Prescription Drugs Effects on Lives How many prescription related deaths are there in a year? Statistics show there has been a tremendous increase in prescription drug related deaths. Prescription drugs have become easier to obtain, and the epidemic is on a rise. The number of deaths have tripled in the last twenty years, the number is up to 16,000 a year and it continues to increase. With the outbreak of prescription related deaths, young teens and people must recognize the signs of drug abuse and must recognize the problems this widespread causes. Drug Addiction. People use drugs without worrying about the negativity it can bring in your life. The illegal drugs are not the only unsafe ones. Prescription opioids are similar to the effect that of heroin and morphine,they provide a higher chance to be abused and an addiction to form if they are abused and used non-medically. Because they work in the same way as heroin, prescription opioids are ones that are most to be abused. Prescription drugs are prescribed every year to patients, and they take them without no hesitation. “Prescription drug abuse causes the largest percentage of deaths from drug overdosing.” …show more content…
Even if you do not realize it, your family and the people you love, love you as well. Being a drug addict hurts the people you care about most in many ways. You tend to become isolated from the people you care about without you realizing it. With the addiction, your morals go away and so does all the money. Once the addiction starts you forget who you are, you lose your family and yourself in trying to get high. Waking up an addicts only goal is to get the high. That is all that is going through the addicts head, and they will do anything in their path to achieve the high. If the addict has been using for a while the addict will show signs of withdrawal and will need to use their drug just to feel
Although this epidemic has been surging for the past 30 years, there has yet to have been an effective solution to drastically reduce the number of deaths and recurring addictions. The U.S. government has implemented different solutions, but the use of opioids still prevails. Even though drug use is criminalized in most places in the U.S., people are still continuing to use and abuse drugs. While many different approaches are hypothesized to stop the use of drugs, new forms of opioid use and problems seem to arise. There exists stigmas, stereotypes, and false information that have spread about drug use and addiction which hinders people's abilities to be able to understand and offer help to addicts and drug users.
One reason there is potential to curb the epidemic is a change in the way doctors think. The article mentioned in the 1990’s doctors thought that people should never have pain. It is possible that could have kick started the opioid drug crisis.
They can appear upset, anxious, and sweaty. They can even suffer from bone and muscle pain, diarrhea, chills, depression, insomnia, nausea and vomiting. Oxycodone Addiction Oxycodone, typically found in Percocet and OxyContin, is a strong painkiller and among the most abused prescription drugs in the States. Many people who developed an oxycodone addiction actually started out with the prescribed amount. What happened was their bodies built up a tolerance to the drug, and made them need a higher and higher dose each time, in order to experience the same high and pain relief.
Facing sobriety and returning back to normal life is difficult. This is where the person hit rock bottom because of the addiction. The person may be facing problems such as getting fired from work, heavy debts that lead to legal issues, family or relationship breakdown, contracting sexually transmitted disease and shame due to addiction public exposure. The only option is for the person to seek treatment for their addiction. If left untreated, the person may seek the fast way out by commit suicide to run away from the shame and
“ Because they produce euphoria in addition to pain relief, they can be misused. Regular use- even as prescribed by a doctor can lead to dependence ,and when misused, opioid pain relievers can lead to overdose incidents and deaths” (Drugabuse.gov/opioids) Prescribing opioids have more dangers to the human than they do
Underlying Causes: The increase in the sale of opioids is considered to be the root of the opioid crisis, as the drugs have been proven to be highly addictive. An addiction to prescriptive opioids, however, can lead to an addiction to synthetic, illegal opioids, such as heroine or fentanyl, which are less expensive and easier to acquire. In fact, in their journal article, “Associations of nonmedical pain reliever use and initiation of heroin use in the United States” Pradip Muhuri and associates discovered that “the recent (12 months preceding interview) heroin incidence rate was 19 times higher among those who reported prior nonmedical prescription pain reliever (NMPR) use than among those who did not (0.39 vs. 0.02 percent)” (Muhuri et. al). In other words, abusing prescription opioids significantly raises the chances of abusing illicit drugs, such as heroin.
Opioids are a prescription medication involving various forms of drugs, it can benefit patients as little as a few minutes, however, it can be extremely dangerous to patients without self-control. Morphine, heroin, oxycodone, and fentanyl are used for many different medical uses until companies started to combine these four ingredients into one small simple pill. The pill reduces chronic pain from a body in a matter of minutes taking a minimum dosage. The company that produces Opioids have discovered that for the most part opioids are healthier and safer than any other medications. Like other medications, opioids can also have its side effects too such as; sedation restlessness, respiratory depression, nausea, vomiting, constipation and much more.
Most people will continue their drug abuse as they don’t want a way out of their getaway. Most people abuse easily accessible drugs like ones from doctors or friends who supply them drugs. Often people who want pain medications will go and get them prescribed to them. They use pain medications as a form of help for their struggles. With how easily these drugs are to get, people will take advantage of the drug.
Opioid Epidemic in the United States The opioid crisis has risen over the years here in America. The addiction to painkillers has caused many drug overdoses across America. According to the Vox," In 2015, more than 52,000 people have died from drug overdoses from linked to opioids such as Percocet, heroin, Oxycontin or even fentanyl. This problem did not become an overnight health crisis, but it has become quickly known in America. Expanding our drug treatment centers across America would provide the support to those who are addicted to drugs.
For example, one time in high school, I witness this kid put 5 white rectangular pills in his mouth, from my point of view I thought that was excessive. The next thing we know this kid is just acting totally different, but somehow he manages to keep a low profile and the teachers don’t notice. Prescription drug abuse is on the rise as we have seen on the news if you don’t live under a rock. Teens and adults have managed to get their hands on these prescriptions. People abuse prescription drugs because they think they will have a better time
These pills, such as xanax and oxycodone allow people for short periods of time to withdraw from the harsh reality faced today. “Between 1997 and 2002, sales of oxycodone and methadone nearly quadrupled” (Okie). Around 15 years later and the prescription pill problem is continuing to skyrocket. Since prescription pills are dispersed out to anyone by doctors, many people do not realize that it is as much of an illicit drug as cocaine and heroin is. “Misinformation about the addictive properties of prescription opioids and the perception that prescription drugs are less harmful than illicit drugs are other possible contributors to the problem” (NIDA).
The opium poppy plant produces substances that act as a pain reliever. Most opioid drugs like morphine and hydrocodone that treat severe pain, contain the products of these poppy plants. Opioids are powerful narcotics that have over the years been taken advantage of but should exclusively be for medical purposes only prescribed by physicians. Nabarun Dasgupta is a pharmaceutical epidemiologist who has a Ph.D. in pharmacy from the University of North Carolina. Nabarun wrote a peer-reviewed article about the opioid crisis and how economic factors intensify the epidemic.
Prescription drugs (opiates only) have caused over 165,000 deaths within the last 15 years and is currently on the rise. Over 2 million Americans in 2014 were addicted to Opiate prescription narcotics. The most troubling fact is listed directly on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website: “As many as 1 in 4
Causes and Effects of Drug Abuse Substance abuse is a form of substance-related disorder. It refers to the harmful or hazardous use of substances that affects almost every community, including alcohol, tobacco and legal or illegal drugs. Drug abuse is one of the most commonly substance abuse in teenagers. It is a disease that is defined as a destructive pattern of using drugs that can cause significant problems or distress. The most commonly abused drugs among them are marijuana, cocaine, heroin and hallucinogens.
Addiction is the reliance on a routine. There are many addictive stages. Addiction, as it comes along, becomes a way of life. The persistent use of the substance causes to the user serious physical or psychological problems and dysfunctions in major areas of his or her life. The drug user continues to use substances and the compulsive behavior despite the harmful consequences, and tries to systematically avoid responsibility and reality, while he or she tends to isolate himself/herself from others because of guilt and pain (Angres, & Bettinardi-Angres, 2008).