Prescription Drug Abuse And Its Effects On The Society

In the past year studies by the Centers for Disease Control have shown that one in twenty people in the United States alone us painkillers just for pleasure. Abuse of prescription drugs is a huge issue in our country, although many people use them solely for medical reasons, most people do not. According to Nora D. Wolkow, M.D., â€Å"An estimated 52 million people (20 percent) of those aged 12 and older) have used prescription drugs for non-medical reasons at least once in their lifetime.† (National Institute on Drug Abuse). This is now extremely common and is only becoming a bigger problem by the day. Prescription drug abuse causes a crippling affect on the abusers body by creating serious brain damage, increasing the rate of crime, endangering the lives of the abusers and the people around them, as well as ruining families completely, and taking a huge toll on the lives of teenagers and the elderly. â€Å"Prescription drug abuse is defined as the taking of medication in a manner other than that prescribed or for a different condition than that which the medication is described.† (Rice 342-343). A huge body of our society is affected by becoming addicted to prescription drugs. This often happens when one is in pain over his/her bodily conditions, and is prescribed either an opioid, depressants, or stimulants. A simple problem such as that turns into an even bigger one when the abuser becomes addicted. 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