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. I absolutely think that students who use these drugs that don’t necessarily need them have an unfair advantage over those who don’t use them at all. I think that if you need them, and they are prescribed to you by a doctor, then it is okay to use them as prescribed, because you actually need the drug. But, if you have no signs of ADHD, and just want to use the drugs for more focus, then it is wrong. I believe that when people use these types of drugs, when they don’t need them are in some ways cheating because those people who use them illegally have an unfair advantage over
One in three Americans are prescribed opioids from their doctor. Once someone is prescribed a medication and take it daily, as told to do so by the doctor, it is extremely easy to become dependent on the pills. Dependency on a drug means that the body physically craves it and may experience withdrawals when the prescription is stopped. Addiction characterizes as a mental need for the drug. The behavior changes and abusing the medication will begin.
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
This article provides information about the misuses of ADHD medication and how college students who do not have ADHD consume these medication to help improve their academic performances. Some individuals believe that consuming these medication are not a form of cheating but others believe so. The article also discusses how colleges must develop specific programs to address the misuse of prescription stimulants for academic, not recreational purposes. Even though these medication can improve students academic performances; however, it can lead to many side effects in the long run. I used this article to provide an idea of how ADHD medications could easily be misused which can lead to severe side
The number one way students are getting their hands on these different drugs is from the help of their peers. As for prescriptions, others steal it from their
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
It is important to assess the prevalence of just how many students are using prescription stimulants illegally, as well as those who have ever tried them. Having accurate data on this information is important because it allows researchers to better understand just how common stimulant abuse is. In a study done
Adderall today can cause many problems in education, as well as in the work force. Adderall is mixture of two major stimulant drugs. It was approved in 1960, when it has been prescribed by a doctor or a therapist. The drug is used to calm the central nervous system and increase the brains chemical dopamine level, which then begins to stimulate the brain (Adderall XR, 2014). By students taking Adderall when they are not prescribed, it can lead to intense concentration and focus. Students can take Adderall during major days of focus, such as major tests or little time with lot to do. Although Adderall is no issue for kids who has been prescribed it, for an unprescribed person to take it is considered breaking the law, as well as cheating. One child having an advantage among the rest of the class falls among breaking the rules which can go under cheating.
7 out of 10 College students on campuses say that it is easy to collect stimulants without a prescription according to a survey done on eight U.S. campuses. 18% of freshmen and undergraduates tell of misusing prescription stimulants mostly Adderall. Most of the students get them from their friends and most of them say the usage of the drug is to help them to stay up to study or improve grades. One in four undergraduates report that they use pain medications, sedatives, or stimulants for the expirementopposite of medical reasons. The (HECAOD) conducted a survey which included 3,918 students which attended six public schools, and two public colleges and Universities in 5 different states. This survey included undergraduates, and professional students. ⅓ of all of them said it’s easy or extremely easy to obtain on multiple campuses.
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
Prescription drug abuse is a problem that is not just focused on adults. There has been a substantial rise in prescription drug abuse among teenagers. Teens are abusing prescription drugs for a number of reasons, including to get high, pain treatment, and/or because they think that it will assist them with school work (Coalition against Drug Abuse, 2014). However boys and girls tend to abuse some types of prescription drugs for different reasons. For example, boys are more likely to abuse prescription stimulants to get high, where girls would abuse them to stay alert to study or for weight loss.
Tegan Dalton Ms. Gibbons English Senior Thesis 11 December 2017 The Prescription for Society The biggest problem within the realm of pharmaceuticals themselves is the belief held by people that prescription drugs are not dangerous. In order to understand the use and abuse of prescription drugs, the observations of commercializing and glorifying the industry must be taken into account to realize why they are harmful to society as a whole. According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, “Misuse of prescription drugs means taking a medication in a manner or dose other than prescribed; taking somebody else’s prescription even if, for a legitimate medical complaint, such as pain; or taking a medication to feel euphoria.” This problem is complex
Prescription drugs are some of the most abused substances in the country. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) found that about 16 million people in the United States have used a prescription medication without a prescription or have used a prescription drug for a non-medical purpose in the past year. About seven million people have done so in the past month alone. These results show
What is the greatest social problem facing society today? The greatest social problem in the United States is prescription drug abuse. The greatest number of overdoses on record happened in 2014; the majority of these involved opioids (CDC 2016). The time has came for Americans' to see the problem with prescription drugs. It is time to take a stand and join the fight.
The misuse of prescription drugs among college students has become an important public health concern over the past years due to increases in its’ widespread presence since the mid 1990s. In the article “A Rising Epidemic on College Campuses: Prescription Drug Abuse,” Clinton’s editorial team mentions that the epidemic has now spread to college campuses because students are being exposed to these drugs, using them for a variety of reasons. Xanax and Adderall are specifically the main drugs being used on these campuses. Xanax is a pill that treats anxiety and panic disorder, and Adderall is used to treat ADHD and make studying easier. A Miami student himself spoke upon his experiences with drugs on campus, “ I tried to study and put my all into this, but I surrendered and
Years ago, the common image of an adolescent drug abuser was a teen trying to escape from reality on illegal substances like cocaine, heroin, or marijuana. Today, there is a great discrepancy between that perception and the reality of who is likely to abuse drugs. A teenage drug abuser might not have to look any further than his or her parent’s medicine chest to ‘score.’ Prescription drug abuse by teens is on the rise. Also, teens are looking to prescription drugs to fulfill different needs other than to feel good or escape the pressures of adulthood. Teens may be just as likely to resort to drugs with ‘speedy’ side effects, like Ritalin to help them study longer, as they are to use prescription