Speech- Hannah Price

Hannah Price

13 December 2015

AP English

The Devastation of the Prescription Drug Epidemic

Don't you open up that window / Don't you let out that antidote / Poppin' pills is all we know / In the hills is all we know… Antidote by Travis Scott

Or what about Macklemore & Ryan Lewis song Kevin

From a pill that a doctor prescribed
That a drug deal a million dollar industry supplied
I blame the pharmacy companies
And a country that spends trillions fighting the war they supplying themselves
Politicians and business and jail
Public defenders and judges who fail
Look at Kevin, look at Kevin
Now he's wrapped in plastic
First dealer was his mom's medicine cabinet
Got anxiety, better go and give him a Xanax
Focus, give him Adderall, sleep, give him Ambien
'Til he's walking 'round the city looking like a mannequin
Ups and downs, shooting up prescriptions you're handing him
So America, is it really worth it? I'm asking you!

The lyrics of these songs capture the pervasive prescription drug epidemic that has engulfed every segment of this country, and many of our music artists today describe these experiences in their lyrics.  While the United States (U.S.) comprises only 5% of the world’s population, the U.S. consumes 75% of the world’s prescription drugs (United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, 2011). Additionally, many of the people who use prescription drugs do so illegally, or with a prescription that is for non-medical use.  According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH, 2011), 6.1 million people reported using prescription drugs non-medically in the past month.  Among the drugs most frequently used are painkillers (5.1 million), tranquilizers (2.2 million), and stimulants (1.1 million) (drugabuse.gov, 2010). Such states as Arkansas, Indiana, Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Idaho, and Colorado have the highest non-medical use of prescription drugs (NSDUH, 2011).

Many people blame the prescription drug epidemic on doctors who prescribe addictive medication for non-medical reasons.  According to the NSDUH (2011), doctors prescribe 82% of all prescriptions.  Many of these doctors, also known as dirty doctors, write prescriptions for various addictive drugs without treating or giving proper attention to their patients.  Some people in waiting rooms of these doctors are experiencing symptoms of withdrawal while waiting to see the doctor.  Among the doctors who write prescriptions (82%), 54% of the population reports obtaining drugs from friends or relatives, with an additional 17% report buying or taking prescription drugs from friends or relatives. 

Opioids, stimulants, tranquilizers, and sleeping pills are the non-medical prescription drugs most frequently abused by adolescents (Rogers and Copley, 2009). As communicated in the lyrics Kevin by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, most adolescents begin experimenting with drugs from their parent’s medicine cabinet.  In the documentary, Behind the Orange Curtain, adolescents report many of the drugs they use are easily found in their parents’ medicine cabinet, and these parents never realize their children are using their drugs. The documentary states 1 in 5 school age students have used prescription drugs for non-medical reasons. The NSDUH (2004) reported that approximately 9% of adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 used prescription drugs for non-medical purposes in the past year. However, the number of adolescents who use drugs has increased over the years.  In a study of 1086 adolescents from an ethnically diverse school district in southeastern Michigan that included adolescents from 7^th grade to 12^th grade, researchers found that 12% of the population had used opioids for non-medical use in the past year for sleeping, anxiety, and as a stimulant (Boyd, McCabe, Cranford, & Young, 2006).  Adolescents reported such reasons for non-medical use of prescription drugs as pain relief, help with sleep, decreasing anxiety, to get high, experimentation, help with concentration, and to increase alertness. There are also other adolescents who use drugs to fit in and feel accepted among peers (Behind the Orange Curtain).  Others report the need to numb their feelings or the enjoyment of euphoric feelings that they have never experienced before.  It does not take long before casual drug use becomes an addition, and people resort to illegal and immoral behavior to satisfy their drug addiction.   

The devastation of the drug epidemic is limitless.  As seen in the documentary, Behind the Orange Curtain, the non-medical prescription drug use is not limited by gender, race/ethnicity, or socioeconomic level. An average of 22,000 teens in the U.S. uses drugs on a daily basis (Behind the Orange Curtain). Orange County California, one of the richest areas in the U.S., has been referred to as the pill capital of the world and has more treatment centers per miles than any other city is the U.S. Many of the adolescents interviewed reported using drugs as early as age 12 or 13, and OxyContin, Vicodin, and Valium were the most frequently used drugs.  Unfortunately, far too many children are prescribed medication for anxiety, stress, and depression. Thus, taking medication is not unusual, and adolescents from rich families have a lot of disposable income to purchase recreational drugs.  Parents are thought to be naïve and choose to deny the fact the drug use of their children. Whether adolescents live on Park Beach Boulevard or sleep on a park bench, no one is immune from the drug epidemic, and far too many adolescents die prematurely as a result of non-prescription drug abuse.

In this country, we have become far too dependent on both prescription and non-prescription drugs, and we typically take medication when other forms of treatment can be used. For example, in situations where there is anxiety and stress, what if instead of using medication, more people would use meditation, relaxation, or yoga. What if we escape our surroundings with the soothing sounds of music or the ocean? Also, rather than using drugs to escape our reality, what if we learn to accept life as it is or work to change things that are within our control. We can also talk through our problems with rained counselors.

Given that many non-medical prescriptions come from doctors, doctors hold the key to the prescription drug epidemic in this country.  Rather than prescribing medications, doctors should take time to understand the problem of their patients and assist them with identifying healthy solutions.  In closing, in the lyrics of Kevin, by Maclemore and Ryan Lewis, they state…

Doctor, please give me a dose of the American Dean. Put down the pen and look in my eyes. We’re in the waiting room and something ain’t right. Doctor, your medicine and your methods can’t cure my disease without killing me. You’re killing me.

References

Boyd, C., McCabe, S. E., Cranford, J. A., and Young, A. (2006). Adolescents’ motivation to abuse prescription medications.  Pediatrics, 118(6), 2472-2480.

"DrugFacts: Prescription and Over-the-Counter Medications." Http://www.drugabuse.gov. N.p., 15 Nov. 2015. Web. 13 Dec. 2015.

Rogers, P. D. and Copley, L. (2009). The nonmedical use of prescription drugs by adolescents.  Adolescent Medicine State Art Review, 20(1), 1-8.

National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2011). http://store.samhsa.gov/product/Results-from-the-2011-National-Survey-on-Drug-Use-and-Health-NSDUH-/SMA12-4713.

United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, 2011. http://www.unodc.org/docs/treatment/PDmtg/Clark_WHO.pdf.

Behind the Orange Curtain. Dir. Brent Huff. 2013. Documentary.

Scott, Travis. Antidote. Travis Scott. WondaGurl and Eestbound, 2015. CD.

Macklemore. Kevin. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. Ryan Lewis, 2015. CD.