Drug Abuse

Due to the rise in prescription drug abuse there must be more control over the sources that make these drugs easily attainable to the public. The internet plays a huge role in this ongoing problem with on line pharmacies and unnecessary prescriptions play a role as well.

In the United States, prescription drug abuse has skyrocketed into an epidemic. Some individuals start out as legitimate drug users but as time progresses; they may find themselves using those drugs for recreational purposes. It is indeed a fine line between legitimate and abuse of these legitimate drugs; distinctions on this two categories will be examined in detail in the subsequent parts of the essays. (Gever, 2003)

However, one must be careful when trying to solve the issue. This is not something that will end through the use of law enforcement officers. Although such an approach has worked for other forms of drug abuse; it may be inefficient for this form. Therefore efforts should be more proactive than reactive. There are higher chances of reducing the scourge if the government and other stakeholders take on a preventative approach.

Research conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration in the year 2004 illustrated that about 6.1 million people admitted in hospitals were using prescription drugs for other reasons other than medical ones. The largest percentage of this group was found to be the teenagers. The same survey also revealed that eleven percent of the American Population admitted to having used prescription drugs for recreational purposes at one point or another within their lives. (SAMHSA, 2004)

The severity of this problem can also be detected by increased emergency treatment of patients who happen to have excess amounts of prescription drugs within their body systems. Research conducted by the Drug Abuse Warning Network found that 0.65 cases of people who were taken into emergency treatment within hospitals were a result of prescription drug abuse. Some of the prescription drugs found during emergency treatment include;

pain relievers like opioid
hydrocodone (pain relievers)
methadone (pain relievers)
oxycodone (pain relievers)
alprazolam (Benzodiazepines)
clonazepam(Benzodiazepines)
carisprodl (muscle relaxants)
cyclobenzaprine (muscle relaxants) (Gever, 2003)

Sometimes patients were found to combine various types of dugs to come up with a more severe effect. Among all the cases shown above, Muscle relaxants and opioids were the most common of all. The statistics are also alarming in that the numbers are increasing as the years go by. For example, it was found that the amount spent in opioid purchases increased from 80 billion dollars in the year 1997 to two hundred and sixteen billion dollars in the year 2003. Increased spending in this area is a clear indication that there may be some abuse cases there (since the American population has not increased tremendously over the five years considered during the study).

Actually prescription drugs come in fourth among the most abused substances within the country. The others were alcohol, marijuana and tobacco. (CASA, 1998)

There are numerous avenues that make the drugs available to most of these drug abusers. The first source is through street vendors. Just as there are street venders for other common illegal drugs, there are also rising cases of prescription drugs in the streets. This has become very lucrative for most dealers because they realize that addicts are quite needy and they can sell the drugs for six times the price or even more. It was found that a drug that may cost ten dollars at pharmacy would be sold at one hundred dollars in the streets. For example OxyContin Pill (80 milligrams) is sold at six dollars in pharmacies but this may be multiplied to sixty five dollars out there. Most people will go for this alternative when the drugs they require are not over-the-counter drugs. This implies that one has to give a prescription by a health professional before they can purchase that given item; over-the- counter drugs can be purchased by anyone since they do not have adverse effects on the normal functioning of the body. (Gever, 2003)

Among the most notorious sources of these prescription drugs is through shopping for doctors. Abusers may find out information about the availability of doctors within a certain location. These so called ‘patients’ may get information about the locations and practice of a certain doctor from the internet. Such persons may then approach one doctor physically and explain their condition. Sometimes doctors may find that it is a legitimate case and give prescriptions for it. However, such abusers do not stop at that, they then approach a second doctor and explain their condition as if it is the first time. This doctor will then give similar treatment. Afterwards, they will visit a third doctor and so on. The cycle will repeat itself and patients end up with more drugs than is medically required. Such people take advantage of their medical conditions to access unlimited drugs through multiple consultations.

The most significant source of prescription dugs is through internet purchasers. The internet has brought with it unlimited access to certain goods or services that were previously restricted. There are numerous websites that sell prescription drugs to patient without a serious inquiry into their condition. Such facilities are normally commercially run and sellers do not ask for doctor’s prescriptions. It should be noted that these are illegal transactions. The internet is characterized by many illegal businesses that cannot be easily tracked. Most of the time, people who sell these drugs go out of their way to protect their identity. They do not use their real name and never disclose their actual locations. Such sellers normally deliver the drugs to patients through a third party so as to hide their identity.

It has also been found that there are rising cases of prescription drug misuses in most high schools. Teenagers have been known to access these types of drugs from drug traffickers there. This is why majority of the cases abusing these sorts of drugs were the youth. Such teenagers normally use the little money given to them by their parents as pocket money. (CASA, 2005)

However, when such persons fail to access the finances to purchase prescription drugs through drug traffickers in schools, then they may resort to stealing. Some parents may have stocked certain prescription drugs in heir medical cabinets and they make it quite easy for teenagers who may be having this problem to acquire them. Such parents are normally too busy to take notice of some missing drugs or they may have such a large number that makes it difficult to monitor.

Sometimes drug abusers may get their drugs through exchanges from friends or family. Such persons may go directly to their friends and admit that they abuse drugs. If their friends also do the same or do not seem to mind then exchanges can be done. On the other hand, others may not be genuine. They go in the guise of being sick and make appeals to different members of their family at different times so as to get high numbers of prescription drugs. Recently, there have been similar cases among teenagers called ‘pharming parties’. In these parties, teenagers normally bring whatever types of prescription drugs they can lay their hands on and exchange them with their friends. Such parties are responsible for the rising cases of multiple drug induced emergency cases.

However, one must not forget that there may be cases of malpractice among certain doctors. Some doctors may be well aware that a few patients do not really need a medical drug. But after receiving some financial boosts, these practitioners may not hesitate giving their patients medication even when they know that they will be abusing those drugs. There are also cases of unscrupulous health care practitioners. These are the ones who may not be very good at their practice and may not know the exact amount to prescribe to patients. Consequently, such doctors prescribe over and above allowable medical limits without ulterior motives. However, lack of intentions does not undermine the serious consequences of their actions. Similarly, one may find crooked pharmacies who knowingly give overdoses to patients just to increase their sales for the day.

There are a number pf preventive measures that can be adopted to solve this problem. First of all, different peer groups can be educated about the dangers of prescription drugs because some cases may arise out of lack of knowledge. For example, some teenagers take prescription drugs in excess amounts with the assumption that those drugs are medically approved and are therefore safe. This is a big misconception that can be eradicated by introduction of drug- education- programs within schools. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2003)

Besides this, the government and other stakeholders should minimize the availability of over-the-counter medication. This will go a long way in ensuring that patients cannot purchase seemingly harmless drugs in large amounts.

Psychiatrists, doctors and other health practitioners should also shy away from prescribing drugs as the first alternative. They should use other forms of treatment first and then use drugs as the last resort. For example patients experiencing depression should be given therapy instead of antidepressants and so on.

Prescription drug abuse like any other form of abuse has adverse effects on a user’s family and themselves. The problem is worsened by illegal businesses online, unlimited access to doctors via the internet and through patient scams. These issues need be handled proactively rather than reactively through education and use of other medical alternatives other than drugs for treatment. Such an approach will go a long way in preventing future drug abuses. (Gever, 2003)

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration- SAMHSA (2004): Overview of Findings from the 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health; report for Office of Applied Studies, DHHS Publication No. SMA 04-3963

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2003): Office of Applied Studies, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA); Drug Abuse Warning Network. The DAWN Report; Issue 19

Gever, M. et al (2003): Substance Abuse as a Cross-Cutting Issue; CWLA Press, Pp 6

The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) (1998):  Under the Rug: Substance Abuse and the Mature Woman; Columbia University Press, Pp 14

The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) (2005): Under the Counter: The Diversion and Abuse of Controlled Prescription Drugs in the U.S; Routledge: Pp 39

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