Prescription Drug Addiction Essay

There are two ways that popular songs portray drugs there are the songs that glorify them and tell the story of the “party-life” and others tell the “after-story” that tell of the addiction, of hitting rock-bottom, of how it can ruin your life. More and more of the popular songs are pro-drugs and pro-“party-life” or they are slyly double sided such as Eminem’s Drug Ballad, songs that tend to be lesser known or less popular tell the story of the addiction, about hitting rock-bottom, and of recovery such as D.L. Downer A.K.A. James Williams’ Suga Boom Boom (Chasing Dragons). Drug Ballad, was released on May 23, 2000 in the album The Marshall Mathers LP (www.sing365.com). Suga Boom Boom (Chasing Dragons) was written and sung by D. L. Downer a.k.a. James Williams and his 16-year-old niece Laleazy was produced as a single by MajorEpic music label and was released on October 26, 2014. Both of these songs are within the rap and hip-hop genres. When analyzing and comparing and contrasting these two songs we need to consider why one is more popular than the other, why and how has drugs become such a prevalent problem, why are drugs portrayed differently, and how can we help those that are addicted and keep others from becoming addicted themselves.

With access to prescription drugs, people are able to treat a multitude of diseases and illnesses. These drugs help deal with pain, inability to sleep, depression, and much more. Every day we are increasingly living in a world where there is better living through chemicals. However, what most do not seem to see is the rising tide of pain, illness, and ultimately death being caused by the pills people take every day. Most keep drugs in a special place in their minds, where they see them as harmless. Sadly, this is not the case, and in some cases our prescription drugs can be just as harmful as illegal drugs (King 68).

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

To begin with, studies show that, “In 12 states there are more opioid prescriptions than people” (Brooks). Abuse and addiction of substances like opioids are becoming more of an issue with each generation. People are allowing for these substances to control them. When will people be satisfied with their life enough to not get dragged by this demon. But who are we to blame?

When it comes to determining the type of abuse treatment program that you should enlist in, its important to note, that everyone has a unqie situation anad as such, the type of treatment faclity that you should partake in, should have a history of curtaling to ndvuals whwo have been in simalr crumctance. Each type of treatment faciliaty program has been desgned to curtal to ndvuals who have a varos shistory's of drug use. For example, people who have been using drugs for a limited about of years, would fit in a short teerm drug treatment program. However,m indivualss who have a long history of drug use, would be most ssuitbale in a long term drug treatment program.

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.

In the 1960s, drug culture was popularized through music and mass media, in our current society we still find this relevant. Although we are more knowledgeable about drugs and alcohol, “an estimated 208 million people internationally consume illegal drugs.” The question is why do we conform to a society that is dependent on such substances? Perhaps drug culture is still present due to the references we witness on a daily basis. Witnessing this has resulted in drugs being a constant norm in society, the recently published novel, The Other Wes Moore; addresses drug culture.

Maia Szalavitz, author of Unbroken Brain, points out in an article about our finger-pointing mentality on drug abuse, “Addiction is one of the most serious health problems we face today, and as of 2010, more than 23 million people have an addiction to drugs, and according to the National Institutes of Health, these addictions contribute to more than 100,000 deaths per year.” Drug abuse is a major problem in the United States and throughout the world as more and more people become addicted every day. When you hear the words drug addict you think of desensitizing terms, like “junkie” or “crack head,” and when you see someone panhandling for money on the street, passed out, or swaying in a doorway you likely wonder, “why don’t they just get

“Every night on TV, you see a weird ass drug commercials trying to get you hooked on some legal shit, and they just keep naming symptoms until they get one that you fucking got. Okay it like, are you sad? Are you lonely? Do you got athlete's foot? Are you hot? Are you cold? What do you got? you want this pill huh motherfucker” (Bell 4.20).

Opioid addiction also causes strain on the family member and they will spend more time fighting about the addiction. All throughout the years, political officials have prevented us from putting in place the policies needed to effectively stop this crisis. Since the demand and interest of opioids such as OxyContin and other new painkiller were popular, pharmaceutical companies started to market the drug (Burke 2017). This then lead to a high number of physicians accepting to prescribe prescriptions opioid to their patients. One can argue that is this a way in which a doctor can be able to make more money in their pocket (Burke 2017). In the year 2012 alone, doctors wrote around 260 million prescriptions for opioid painkillers to their patients. After years and years of people demanding change and millions of deaths, on October 2017, President Trump revealed that his Administration was to proclaim the opioid crisis as a “national Public Health Emergency under federal law.” Aside from this, new policies and measures have been taken into place such as drastically changing the way doctors prescribe opioids to their patients, controlling the supply of illegal drugs, and creating easy ways in which people can access drugs that can reverse opioid overdoses (Burke

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

Heroin addicts have the psychological dependence on heroin that leads them into the state of self-destruction and the possibility of leading to death by the extreme use of heroin. Never estimate the poppy flower for its power that withholds the fiends to their mentality enduring the euphoria enslavement of the mind that contained for many centuries. The heroin addiction nation is a self numbing injection and dry approach to have the mind under the state of the greatest feeling of great happiness leaving the pain behind under the spell of heroin. Heroin comes in many forms for addicts to enjoy in their own way. They come in powder and rock like form that is combined with other narcotics. The snorting form for heroin is not

(Herzberg 106.3: 408-10). This has become the norm. People take prescription drugs; lifestyle change is far more difficult than popping a pill. Direct to consumer advertising of prescription medication undermines a physicians authority. They went to medical school and passed rigorous testing to become a physician, prescription drug advertising is an insult to physicians. A physician takes an oath, “To do no harm”. They are compromised with the current advertising conundrum, knowing that if a patient does not get the prescription they want from them, they will simply seek another doctor. Drug seekers exist, and without prescription drug advertising they would still exist. Yet the United States is creating new drug seekers by allowing prescription

Prescription medication is an important part of healthcare and a must have for patients because it helps manage a lot of symptoms and diseases. It can help kill bacteria causing patients to feel ill, it can also reduce pain and suffering for others. However, most mediations have some type of adverse side effects as it is made from chemicals processes or extracts from herbal plants. There are contraindications and cautions to every medication in which we have to be aware of when prescribing the medication; there is also drug to drug interactions that may occur. To help prevent medication errors we can use online resources to look for any drug to drug interactions and contraindication/adverse effects. We also need to stress the importance

Throughout time music has allowed people to express themselves in a whole new way and has made it possible for people to discuss common issues on a deeper level through the lyrics of a song. As time goes on, the level of risk taken in songs and the line of what is and isn’t acceptable to discuss has grown. Many songs focusing on drug use have been seen as controversial. However these types of songs allow us to see into the artist’s world and in some ways get a deeper view of what drug use means to a musician. Both “Get High” by Brandy Clark and “Cocaine” by J.J. Cale, serve as good examples of how a musician can express the importance of drugs through their lyrics.