Prescription Drug Addicton And Our Teens

Michael Jackson's death has raised public awareness again about the common problem of prescription drugs. We are now as the public demanding that doctors who knowingly give what for many ends up to be a lethal amount of prescription substances accountable for what they do. We mourn the loss of what for many was the icon of their youth and wonder why Mr. Jackson and so many other celebrities can access so many addictive drugs like the average person order's pizza.

Anyone who pays any attention to the news knows that even for the general populace addiction to prescription drugs is seen by some experts as being at a record high. Many folks feel like they can hide their addiction because no one really questions you're going to the pharmacy to get just what the doctor order. Prescription drug use and abuse did not have the same stigma for the abusers as 'street drugs."

Many people feel sorry for the prescription drug addict, because the doctor gave them the drugs and the addiction is viewed as some unfortunate medical accident. We seem to overlook the fact' like all addicts, prescription drug addicts lie, steal, and cheat to keep themselves in the prescription drugs they are addicted to. Mr. Jackson was reported by some of his ex employees to have asked them to get prescriptions of painkillers in their name and give them over to Mr. Jackson.Some of the folks who refused to do this kind of thing felt they were fired for not complying.

We also need to look at the cost to society in loss of productivity and life due to prescription drug abuse. Those who are addicted to Vicodin, Zanax, or Oxycontin miss a lot of time at work. They are either at home in drug induced phases or making up ailments to gain more access to the prescriptions they are addicted to. I am not sure we will actually know how much property damage or death is caused by drivers addicted to prescription drugs. Only those who appear seriously impaired would probably be tested by authorities at an accident scene and someone high on Vicoden does not reek of alcohol.

There is a public awareness of the problem of teens getting high out of their parent's medicine cabinet. Those five pills that are a couple of years old you have left over in your medicine cabinet are probably not going to lead to your teen's addiction to painkillers.

The 20 pills your teen takes regularly out of the two bottles of a hundred Vicoden each that you went to two doctors in two different towns to get might. You may deceive yourself into the fact that you have a chronic pain condition, but in truth is regular use of painkiller leads to the painkillers not being effective anyway.

There are alternative methods of treating people with chronic pain. Acupuncture, bio feedback and just losing a few extra pounds have brought pain relief to thousands. Still there is no magic cure for chronic pain and certainly no magic pills. Pills that work at first eventually stop working, even if the addiction to them remains for many of those who suffer from chronic pain. We set the example for our kids even more than the king of Pop or a reality show model. We must make sure are kids understand that just because it came doctor does not mean prescriptions are a real cure all.

We need to discuss prescription drug addition with are teens because once they are addicted from raiding our medicine cabinet the next level of addiction will have them forging prescriptions or ordering mail order prescriptions off the internet. The cost of most of the addictive drugs is not as draining on our teen wallets as the street drugs and most will not get caught popping a pill at the water fountain in the hall at school. We need to examine is our own attitude to the pop a pill for everything example we are setting for our youth. It is better to show your teen's healthy ways to deal with pain, and then show them the ultimate solution comes in the form of a pill. Death is a pain that no one really ever recovers from, and they have not invented the prescription drug to reverse it.