What is Prescription Addiction?
A prescription drug is any drug prescribed to you by a physician. Physicians are licensed to practice medicine in the State in which they practice. To prescribe controlled substances they need to be registered with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and this registration must be renewed every 3 years with the DEA.
Controlled substances are the main prescription drugs that are abused. The three types of prescription drugs most abused are opiods (painkillers, of which narcotics are included), central nervous system depressants (downers) and stimulants (uppers). All of these substances are Schedule II drugs available legally by prescription only.
By the authority of the Controlled Substances act of 1970, the DEA Office of Diversion Control regulates the manufacture and distribution of controlled substances in the United States. Schedule I and II drugs both have a high potential for abuse and may lead to drug dependence. Schedule I drugs are considered to have no legitimate medical use.
When one hears of "prescription addiction" the drugs being referred to are usually those drugs that fall into the three categories above. However, prescription drug abuse often extends beyond the one who received the prescription. In 2009, 7 million Americans reported non-medical use of prescription drugs within the past month. This is more than the number of people abusing cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens and inhalants combined!
The number of prescriptions written for stimulants from 1991 to 2009 has risen sharply from 4 million to 39 million prescriptions. With prescriptions being easily available and many left over or unused prescriptions around it is easy to see how these drugs find their way into the hands of teens and young adults. Drugs left over in a medicine cabinet are often sold on the streets or taken by teens. One third of people aged 12 and older who used drugs for the first time in 2009 did so with prescription drugs according to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. In the same survey it is found the people abusing prescriptions obtained them from a friend or relative.
In response the President has issued a multi-faceted plan to combat the prescription drug epidemic consisting of education, tracking and monitoring, proper medication disposal, and enforcement.
The Narconon drug education programs deal largely with the President's first target: Education.
Prescription drugs are so closely regulated as they are meant to be medically supervised as they can have some serious consequences if misused or abused.
What Makes Prescription Drugs So Dangerous?
When Prescription Drugs are used for non-prescribed purposes many of them are very dangerous because they are extremely addictive and harmful to the body. This is exactly why they are "controlled" and prescribed. Schedule I and II Prescription drugs are substances that are not native to a human body. They are strictly regulated as they can have serious health consequences like addiction and overdose. Safety is a key issue for their regulation as well as their potential for psychological and physical addiction.
The best way to describe these substances is in terms of poisons. Vitamins are distinctly different than drugs. A vitamin is a substance the body recognizes and can easily digest and handle and is in fact been found to be essential for good health. "Vitamin" is defined by the 1999 Encarta World English Dictionary as "organic substance essential to nutrition". The word itself comes from the Latin word "vita" meaning "life".
In other words, a vitamin is essential to health and proper nutrition. If one is deficient in a vitamin the result can be disease, as in the case of Scurvy when vitamin C is absent from the diet or Rickets in the case of Vitamin D being absent. Being deficient in one or more nutrients can result in malnutrition, disease and even death. That is if one DOES NOT HAVE the substance in the diet.
When it comes to schedule I and II drugs these are not essential to proper nutrition and in fact disrupt the proper nutrition and health of a body and result in malnutrition, disease and even death when taken. Schedule I and II drugs are quite the opposite from vitamins.
Schedule II drugs are not intended to be taken long-term and there are precise criteria a physician or health care provider must follow including screening one for past or present substance abuse before refilling a prescription.
In the short-term, prescription drugs may be necessary to take one out of an acutely painful situation. The trade-off however, is a decrease in the body's overall nutritional health and the longer the drug is taken the more severe the damage.
Schedule I and II drugs as noted above, are poisons. The body responds to the substance as it does with any other poison. The liver is relied upon heavily to handle the incoming toxin. Side effects vary from person to person due to the nutritional differences in people, age, overall health and different capabilities in metabolizing drugs or drug toxins. Simply put, certain bodies handle toxins differently than others. As toxins accumulate this ability decreases until finally the system is overloaded and disease or even death results.
The Narconon drug rehabilitation program delivered in our many centers have seen a large increase in the number of young adults addicted to prescription drugs. When it comes to teens and young adults abusing drugs, this can be all the more damaging as these poisons are being introduced into a body that is still growing and developing. The DEA notes that methamphetamine remains in the central nervous system longer than cocaine and a larger percentage of the drug remains unchanged in the body producing prolonged effects.
Side effects are simply any effect the manufacturer labels as an unwanted effect. Any prescription drug abused can produce some horrific physical and mental effects. Each drug has a list of specific known side effects and adverse reactions and as new ones arise consumers are encouraged to report this information to the FDA so proper labeling and any regulatory action necessary can occur.
For specific information on any prescription drug the manufacturer is required to provide information on its adverse effects (side effects). This is usually found on the literature that came with the drug or at the manufacturer's website.
If you would like more information on prescription drug abuse contact