Prescription Drug Abuse in America Essay -- Prescription Drug Abuse Ep

When a person thinks of problems that haunt the state, mostly what comes to mind are drunk driving, the meth epidemic, or the bipolar weather, but our state has a crisis that is on the rise and catching the attention of the police force all over the state. Our state ranks high among all states with people, ages 12 and older, taking prescription pills without being prescribed them. (NSDUH) Many teens and adults can recall a friend asking them for their prescription pills or have witnessed someone taking these pills illegally. Throughout my life, there are many instances that I can recall from memory that deal with prescription pills and these instance changed or altered my life. People tend to think that prescription pills are safer than street drugs because they are made for people to take. But in one occurrence, my mother lost her best friend and my good friend lost his mother to the addiction with prescription drugs, which caused a downward spiral in her life. One might ask, what i s the state doing to stop this epidemic? One might also wonder what effects prescription drug abuse has on our city. My personal story and experience with the prescription drug problem started when my mother and I moved from Spain to the United States; my mother met her soon-to-be best friend, Regina. When I was a child, my mother never told me about the serious problem that Regina had: addiction to prescription pills. She wanted to shelter me from the problems it caused. Most common drugs that are abused are opioids: hydrocodone and oxycodone, depressants: diazepam, or stimulants: amphetamines, all of which Regina had been using for a considerable amount of time. (NIDA) Soon Regina’s family moved away to Florida and she told my mother that she had... ...H115/sr115-nonmedical-use-pain-relievers.htm>. (NSDUH) Griffin, R. Morgan. "Living With Chronic Pain: Treatments, Alternative Remedies, Exercises, and Tips." WebMD. Ed. Brunilda Nazario. WebMD, 09 Mar. 2011. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. . (WebMD) "Statistics of Prescription Drug Abuse, Overdosing, Emergency Room Visits: Foundation for a Drug Free World." Statistics of Prescription Drug Abuse, Overdosing, Emergency Room Visits: Foundation for a Drug Free World. Foundation For A Drug-Free World, n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. . (Drug-Free World) "Prescription Drugs." National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). National Institute of Health, Dec. 2012. Web. 28 Feb. 2014. . (NIDA)