Awareness and understanding of prescription abuse

The problem of prescription drug abuse is one of quite enormous scale. There are over six million cases per year of abuse of prescription drugs, although it is not always covered well in media. This problem affects a wide variety of people from many
different backgrounds, but is most commonly highlighted in the case of celebrities that have issues with legal prescriptions.


The culture is important in understanding this. Illegal drugs are always a talking point
and a hotly contested area prone to serious and passionate discussion. The topic of
illegal drugs reaches far into fiscal policy, the prison system, and our relationships
with other countries and their own problems with the global drug network. Legal
drugs used in medical prescriptions are a different story. Many of the drugs prescribed
to patients are incredibly potent and unfortunately addictive. This leads to problems of
addiction just as legitimate and intimate as the more well known illegal drugs such as
crack cocaine, heroin and so on. The nature of purchase and the culture attached may
be different, but the threat to our society of addiction to prescribed medication is just
as real and incredibly far-reaching.

A large problem with prescription drug addiction is that of public awareness. As we
have established in the previous paragraph, our society is acutely aware of illegal
drugs and more conversation is occurring on this subject, as can be seen in recent
efforts to legalize marijuana in the USA. Public awareness of addiction to legal
prescriptions is unfortunately a different story.

Drugs that are commonly abused are usually in the area of pain killers, tranquilizers
and sedatives. These drugs are usually used to treat ailments like anxiety and sleep
disorders (even schools). Opioids are used for many pain killers and prone to extreme cases of
addiction. Many argue the benefit of prescribing such powerfully addictive drugs,
with the argument that it creates one problem after it temporarily solves another. This
complicated issue has ramifications far into our finances.

Much more needs to be done to bring into the public eye the subject of the powerful
drugs that are prescribed to patients for various issues and ailments. Generating more
conversation on the subject can help bring awareness, and through that clarity and
closer attention, to what drugs are prescribed and what is best for different situations.
It is the simple act of conversation on a countrywide level that brings about change.
This can be witnessed, as mentioned, with recent discussion on marijuana in America.
Awareness is the key to making sure that enough public pressure is applied to the
topic of prescription drugs. The reason for this being beneficial is that it will help
ensure caution when prescribing powerful drugs, which will help avoid unneeded
addictions and negative experiences for those in need of prescription help.

Please visit our site Lifeworks Community, based in Surrey, for more information.