Prescription Drug Addiction: a Social Problem

Prescription Drug Abuse: A Social Problem

Colleen Akin

October 28, 2013

Writing 122

Polly Greist

ABSTRACT

Prescription drug abuse is on the rise. Not only does our healthcare system make it very easy to receive controlled medications, but once they’re out of the pharmacy, nearly anyone has access to it. It’s not just the regular drug addicts anymore, either. Prescription drug abuse is a serious problem among people of every age and each gender for a variety of reasons. Whether it’s to relieve pain, stress, symptoms, side effects, or for any other reason, people seem to believe that prescription drugs are the only cure. However, the drugs aren’t entirely helpful when they may cause the death of a loved one, or the wellbeing of a family.

Alex Hirsch died at the age of twenty two on the bathroom floor of his best friend’s home. Countless people attended the funeral; lining the halls and the parking lot to say goodbye to a person they had known their entire lives. His father's eulogy reminded us that he, like us all, had made some mistakes in this life, but that when it came down to it he was still a great son, brother, cousin and friend. The scene of the incident was a lot different than that funeral was. His father, surrounded by dozens of people that had attended the same party, begged them all to stop doing drugs, to go home, and to hug their parents. The other kids would tell the cops they didn’t know where the drugs came from. However, the autopsy result showed the drugs in Alex’s system came from a prescription written to him over a year ago. It was intended to dull the pain he felt after flipping his motorcycle and breaking his bones. But, mixed with alcohol, it stopped his heart dead in its tracks. My friend Alex is only one person in a social epidemic that kills over 21,000 teenagers every year. “ Three percent, or 840,000 teens ages 12-17, reported current abuse of...