Prescription Drug Abuse Research Paper
The Rate of Young Accidental Overdoses have Recently Increased Because Prescription Medication Abuse is Now on the Rise. Why are prescription medications quickly becoming the most abused drug throughout today's youth. Dr. Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, estimates that forty eight million people misuse prescribed medicine. That is about twenty percent of the United States population (1). Maybe because these medications are fairly easy to posses, no matter of the age trying to acquire them. It is less expensive than street drugs such as ecstasy, marijuana, or cocaine. A thought of prescription pills may be less addictive and entertaining as well. Some people may also find drugs in their medicine cabinet
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to be more safe than street drugs. Most people at some point in life are appointed medicine, whether it is for pain relief, depression, lack of sleep, or help to lose weight or even study. Who would think that they would get into trouble from having a few pills in their car or even in their bodies? According to the website, Illinois Drug Laws, the state of Illinois, For the first non-prescribed pill a person possesses while getting arrested, a felony will be given, a fine up to $100,000.00, and up to three years in prison. For every pill after that a second felony will be given, a fine up to $200,000.00, and up to five years in prison. If being caught with in 1500 feet of a school, church, public park, or movie theater the court can double the fine and sentencing of the penalty (1). So why are the numbers of teenage overdoses from prescribed medicine inclining yearly? An addict is someone who is dependent on a substance physically, emotionally, or even mentally. Abuse is to wrongly use or handle a substance. An overdose can be a combination of things, such as taking a large quantity of pills. Some overdoses may be accidental or may even be on purpose. The number of deaths caused by maltreatment of medicine have increased by about three times as many since 1997 (Szabo, 1). The government has noticed these additions in deaths and has recently started a program in 2009 to help rid the problem of drug abuse of prescription pills. This program is called Stericycle. Basically the creators of this program want people to go through medicine cabinets and bring expired medications to a hospital or doctors office. They then dispose of your unwanted medicines. The problem is that children or teenagers are stealing medicines that are currently being used and refilled by parents with out parents even realizing. The drug industry is such a compelling issue.
The news shows stories everyday from mobile methamphetamine labs being blown up, to political and authoritative figures wanting to legalize marijuana to help boost our economy by taxing and regulating the drug. So why are more teenagers abusing and overdosing more on prescription pills that street drugs now? Pills are more dangerous than most people will think. Who has ever began a diet and wished it would work quicker? Or who has stayed up all night to study for a major exam? Young people have their mind set to knowing it is very possible to get medications to abuse to assist both of these scenarios. A pill called Adderall is said to be the most abused pill by teenagers currently. It is abused simply for the effects on people it has. It is to treat someone who has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), a problem with inattentiveness, over-activity, or a combination of all them. It is also used to treat narcolepsy, a sleep disorder that causes sleepiness and frequent daytime sleep attacks (Monson, 1-2). For the teenagers who do not require the use of the drug, Adderall has opposite effects. It causes an increase of alertness, attention, and energy, which leads to an increases in blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing. Weight loss is also side effect of Adderall, which is why most young people may start abusing Adderall but then quickly become addicted mentally. It also allows young party goers to stay …show more content…
awake longer and may even let teenagers feel as if they can drink more heavily. Jonel Aleccia states because there has been numerous cases in which people of all ages may take anywhere from one to multiple pills and then mix with alcohol, they then can die from the mixture (1). When a person takes too many drugs, like Adderall, and then combines them with alcohol, the person may stop breathing. Such famous people have recently died from the mixture of pills and alcohol. The web source, Pill Talk, claims Anna Nicole Smith died from mixing a combination of eleven different pills. The rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard died just from taking a couple of painkillers and mixing it with cocaine (1). Taking pills at all almost seems like a death threat if a person is abusing the drugs and does not understand the effects they will have on each of their bodies. So if these medications are drugs, why are they so easy to get ahold of? Some may say neglectful parents play a huge part in this growing epidemic of prescription pill abuse.
A survey was conducted in 2008 by Columbia University's National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA). This survey has found that some parents may be the blame for young children and teenagers to retrieve these pills and then misuse them. The teenagers who have supplied others, have gotten the drugs from medicine cabinets in their own homes. Though a parent may not be able to see a change in their child’s behavior it does and will mostly likely occur. Symptoms of pill addiction can be drowsiness, wariness, agitated, and mood swings can also occur. Internally depressants or opiods, such as painkillers causes the pills to attach to opioid receptors in the central nervous system, preventing the brain from receiving pain messages. The central nervous system depressants slow down brain activity by increasing the activity of a neurotransmitter. The result is a drowsy or calming effect. While on the other hand stimulants, like Adderall, cause an increase in brain activity, resulting in greater alertness, attention, and energy. I have witnessed the effects of medication abuse and drug use that put a close friend of mine in the hospital near
death. A friend of mine overdosed on medication and cocaine. Anybody close to him would have not recognized a drastic change in his personality. He did however, seemed to be more angry all the time, lied more, and began pushing everybody away. Not even his family thought too much of the incident. It was about a month later, the day before Halloween, when he digested some painkillers from his grandmother's bathroom and carried on with cocaine. He was later rushed to the emergency room, had his stomach pumped, and recovered. It is that easy to not recognize the addiction that some people will face. Can drug abuse programs like D.A.R.E. Or even 12-step programs help such youth facing addiction? How long before the schools and parents start teaching more on the abuse of prescription pills and the dangerous effects it has on the youth? D.A.R.E., Drug Abuse Resistance Education, is a program that teaches children about the harmful effects of drugs. It is now in seventy five percent of our nation's school districts and in more than forty three countries around the world (dare.com, 1). So are these programs helping? Unacknowledged teenagers is the problem. They may think that the prescription pills that are hiding in their cabinets are a safer way to have fun yet dieing from the pills do not seem that entertaining. Maybe teenagers find these pills to be a cheaper way to have fun but the addiction rate in pills is higher than such drugs like marijuana. So many teens will end up spending more in the long run. Theses prescriptions also carry such high punishments so the risk of having the medications is just as, if not more troublesome to posses. Finally, addicts have to put on a fake front to be able to lie all the time to the people that they love and surround themselves by. It is the addiction that takes a person over. It changes their entire personality to be someone they are not. A addict becomes so wound up in a drug that they almost create a relationship with the prescription medications. It is this that is causing the accidental and suicidal deaths to sky rocket each year with in younger adults. The fact that these drugs are so easily able to retain makes the possibilities endless. Hopefully with in the next years authoritative figures start reaching out more to the youth and show the definitions, effects, and comparisons of medications and street drugs. And the world begins to see a decrease in deaths due to partying with pills.
"18 Celebrities Who Died from Prescription Drugs." Pill Talk. N.p. Web. 28 Oct. 2010. <http://www.pharmacytechs.net/blog/ 18-celebrities-who-died-from-prescription-drugs>.
"D.A.R.E. America." About D.A.R.E. N.p. 1996. Web. 28 Oct. 2010. <http://www.dare.com/home/about_dare.asp>
"Illinois Drug Laws." Illinois Drug Laws. N.p. Web. 27 Oct. 2010. <http://www.iwu.edu/ccs/Illinois_Drug_Laws.htm>.
"Prescription Drug Abuse." Teen Health . Nemours, 2010. Web. 28 Oct. 2010. <http://kidshealth.org/teen/drug_alcohol/drugs/ prescription_drug_abuse.html#>.
Aleccia, Jonel. "Toxic mix of pills, alcohol fuels spike in deaths." Health on MSNBC.com. msnbc.com, 30 July 2008. Web. 27 Oct. 2010. <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25886212/>.
Boyles, Salynn. "Teen Drug Use Linked to 'Problem Parents.'" WebMD. WebMD Health News, 2008. Web. 27 Oct. 2010. <http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/ 20080814/teen-drug-use-linked-to-problem-parents?page=2>.
Monson, Kristi, and Arthur Schoenstadt. "Adderall." eMedTV. FDA, 10 July 2008. Web. 27 Oct. 2010. <http://adhd.emedtv.com/adderall/adderall.html>.
Szabo, Liz. "Prescriptions now Biggest Cause of Fatal Drug Overdoses." USA Today 30 Sept. 2009: n. pag. Web. 28 Oct. 2010. <http://www.usatoday.com/news/ health/2009-09-30-drug-overdose_N.htm>.
Volkow, Nora D. . "Prescription Drugs Abuse and Addiction." National Institute on Drug Abuse. NIDA, 2005. Web. 28 Oct. 2010. <http://www.drugabuse.gov/ResearchReports/Prescription/Prescription.html>.
to be more safe than street drugs. Most people at some point in life are appointed medicine, whether it is for pain relief, depression, lack of sleep, or help to lose weight or even study. Who would think that they would get into trouble from having a few pills in their car or even in their bodies? According to the website, Illinois Drug Laws, the state of Illinois, For the first non-prescribed pill a person possesses while getting arrested, a felony will be given, a fine up to $100,000.00, and up to three years in prison. For every pill after that a second felony will be given, a fine up to $200,000.00, and up to five years in prison. If being caught with in 1500 feet of a school, church, public park, or movie theater the court can double the fine and sentencing of the penalty (1). So why are the numbers of teenage overdoses from prescribed medicine inclining yearly? An addict is someone who is dependent on a substance physically, emotionally, or even mentally. Abuse is to wrongly use or handle a substance. An overdose can be a combination of things, such as taking a large quantity of pills. Some overdoses may be accidental or may even be on purpose. The number of deaths caused by maltreatment of medicine have increased by about three times as many since 1997 (Szabo, 1). The government has noticed these additions in deaths and has recently started a program in 2009 to help rid the problem of drug abuse of prescription pills. This program is called Stericycle. Basically the creators of this program want people to go through medicine cabinets and bring expired medications to a hospital or doctors office. They then dispose of your unwanted medicines. The problem is that children or teenagers are stealing medicines that are currently being used and refilled by parents with out parents even realizing. The drug industry is such a compelling issue.
The news shows stories everyday from mobile methamphetamine labs being blown up, to political and authoritative figures wanting to legalize marijuana to help boost our economy by taxing and regulating the drug. So why are more teenagers abusing and overdosing more on prescription pills that street drugs now? Pills are more dangerous than most people will think. Who has ever began a diet and wished it would work quicker? Or who has stayed up all night to study for a major exam? Young people have their mind set to knowing it is very possible to get medications to abuse to assist both of these scenarios. A pill called Adderall is said to be the most abused pill by teenagers currently. It is abused simply for the effects on people it has. It is to treat someone who has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), a problem with inattentiveness, over-activity, or a combination of all them. It is also used to treat narcolepsy, a sleep disorder that causes sleepiness and frequent daytime sleep attacks (Monson, 1-2). For the teenagers who do not require the use of the drug, Adderall has opposite effects. It causes an increase of alertness, attention, and energy, which leads to an increases in blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing. Weight loss is also side effect of Adderall, which is why most young people may start abusing Adderall but then quickly become addicted mentally. It also allows young party goers to stay …show more content…
awake longer and may even let teenagers feel as if they can drink more heavily. Jonel Aleccia states because there has been numerous cases in which people of all ages may take anywhere from one to multiple pills and then mix with alcohol, they then can die from the mixture (1). When a person takes too many drugs, like Adderall, and then combines them with alcohol, the person may stop breathing. Such famous people have recently died from the mixture of pills and alcohol. The web source, Pill Talk, claims Anna Nicole Smith died from mixing a combination of eleven different pills. The rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard died just from taking a couple of painkillers and mixing it with cocaine (1). Taking pills at all almost seems like a death threat if a person is abusing the drugs and does not understand the effects they will have on each of their bodies. So if these medications are drugs, why are they so easy to get ahold of? Some may say neglectful parents play a huge part in this growing epidemic of prescription pill abuse.
A survey was conducted in 2008 by Columbia University's National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA). This survey has found that some parents may be the blame for young children and teenagers to retrieve these pills and then misuse them. The teenagers who have supplied others, have gotten the drugs from medicine cabinets in their own homes. Though a parent may not be able to see a change in their child’s behavior it does and will mostly likely occur. Symptoms of pill addiction can be drowsiness, wariness, agitated, and mood swings can also occur. Internally depressants or opiods, such as painkillers causes the pills to attach to opioid receptors in the central nervous system, preventing the brain from receiving pain messages. The central nervous system depressants slow down brain activity by increasing the activity of a neurotransmitter. The result is a drowsy or calming effect. While on the other hand stimulants, like Adderall, cause an increase in brain activity, resulting in greater alertness, attention, and energy. I have witnessed the effects of medication abuse and drug use that put a close friend of mine in the hospital near
death. A friend of mine overdosed on medication and cocaine. Anybody close to him would have not recognized a drastic change in his personality. He did however, seemed to be more angry all the time, lied more, and began pushing everybody away. Not even his family thought too much of the incident. It was about a month later, the day before Halloween, when he digested some painkillers from his grandmother's bathroom and carried on with cocaine. He was later rushed to the emergency room, had his stomach pumped, and recovered. It is that easy to not recognize the addiction that some people will face. Can drug abuse programs like D.A.R.E. Or even 12-step programs help such youth facing addiction? How long before the schools and parents start teaching more on the abuse of prescription pills and the dangerous effects it has on the youth? D.A.R.E., Drug Abuse Resistance Education, is a program that teaches children about the harmful effects of drugs. It is now in seventy five percent of our nation's school districts and in more than forty three countries around the world (dare.com, 1). So are these programs helping? Unacknowledged teenagers is the problem. They may think that the prescription pills that are hiding in their cabinets are a safer way to have fun yet dieing from the pills do not seem that entertaining. Maybe teenagers find these pills to be a cheaper way to have fun but the addiction rate in pills is higher than such drugs like marijuana. So many teens will end up spending more in the long run. Theses prescriptions also carry such high punishments so the risk of having the medications is just as, if not more troublesome to posses. Finally, addicts have to put on a fake front to be able to lie all the time to the people that they love and surround themselves by. It is the addiction that takes a person over. It changes their entire personality to be someone they are not. A addict becomes so wound up in a drug that they almost create a relationship with the prescription medications. It is this that is causing the accidental and suicidal deaths to sky rocket each year with in younger adults. The fact that these drugs are so easily able to retain makes the possibilities endless. Hopefully with in the next years authoritative figures start reaching out more to the youth and show the definitions, effects, and comparisons of medications and street drugs. And the world begins to see a decrease in deaths due to partying with pills.
"18 Celebrities Who Died from Prescription Drugs." Pill Talk. N.p. Web. 28 Oct. 2010. <http://www.pharmacytechs.net/blog/ 18-celebrities-who-died-from-prescription-drugs>.
"D.A.R.E. America." About D.A.R.E. N.p. 1996. Web. 28 Oct. 2010. <http://www.dare.com/home/about_dare.asp>
"Illinois Drug Laws." Illinois Drug Laws. N.p. Web. 27 Oct. 2010. <http://www.iwu.edu/ccs/Illinois_Drug_Laws.htm>.
"Prescription Drug Abuse." Teen Health . Nemours, 2010. Web. 28 Oct. 2010. <http://kidshealth.org/teen/drug_alcohol/drugs/ prescription_drug_abuse.html#>.
Aleccia, Jonel. "Toxic mix of pills, alcohol fuels spike in deaths." Health on MSNBC.com. msnbc.com, 30 July 2008. Web. 27 Oct. 2010. <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25886212/>.
Boyles, Salynn. "Teen Drug Use Linked to 'Problem Parents.'" WebMD. WebMD Health News, 2008. Web. 27 Oct. 2010. <http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/ 20080814/teen-drug-use-linked-to-problem-parents?page=2>.
Monson, Kristi, and Arthur Schoenstadt. "Adderall." eMedTV. FDA, 10 July 2008. Web. 27 Oct. 2010. <http://adhd.emedtv.com/adderall/adderall.html>.
Szabo, Liz. "Prescriptions now Biggest Cause of Fatal Drug Overdoses." USA Today 30 Sept. 2009: n. pag. Web. 28 Oct. 2010. <http://www.usatoday.com/news/ health/2009-09-30-drug-overdose_N.htm>.
Volkow, Nora D. . "Prescription Drugs Abuse and Addiction." National Institute on Drug Abuse. NIDA, 2005. Web. 28 Oct. 2010. <http://www.drugabuse.gov/ResearchReports/Prescription/Prescription.html>.