Prescription Drug Abuse in America
Prescription Drug Abuse in America
Illegal drugs in the United States have been a topic of discussion for as long as anyone can remember. For years we have been fighting a war against drugs and this paper will not reflect current trends of illegal drugs, but will show that the new problem these days in America is prescription drugs. According to state law enforcement officials, “An analysis of 168,900 autopsies conducted in Florida in 2007 found that three times as many people were killed by legal drugs as by cocaine, heroin and all methamphetamines put together,” (David Gutierrez, 2008). Today, not only does society have to deal with the abuse of illegal drugs, but it must also witness people fall into the trap of prescription drug abuse. This can include family and close friends whose lives are literally thrown away.
Most people who have had issues with addiction, jail, and can’t break the cycle seem to be drawn to these legal drugs. Some have witnessed the lives of people go from full to nothing and in some cases the abuse was so acute that it meant death. Findings point towards a trend that says volumes about this abuse of prescription drugs. “In 2007, cocaine was responsible for 843 deaths, heroin for 121, methamphetamines for 25 and marijuana for zero, for a total of 989 deaths. In contrast, 2,328 people were killed by opioid painkillers, including Vicodin and Oxycontin, and 743 were killed by drugs containing benzodiazepine …” (David Gutierrez, 2008). It is a serious problem in America and the people pushing these days are coming from our own pharmaceutical companies selling the newest crack. Except it is all legal, prescription drugs and it has found its way to the streets.
To argue that the use and abuse of legal, prescription drugs is a much bigger problem than the use and abuse of illegal drugs, the researcher has gathered as many statistics and numbers that point towards proving the hypothesis. This will include focusing on secondary
Illegal drugs in the United States have been a topic of discussion for as long as anyone can remember. For years we have been fighting a war against drugs and this paper will not reflect current trends of illegal drugs, but will show that the new problem these days in America is prescription drugs. According to state law enforcement officials, “An analysis of 168,900 autopsies conducted in Florida in 2007 found that three times as many people were killed by legal drugs as by cocaine, heroin and all methamphetamines put together,” (David Gutierrez, 2008). Today, not only does society have to deal with the abuse of illegal drugs, but it must also witness people fall into the trap of prescription drug abuse. This can include family and close friends whose lives are literally thrown away.
Most people who have had issues with addiction, jail, and can’t break the cycle seem to be drawn to these legal drugs. Some have witnessed the lives of people go from full to nothing and in some cases the abuse was so acute that it meant death. Findings point towards a trend that says volumes about this abuse of prescription drugs. “In 2007, cocaine was responsible for 843 deaths, heroin for 121, methamphetamines for 25 and marijuana for zero, for a total of 989 deaths. In contrast, 2,328 people were killed by opioid painkillers, including Vicodin and Oxycontin, and 743 were killed by drugs containing benzodiazepine …” (David Gutierrez, 2008). It is a serious problem in America and the people pushing these days are coming from our own pharmaceutical companies selling the newest crack. Except it is all legal, prescription drugs and it has found its way to the streets.
To argue that the use and abuse of legal, prescription drugs is a much bigger problem than the use and abuse of illegal drugs, the researcher has gathered as many statistics and numbers that point towards proving the hypothesis. This will include focusing on secondary
References: Andrea Tone, Elizabeth Siegel Watkins (Fall 2009). Medicating Modern America: Prescription Drugs in History, Volume 83, Number 3: Retrieved July 5, 2012 from http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/bulletin_of_the_history_of_medicine/v083/83.3.speaker.html Denice Thibodeau (October 20, 2009). Prescription Drug Abuse Now Tops Illegal Drug Abuse: Retrieved July 5, 2012 from http://www2.godanriver.com/news/2009/oct/20/prescription_drug_abuse_now_tops_illegal_drug_use-ar-314550/ David Gutierrez (November 10, 2008). Prescription Drugs Kill 300 Percent More Americans Than Illegal Drugs: Retrieved July 7, 2012 from: http://archive.truthout.org/111208HA Ashton John C (June 2012). Current drug abuse reviews: Synthetic cannabinoids as drugs of abuse : Retrieved July 7, 2012 from: http://www.educus.com/Journals/R22530798-0.html Paul Gootenberg (Winter 2009). Talking About the Flow: Drugs, Borders, and the Discourse of Drug Control: Retrieved July 7, 2012 from: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/cultural_critique/v071/71.gootenberg.html Donald Hurst, M.D., George Loeffler, M.D., Robert McLay, M.D., Ph.D. (2011). The American Journal of Psychology, Vol. 168, No. 10. Psychosis Associated With Synthetic Cannabinoid Agonists: A Case Series: Retrieved July 7, 2012 from http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleID=178271 Bulletin of the World Health Organization, Direct-to-consumer advertising under fire, Volume 87: 2009 Volume 87, Number 8, August 2009, 565-644: Retrieved July 28, 2011from http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/87/8/09-040809/en/index.html