It is true, drug addiction is shifting from shady black markets to over-the-counter prescription drug abuse. Abuse of prescription pills and death from overdoses or mixing pills is nothing new, but the rate of prescription medication overdoses has now surpassed that of street drug overdoses.
Who is abusing prescription painkillers?
When you think of a drug addict, a clear image comes to mind of a person who is without a job or a decent way of living, and you might imagine that they spend their time in a rundown corner of the bad part of the city snorting cocaine and shooting heroin. This is definitely not always the case.
Drug addicts can be anyone these days. Drug abuse is not reserved for just hard-core addicts who buy black market illegal drugs. With the addictive properties of painkillers addicts can be completely “normal” looking civilians who simply had bad back pain and were prescribed painkillers to help. These aren’t the types of people who would normally become drug addicts, but because of the addictive properties of these drugs, more and more are getting hooked.
Where do painkiller drug addicts get painkiller drugs?
Addicts who abuse prescription drugs range in age, gender and every other demographic. Some kids find the drugs in their parents’ medicine cabinets and pass them around to friends or take them to pill parties. Some prescription painkiller addicts get the drugs off the black market, but these pills can be difficult to get and are usually very expensive. Unfortunately, many prescription painkiller addicts and abusers get the drugs from their doctors. Addicts simply go to the pharmacy and fill a prescription, completely legally.
Are prescription painkillers better or worse than street drugs?
Manny drug users out there think that painkillers, because they are prescribed by doctors, are safer than street drugs. This is not true. When painkillers are used correctly they can alleviate chronic or severe pain from an injury. Prescription painkillers are often more potent than street drugs and cause the body to react faster because the drug is pure and made in a pharmacy.
When prescription painkillers are used incorrectly, which is easy to do, they are deadly. Most painkillers are opioid based and are simply cousins to the street drug heroin. Many painkillers are prescribed to patients suffering from pain and their pain also brings about anxiety or depression.
These patients are also prescribed anti-anxiety and anti-depressant medications. According to an Oklahoma study, many overdose victims have toxicology reports that show both prescription painkillers and anti-anxiety or anti-depressant medications in their systems. Just this last year, prescription drug overdoses were the cause of over two hundred deaths in Oklahoma alone.
Why is prescription painkiller abuse on the rise?
Narconon Arrowhead recently released a public statement warning people of the rise in prescription drug overdose. According to the CDC (The Center for Disease Control and Prevention), death from prescription drug use has reach all-time highs when compared to previous statistics of the past decade.
Narconon Arrowhead of Oklahoma has reportedly seen an increasing number of clients seeking rehabilitation for a prescription based addiction. The path of prescription painkillers is a long and deadly road, which usually leads to the use of other drugs, including street drugs. When prescription drug addicts can no longer obtain painkillers legally, addicts will often revert to illegal drugs and means of getting the same feeling, which the prescription drugs gave them.
How to prevent drug addiction
The easiest way to prevent addiction is to completely avoid addictive drugs. However, this is not always possible because people do tend to go through many different types of physical pain in life. In this case, it is a good idea to look for alternative methods of pain reduction which do not involve addictive drugs.
Sources:
News Oklahoma: State of Addiction, Oklahoma ranked No. 1 Prescription Painkiller Abuse http://newsok.com/state-of-addiction-oklahoma-ranked-no.-1-state-in-prescription-painkiller-abuse/article/3656694
PR Web: Narconon Arrowhead Issues Warning As Painkiller Admissions Increase http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/02/prweb11579221.htm
