Forty eight million people is 20% of the American population. These alarming facts have prompted the director of the NIDA, Nora Volkow MD, to issue a statement saying that "the non-medical use or abuse of prescription drugs is a serious and growing public health problem in this country".

The most commonly abused prescription drugs fall into three categories: opiods, central nervous system stimulants and CNS depressants. Opoids are commonly prescribed for pain relief, stimulants for narcolepsy and ADHD and depressants for anxiety and sleep disorders.

The 2004 NIDA Monitoring the Future Survey records the frightening situation in the nation's schools. Apparently 9.3% of 12th graders used Vicodin and 5% used OxyContin in the previous year.

The abuse of prescription drugs is not confined to school going children. Many adults become dependent on medications that are liberally prescribed for a growing number of health problems.

We live in a world where pain and discomfort of any kind is considered almost unnatural. Giant pharmaceutical companies churn out medicinal solutions for almost every problem. As a consequence our homes are often considerable repositories for a veritable smorgasbord of prescription drugs.

Many believe that the growing problem of prescription drug abuse is related to this high level of accessibility. Not only are powerful drugs readily available on prescription they are also available online without them.

One of the problems with prescription drug abuse is that it is more insidious, less easy to recognize, while still being ultimately as destructive as addiction to notorious street drugs like cocaine and heroin. All have the potential to lead to physical and psychological dependence that requires a combination of pharmacological and sustained behavioral therapies to treat.

Sources: NIDA - National Institute on Drug Abuse (Public Domain)
 
 

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