Abusing Prescription Drugs: The Dangerous Path
How does one become addicted to prescription drugs? It is a slippery slope. Abusing prescription drugs is not only dangerous, but common. 52 Million people in the US, over the age of 12, have used prescription drugs non-medically in their lifetime. In fact, prescription drug use is the number 1 drug teens use. Reports are showing drug use among teens has gone down, but when you look at the statistics for teens using abusing prescription drugs, it is at an all time high.
Let’s look at the facts. Why has this number gone up in teens and adults? For one thing, prescription drugs are easy to get. Teens can sneak a pill here and there. They will go to their parents medicine cabinets, then onto their grandparents cabinets. It is scary how accessible prescription drug have become. You can also purchase prescription drugs through the internet. There are a wide range of websites that sell prescription drugs, even without a prescription. There is no shame in ordering over the internet. You put in your credit card information and have them shipped discretely to your house. It is seen as less of a risk then going to a drug dealer.
Another factor is, if they get caught with prescription drugs, they can easily make up excuses. They can simply say that they have a prescription or that they are taking them to their parents. Prescription drugs are also not illegal. Therefore, for teens and adults it takes the pressure off of using prescription drugs.
The side effects of abusing prescriptions drugs are at first, less than street drugs. Moreover, the label on the bottle tells you what effects you will feel, unlike street drugs. When you abuse street drugs, you never know what quality of the drug you will get. Prescription drugs have the same effect and are consistent in their quality.
Now that we have gone over the key factors of why people think it is safer to use prescription drugs, let’s look at the downside. Believe it or not, prescription drugs are harmful. You can easily overdose on them. You can take too many of a certain kind or just taking 2 different pills at the same time can cause an overdose. You also build up a tolerance for drug and prescription drugs is no exception to the rule. What used to take 2 pills to feel an effect now takes 4. The number will only increase.
Another dangerous factor with prescription drugs is experimenting with them. Yes, you can experiment with any drug, but teens have taken this to a whole new level. They combine whatever they can find, to come up with a “new drug”. Purple drank was one of those. It contains a high level of cough syrup and a soft drink, like Sprite or Mountain Dew. A Jolly Rancher candy is sometimes added for extra sweetness. This drink gives the effect of euphoria and slows the motor skills down. This drug is usually accompanied with other drugs, adding to the risk factor of abusing these drugs.
