What's the Prescription for America's Addiction?: Exploring the Legal Drug Epidemic

There is an epidemic and it is one that America can’t medicate. Prescription drug abuse has run rampant in the United States over the past few decades. In the most recent issue of Time magazine an article was published, “The New Drug Crisis: Addiction By Prescription”, which details just how drastically out of hand prescription drug abuse has grown. Time reports, “Over the last two decades, deaths from accidental drug overdoses have increased five-fold. And, for the first time, unintentional overdoses have replaced car accidents as the leading cause of accidental death in 15 states and the District of Columbia.” Between 1998 and 2008, the number of people who sought treatment for prescription pain killer abuse rose 400 percent. Those seeking treatment for addiction to opioids other than heroin rose from 553 in 1998 to 5,844 in 2009, according to a study by the University of Texas at Austin. Like a silent juggernaut, this beast has the nation underfoot and worst of all we don’t seem to know or care.

The question, of course, is why. Why do we abuse prescription drugs? There are plenty of answers to this question.

The Classic:
Peer pressure. Kids do it to fit in, lose weight, have fun and rebel against authority.

The Availability:
Drugs are all over this country and because they are so easy to obtain they are equally easy to abuse.

The Safe Bet:
Abusers believe that just because these drugs are so freely distributed, they are safer than heroine or cocaine.

Once you’ve decided on the cause there seem to be as many solutions to this problem as there are drugs on the market.

One solution is to legislate it. On Sept. 1st of this year, Texas enacted a law that requires “pain management clinics” to be certified by the Texas Medical Board and operated by physicians with unrestricted licenses. They’re trying to rid Texas of “pill mills”. Basically, storefronts that provide powerful narcotics without patient exams on a cash-only basis.

Another would be to educate people. Teens need to know how dangerous these drugs are. If we could educate them then the problem would be solved. I don’t think so.

Some even believe legalizing more drugs, such as marijuana, would drive the population towards a more tolerable means of excess. This is just ridiculous. Not to say there isn’t a good argument for legalizing marijuana, but this isn’t it.

The problem isn’t availability or lack of knowledge and the solution isn’t restriction or education. Those ideas may help to combat our addiction but they will do no more good in the fight against drug abuse in America than the campaigns of the legislators running for re-election on a “War on Drugs” platform. It’s placating the symptoms instead stopping the disease.

Surprisingly, I agree with a report from The Christian Monitor that says, “Widespread prescription painkiller abuse signals a greater cultural shift towards instant gratification that’s turning Americans intolerant of even the smallest discomfort.” I’ve seen it within my own family. With every sniffle and sneeze, out comes the Robitussin or a visit to the doctor. The myriad drugs on the market to make people happy, deal with anxiety, wake up or go to sleep is simply further evidence that we have an overwhelming tendency to take a pill instead of deal with discomfort. According to About.com, almost half of the citizens of the United States are on some form of prescription drugs.

Also, on “The Early Show”, a recovering prescription drug addict, named Ron Dash, spoke on his experiences, "For me, it started at a very young age, at the age of 10. I had some anxiety problems and I was given a prescription for Phenobarbital. I believe that set me off in the direction of not dealing with things that bothered me and going to doctors and asking for a quick fix, something to help me feel better.”

As far as solutions go, I wish I had an answer. To cure America of this pandemic, it would take an overhaul of the way people think. The whole nation would have to grow up and learn to cope with life’s little headaches. This solution can’t be found in a pill.