Causes of Drug Abuse Essay

Words: 2608
Pages: 11
Open Document
Prescription Drug Abuse
People are often prescribed medications without knowing and realizing the harmful and detrimental effects it can cause. In reality, when abused, they are very dangerous and can lead to addiction and kill more people than illicit drugs. Drug abuse has been around the world, dating back centuries. Drugs like cocaine, heroin, opium, and other highly addictive drugs have been used and abused my millions of people throughout history, but recently a new drug has emerged that is easier to obtain. Over the past two decades, the abuse on prescription drugs amongst teenagers has grown tremendously. The growing use and abuse of prescription drugs is a major global health concern today and the real scale of this problem is unknown.
One of the government agencies involved in fighting the nation’s drug war is the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). “The Office of National Drug Control was established by the Anti-Drug abuse act of 1988. Its principal purpose is to accomplish the following: establish policies, priorities, and objectives for the nation’s drug control program. The goals of the program are to reduce illicit drug use, manufacturing, and trafficking, drug-related crime and violence, and drug-related health consequences (Robinson & Scherlen, 2014, p. 1).” The Office of National Drug Control Policy also came out with the program to battle teen prescription drug abuse. They believe that by educating parents about teen prescription drug abuse, they can create more media and public awareness. The key factor in this are the teenager’s parents, who need to better educate their children about the serious effects, consequences, and addictiveness of any type of drug use.
The government and its judicial system play a huge role in not being able to control this drug abuse issue. The judicial system continues to give light prison sentences to the suppliers and pushers of these so-called drugs. This serious issue deserves complete and entire attention from the government, whose key initiative is to halt any type of drug use. The government also needs to implement stricter penalties and form reliable health programs for these users.
Users of prescription drugs are the ones punished for possession, distribution and for crimes they commit while highly intoxicated with these drugs. Meanwhile, the main suppliers and head of these prescription drug companies continue to do what they do best – make more drugs and the advances in the pharmaceutical industry has also led to the production of more powerful medications.
One prescription and over-the-counter drug, “methamphetamine (meth) may be something of a “new” problem in the sense that major legislation did not come about until 2005, but the chemical itself has been around for much longer. Since its development in 1919, methamphetamine “cooks” has developed numerous variations on the recipe. Methamphetamine was developed by a Japanese chemist in 1919 and was utilized by the United States Military during World War II as a means of keeping troops alert and focused for long periods of time. The 1950’s and 1960’s continued to see the legal use of methamphetamine by a whole host of individuals “who needed the extra oomph to make it through the day or night… or who wanted to lose weight. Today, methamphetamine is still on the market legally as a prescription drug sold under the FDA-approved brand name Desoxyn. (Rigdon, 2012, p. 254).” Desoxyn treats attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, narcolepsy and obesity. This has been classified as a Schedule II controlled substance because it has a high potential for abuse and leads to physical and psychological dependence.
Methamphetamine drugs and other addictive prescription drugs, classified as Scheduled II controlled substance that the teens are getting are from their parents’ bathroom cabinet. Many parents are in denial or not aware of their kid’s drug use and abuse because of the lack of conversation or discussion about
Show More

Related Documents: Causes of Drug Abuse Essay

Essay about Drug Abuse

Drug Abuse Do you know somebody that abuses drugs? Have you ever been worried about their health? Some believe drug abuse is not a serious problem. Do you think drug abuse is a serious problem in society? I believe drug abuse is a serious problem because it affects family structure, school and the community. To begin with, drug abuse can affect family structure in many ways. Drugs can bring harm to the family by causing the person that’s abusing drugs to hurt their family physically and emotionally…

Words 435 - Pages 2

Drug Abuse Research Paper

Drug abuse is a major public health problem. Eighty-two percent of Americans said this was a very serious problem, making it number one on Americans views of health problems. About 23.5 million people today are addicted to drugs. We should look at the drug issue in America today by problems in individuals, problems in society, and prescription drug abuse. “Drug abuse in individuals result in behavioral problems such as paranoia, aggressiveness, hallucinations, addiction, and impaired judgment”…

Words 324 - Pages 2

Drugs: Drug Addiction and General Public Essay

Drugs Everyone agrees that something must be done about the physical and emotional health problems that drug abuse causes.The abuse of drugs is so spreaded that recent polls indicate it to be one of the most serious problems in today's world, threatening the security and freedom of whole nations. Politicians, health experts and much of the general public feel that no issue is more important than drug abuse. America's other social problems disease, poverty, child abuse and neglect, often have a…

Words 547 - Pages 3

Drug Abuse Research Paper

Daphanie Confer ENG 102 Mrs. Hernandez 2, November 2013 Growing up in Tennessee drug abuse was not foreign at all to the community eye. Growing up personally witnessing a friend of mine 18 years old name, Detrick Knowles who was a typical sports dedicated, honors high school student who had just come to face with smoking marijuana his senior year, no one ever knew this innocent boy was starting to smoke because he never showed any visual signs of doing, he graduated high school and begin going…

Words 1392 - Pages 6

Drug Abuse Essay

consideration the causes and effects of drug abuse? Many haven’t and the lack of knowledge has ruined many lives. Every year drug abuse has impacted millions of American families worldwide. Drug abuse is simply the over usage of drugs. People who typically abuse drugs are those who are addicted. Well, how does addiction link with drug abuse? The addiction of a drug can become so strategic that it takes over ones life, causing them to use everyday. With this over abundance of drug use the body get…

Words 311 - Pages 2

Drugs: Drug Addiction and Drink Alcohol Essay

There are many famous people children look up to who abuse drugs. One actress that has had struggles is Lindsey Lohan. She was born in New York, New York in 1986. She started out doing modeling at age three. Her first starring role in acting was at age 12 in the Disney movie remake of the parent trap. She is also known for her movie Freaky Friday, which is also a remake of the one that stared Jody Foster in the 70’s. Spiraling downward in 2007, Lindsey had two DUI’s and three rehab stays. This…

Words 1154 - Pages 5

Essay on Drug Addiction

Drug abuse has a more commonplace in our society today than before. Drug abuse is the habitual use of drugs to alter one's mood, emotion, or state of consciousness. Drug abuse is a serious public health problem that affects almost every community and family in some way. Each year drug abuse results in around 40 million serious illnesses or injuries among people in the United States. There are many different drugs being abuse such as marijuana, heroin and cocaine. There are many dangers and cause…

Words 576 - Pages 3

chrikim Presentation of Chapter 12 drug use part1 final Essay

Chapter 12: Drug Use ›Deviant Behavior Presentation › By: Kimberly Christensen › Part 1 › Pages 298 - 313 Drug Use In Perspective › Legal Drugs – Alcohol – Tobacco – Sedatives – Tranquilizers – Stimulants – Caffeine Drug Use in Perspective › Illegal Drugs – Marijuana – Heroin – Cocaine/Crack – Meth – Ecstasy Illegal Drugs: Categorized I › Stimulants (“uppers”) – Cocaine – Crack – Caffeine – Nicotine Illegal Drugs: Categorized II › Depressants (“downers”) – Heroin – PCP – Morphine – Aspirin…

Words 733 - Pages 3

Essay on Drug Use

Drug addiction is a chronic disease that causes drug-seeking behavior and drug use despite the negative consequences to the user. Causes: Drug addiction has no single cause. The frequency to which drug abuse disorders occur within some families seems to be higher than could be explained by an addictive environment of the family. So, most drug abuse professionals recognize a genetic aspect to the risk of drug addiction. Symptoms: Psychological associations with drug addiction include mood…

Words 301 - Pages 2

Alcohol And Drug Abuse Essay

December 11, 2013 Sociology 2 Ms. K. Wright Alcohol and Drug Abuse Drug addiction and abuse is among the leading causes of death in the United States. Drug abuse is the misuse of any drug or medication other than the purpose it was intended to serve. Drug addiction refers to the physical or mental dependence on a drug or medication. The five most common abused drugs in the United States are the legal drugs alcohol and nicotine, and the illicit drugs marijuana, methamphetamine, and cocaine. Although,…

Words 866 - Pages 4