. That should not come as a surprise. What might come as a surprise, on the other hand, is that America is currently going through a heroin epidemic. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Heroin use more than doubled among young adults aged 18-25 in the past decade.” However, heroin addictions do not arise ex nihilo. The silent perpetrators are pharmaceutical companies and their weapons are prescription painkillers.

Please pause for a moment, and picture in your mind the washed away remnants of what used to be a seemingly insignificant city; it is rather difficult to recognize from all the earthquake rubble and debris that there once was a town here. Bits and pieces of what used to be homes are now scattered from one end of the view to the other. A gloomy haze of dust, smoke and ash have recently enveloped over the entire countryside. Sounds of screaming, yelling and crying are bombarding one’s hearing senses; a smell of unbelievable human decaying stench is so overwhelming, the odors stimulate the gag reflex and tear ducts to produce endless retching and a cleansing wash of foul air from one’s eyes. Hungry ownerless dogs are fighting over dead infant

Drug abuse is the habitual taking of addictive or illegal drugs. Many college students rule out prescription drugs because they feel that they are neither addictive nor illegal. Prescription drugs are both. Not only are they addictive to the people that are required to take them, but also they are even more addictive for students who they are not prescribed to. When prescription drugs are obtained without consent from a doctor, it is considered illegal. Many college students try to take short cuts in life without realizing the extent of the consequences that their actions may hold.

One of the most misused type of drugs in the US is the misuse and abuse of Prescription Drugs. It is estimated that 52 million people in the US have used prescription drugs for nonmedical reasons at least once in their lifetimes. Out of those people 20 percent of them were aged 12 and older. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) did a survey in the year 2010 that found that 1 in 12 high school seniors reported past-year nonmedical use of the prescription pain reliever Vicodin and a 1 in 20 reported abusing OxyContin. It is now 2017 less than ten years from the initial report and the numbers of high school seniors abusing prescription drugs has doubled.

After watching the video, I was shocked on how commonly those drugs are used with high school and college students, even if the prescription isn’t prescribed to them.