Prescription Drugs Are Making Parents More Overwhelmed Than Ever Before

Throughout schools in the United States, there is a growing issue in our elementary through highschool aged students. Drugs and alcohol have begun to overtake childrens lives as young as twelve years old. There are many types of drugs involved from prescription drugs, which is the number one drug, to alcohol, marijuana, meth, cocaine, heroine, or inhalents.

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

Many people have developed an addiction due to an injury and which were prescribed painkillers to manage and treat the pain. Prolonged use leads to dependence and once a person is addicted, increasing amounts of drugs are required to prevent feeling of withdrawal. Addiction to painkillers often leads to harder drugs such as heroin due to the black market drug being cheaper. Prescription drugs remain a far deadlier problem and more people abuse prescription medication than cocaine, methamphetamine heroin, MDMA and PCP combined. Drug abuse is ending too many lives too soon and destroying families and communities.

    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.

There are many reasons people misuse or abuse prescription drugs like for instance they think it’s a safer way than to use illegal drugs, they are “not addictive”, or they are easier to acquire than illegal drugs. Approximately 40% of adolescents reported that they thought prescription drugs are much safer to use than illegal drugs, even if they are not prescribed by a doctor (Bukstein and Nquyen). The accessibility to prescription drugs is at a high. People acquire the drugs through diversion which is the most common means of obtaining prescriptions for unintended purposes (Elliott). Diversion is the channeling of prescription drugs from legal use to illegal use (Ford and Watkins). Getting drugs from siblings,

To start off, the article was selected because it provides insight about the implications of drug abuse. The article shows that prescription drug abuse among youths is, in fact, an actual issue in the United States. ‘’In 2008, over six million persons, or 2.5% of the U.S population aged 12 and older, reported past 30-day use of prescription-type physiotherapeutic drugs for nonmedical purposes.’’ (DuPont, 2010). He further explains that the data information (regarding prescription abuse) is more than

Prescription drug abuse has been around since doctors started prescribing medication, but widespread prescription drug abuse and addiction has only surfaced in the last 20 years or so. Unfortunately because these drugs are continued to be abuse widely, there are concerns for physicians who are legitimately prescribing these medications to patients who truly need them. However there are doctors who recklessly prescribe these drugs to unknowing patients who form addictions to them. Prescription medications commonly abused include opioids often prescribed to treat pain, central nervous system depressants used to treat anxiety, and stimulants used for the treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) as well as some sleeping disorders.

You are absolutely right about the parents effects on their children while using prescription drugs. Children are not dumb, they see, they feel, and understand when something isn't right. They may not understand fully, but they know when mommy/daddy is "sick" again, because they are going through withdrawals or angry/irritable because they are "fiending" for more drugs. If they are old enough to understand than they are cause even more psychological issues with the child that doing drugs is okay, or that their parent chooses drugs over themselves. Just as you said in your post, if the probability of them going into foster care or group homes is a lot higher due to their parents addictions. Which we all know can be a hard life, both difficult

Recreational use of prescription drugs amongst high school teens has been a continuous discussion within the public health community due to its severity. High school teens that involve themselves with prescription drugs abuse are susceptible to both short-term effects and long-term effects. According to the article, Opioids Complications and Side Effects, “Common side effects of opioid administration include sedation, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, constipation, physical dependence, tolerance, and respiratory depression” (Benyamin et al. 2008). Because a medical professional prescribes prescriptions drugs, many teens think it is okay to consume the medication (cite, here). The teens that partake in this dangerous activity do not understand that

The writer believes that health care providers who educate minors about the risk of possible addiction will feel good about themselves. Health care providers will feel good about themselves because they will always be involved in the lives of these minors, will help decrease deaths, and will increase awareness. Nothing will feel better to a health care provider than knowing that this particular minor didn’t misuse his prescription drugs or distributed to friends because he or she educated him or her about the potential risk of

Teens are consequently affected by prescription medication due to its influence amongst teens and like many other drugs it’s commonly used for profitable reasons, which could lead to prison time for several years. Non- medical use of prescription drugs amongst teens are alarmingly high, parents and their teens are often blindsided by the illegal risk that come from misusing prescription drugs along with any other drug for that matter. According to “U.S War On Drugs” Statistics have shown that OxyContin is legally classified as a narcotic, or if use of Vicodin it’s classified as an opioid as in heroin, which means these drugs could lead up to years of punishment in prison along with over $1,000 dollar fine. According to the “National Institute

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).

I know it will become worse when they don’t have parents watching, and checking to note they are taking the proper amounts of medications. I did not realize there are multiple types of narcotics available for students. Sedatives and barbiturates show availability has been decreasing for all grades from 1975 to 2011. (Overview of Key Findings, 2011) I personally teach over 100 students in my classroom daily. I know several students that have prescriptions, and say it is ok to utilize these drugs to assist in sleep and relieve anxiety. With no parental supervision of these drugs at home, students are already on the path of addiction and problems that will have immensely serious health problems as they become

It has been discovered that most people who struggle with drug addiction began experimenting with drugs in their teens. Teenage drug abuse is one of the largest problems in society today and the problem grows and larger every year. Drugs are a pervasive force in our culture today. To expect kids not to be influenced by the culture of their time is as unrealistic as believing in the tooth fairy (Bauman 140). Teens may feel pressured by their friends to try drugs, they may have easy access to drugs, they may use drugs to rebel against their family or society, or they may take an illegal drug because they are curious about it or the pleasure that it gives them.

With the world we live in today there are all types of new drugs. The more drugs that are out there the more drugs that teens are going to try. In high school is when most teens will be peer pressured by their friends to try “something new”. “The results revealed that 78 percent of U.S. teens had drank alcohol, and 47