Prescription Drugs Are Not A Problem

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).

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.

The United States currently faces an unprecedented epidemic of opioid addiction. This includes painkillers, heroin, and other drugs made from the same base chemical. In the couple of years, approximately one out of twenty Americans reported misuse or abuse of prescriptions painkillers. Heroin abuse and overdoses are on the rise and are the leading cause of injury deaths, surpassing car accidents and gun shots. The current problem differs from the opioid addiction outbreaks of the past in that it is also predominant in the middle and affluent classes. Ultimately, anyone can be fighting a battle with addiction and it is important for family members and loved ones to know the signs. The cause for this epidemic is that the current spike of opioid abuse can be traced to two decades of increased prescription rates for painkillers by well-meaning physicians.

    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.

Specific purpose: To inform my audience about the growing problem of prescription drug abuse, some common drugs that cause abuse, and their effects and some common treatments.

These efforts are focusing little attention on the source of the medications themselves, the access point -- the medical practitioner with a pen. In the current environment, a doctor, dentist, or nurse practitioner can write a prescription to anyone without accountability for the aftermath. In March the CDC convened to put forth guidelines for prescribing opioid medications in cases of chronic pain (Dowell, Haegerich, & Chou, 2016, pp. 1633-1641). The published guideline is a passive 12 point recommendation for prescribing practices without accountability, solutions, or intention to enforce better practice. To date, the national response to the crisis can be described as impotent at best, and the body count rises. “Drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the U.S., with 52,404 lethal drug overdoses in 2015. Opioid addiction is driving this epidemic, with 20,101 overdose deaths related to prescription pain relievers, and 12,990 overdose deaths related to heroin in 2015.” (ASAM,

New Hanover County typifies the crisis of opioid addiction because more opioid abusers live in the rural south per capita than other areas of the United States. In fact, rural southern states comprise 88% of the top cities for opioid. Wilmington, NC, the county seat of New Hanover County, received the distinction as being the city with the highest rate of opioid addiction in the country because 11.6% of people in the city abuse opioid drugs. Not surprisingly, 2016 study “found that more than half -- 53.8 percent -- of all opioid prescriptions in the city are abused.”

Adverse drug events are estimated to cause more than 1 million emergency department visits and 125,000 hospital admissions, affecting approximately 1.9 million hospital stays each year.

Addiction to prescription medications, specifically pain relievers, are of great concern in the Augusta, Georgia area. As if the abuse and dependence upon prescription medication isn’t worrisome enough, a pattern has evolved relating to persons addicted to prescription pain medication and a growing tendency to progress to heroin use. Heroin is quickly overcoming prescription medication as the most used addictive substance in Augusta.

The very same items a doctor prescribes to help people get well might be making them sick. Prescription drugs are being taken for reasons other than the ones they are being prescribed for, fueling an addiction that impacts as many as 48 million Americans ("Prescription Drug Abuse" WebMD). According to MedLinePlus, "an estimated 20 percent of people in the United States have used prescription drugs for nonmedical reasons. This is prescription drug abuse." While a considerable amount of time, resources, and attention are focused on the problems associated with illicit drugs, prescription drug abuse is "an increasing problem," with very serious consequences for individuals, families, and communities (MayoClinic Staff). The United States Office of National Drug Control Policy claims, "Prescription drug abuse is the Nation's fastest-growing drug problem, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has classified prescription drug abuse as an epidemic." Because prescription drugs are viewed as safe due to their being part of the doctor's pharmacopeia, the same psychological, legal, ethical, and social barriers to abuse might not be present. However, prescription drug abuse creates a wide range of problems, including dangerous or lethal side effects, long-term addiction, and the dismantling of family and community

Illegal drugs such as Heroin, Cocaine, and Meth, along with countless other narcotics place a heavy burden on the population of the United States, with an emphasis of distress on the youth. These drugs are extremely deadly. In 2014, 17,465 people died from overdoses in the United States alone. These drugs are illegal, and evidently for a very good cause. Transition The only problem is that there is an even deadlier factor that exist in today 's modern society, and that problem exists in the form of prescriptions written to millions of people each year from certified and legal doctors. In 2014 the same year stated above, 25,760 people in the United States died from overdoses from drugs that they received legally and often with good intentions, from family doctors that they know and trust (Bellware). That is over 8,000 more people dying from prescription drugs compared to illegal drugs. Prescription drug abuse is a problem in the United States and it is fueled by famous individuals, promotions by pharmaceutical companies and by doctors.

Prescription drug abuse and misuse is becoming a major public health issue in the United

In the United States of America, there is prescription drug abuse epidemic that continues to be a growing concern. Prescription drugs cause a large amount of overdoses and result in an abundant amount of deaths each year. A government study conducted shows this epidemic is scarily on the rise, “A recent government study found a 400% increase in prescription drug abuse between 1998 and 2008” (Schreiner 531). The excessive use of prescription drug abuse is leading to nonmedical use of the drugs, and creating addiction. Furthermore society is paying an extreme amount of money in this battle. With this drug abuse on the rise, legislators must create a law preventing doctors and pharmacists from over prescribing prescription medications as well a law to require they both participate in drug monitoring programs to prevent drug abuse. Now is the time that doctors and the pharmaceutical industry must be held accountable for their role in causing one of America’s worst addictions. The over medication of prescription drugs in the United States must be brought to an end by legislators creating laws to stop

The purpose of this report is to show the major problems we face in America if we do not address the misuse of prescription drugs. America’s pain pill and heroin addiction exceeds that of all other countries in the world, statistics from the UN office on Drugs and Crimes show. This report will show emphasis on the misuse of prescription drugs and some of the causes.