Prescription Drug Use

Abuse of Codeine, Hydrocodone, Meth, Oxycodone Medications

Jul 25, 2009

Prescription drug use starts with legitimate reasons like cough, insomnia and pain, but repetitive use moves the user down the road to prescription drug abuse.

The International Narcotics Control Board of the United Nations stated in its 2008 report that prescription drug abuse has increased considerably more than illegal drug abuse.

The rise of prescription drug abuse clearly indicates the number of individuals who do not comply with prescriptions, who lack knowledge about drug’s hazardous interactions with alcohol and other medicines and the bad effects of long-term use of prescription drugs.

Possible Causes of Prescription Drug Abuse

Prescription drugs abuse does not choose its victim. The abuse of prescription drugs begins when a person makes a conscious effort to use drugs for non-medical reasons. The other possible causes for misuse and abuse of prescription medications are the following:

In 1985, the FDA allowed "direct to consumer advertising" to promote the use of prescription drugs, as long as they contain the side effects, and contraindications of the drugs.

"Direct-to-consumer advertisements" provide information about potential treatments and health care options, but the integration of potential side effects in routine advertisements can promote better awareness of possible side effects, and encourage individual compliance with treatment regimens.

In fact, as the New Jersey Supreme Court, quoting the Harvard Law Review, recognized in the landmark Perez v. Wyeth Laboratories, Inc., "Research indicates that general warning (for example, "see your doctor") in [direct-to-consumer] advertisements do not give the consumer a sufficient understanding of the risks inherent in product use.” Consumers often interpret such warnings as a "general reassurance" that their condition can be treated, rather than as a requirement that "specific vigilance is needed to protect them from product risks.” (8)

The success of online pharmacy selling prescription drugs only proves one thing—DTC is effective. Consumers search the internet based on whatever drugs they see advertised on print and television.

Some online pharmacies offer to ship prescription drugs by express delivery without a prescription while some may offer to write prescriptions for drugs based on a quick online survey. These online practices have greatly encouraged direct drug purchases and self-medication that will lead to steady decline of "doctor knows best" mentality.

People on self-medication use drugs without consultation and supervision. At times, impulsive behavior and nonconformity may lead an individual to take prescription medicines according to own perception.

Generally, doctors prescribe prescription drugs to help relieve pains, anxieties, panic attacks, sleep disorders, depressions, and ADHD, but long-term use will produce serious negative effects like respiratory depression, cardiovascular failure, lethal seizures, and death. However, the most serious effect of long-term use, repeated administration, or self-medication is drug addiction.

The 2004 Monitoring the Future (MTF) Survey of College Students and Adults revealed that 7.4 percent of college students used Hydrocodone, opioid, stimulants, and sedatives without prescriptions. The level of misuse of drugs containing Oxycodone is more than twice as high as the reported level of heroin abuse.

Effects of Medicine Misuse and Abuse

The three commonly abused prescription drugs according to America’s National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) are Opioids that doctors prescribe as pain medication, Central Nervous System depressants (CNS) that treat anxiety and sleep disorders, and stimulants that doctors recommend to treat sleep disorder narcolepsy and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Opioids when taken as directed can help manage pain safely and rarely causes addiction. However, taking a large single dose of Opioid can cause severe respiratory depression at the same time increasing the risk for Opioid overdose that can lead to death.

CNS depressants are substances that can slow normal brain functions—anxieties, acute stress, panic, tension, and sleep disorders. Abuse of CNS depressants can lead to drug dependence. Breaking off CNS use can make brain activities race out of control, which can lead to seizures, complications, and then death.

Stimulants, as the name suggests, increase alertness, attention, energy, heart rate, and respiration. However, abuse of stimulants can lead to feelings of hostility and paranoia, high body temperature, elevated blood pressure, and irregular heartbeat than can lead to cardiovascular failure.

Paracelsus, who pioneered the use of chemicals and minerals in medicine, said, “Medicine is not only a science; it is also an art. It does not consist of compounding pills and plasters; it deals with the very processes of life.”

"The tragic death of Heath Ledger as a result of the abuse of controlled prescription drugs is a sad story, too familiar to many. I hope that the death of this young man in the prime of his life with so much potential, serves as a wake-up call to parents and teens that prescription drugs can be just as dangerous as street drugs like cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin. We must abandon the notion that abuse of controlled prescription drugs like OxyContin, Valium, and Xanax is somehow safer than abuse of illegal street drugs." Statement by Joseph A. Califano, Jr., CASA Chairman and President, on the death of actor Heath Ledger, NEW YORK, NY, February 6, 2008.

The copyright of the article Prescription Drug Use in Drug Abuse is owned by Lizzie Elzingre. Permission to republish Prescription Drug Use in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.