Drug Abuse & Overdose Death Rates Rise in US - Essay Sample

Introduction

According to the health department report in 2017, there had been an increase in drug abuse at a rate of 2 percent. This was in comparison to the year 2016 when the percentage had increased up to 51. The data shows that there were 1487 deaths as a result of a drug overdose. Compared to previous years, cases of drug overdose have continued to increase. The United States is taken as one of the countries where the situation of a drug overdose is deteriorating, considering that more than 70,000 people have died as a result of a drug overdose. One of the drugs that have been related to the deaths is painkillers like fentanyl. The drugs are said to have more effect than heroin, and they are cheaper, and people can easily access them even from the streets when the buyer is not aware. The components of fentanyl have stronger morphine content, thus causing deaths (Miles, 2018). According to Warner (2018), opioids are another drug that is commonly abused in the United States. The drugs are said to kill people more even than accidents and firearms. The report further states that there are about 650,000 prescriptions of opioids that are delivered. Whereas only 3900 people use it for non-medical practices that lead to addiction and deaths. The heroin abusers shift from using heroin to using opioids that they claim to be more easily and readily available.

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Difference Between Medical Practitioners and Back-Alley Drug Pushers

When Bell starts his research about the abuse of drugs and digs to the root cause of the problem and whether pharmaceutical companies and doctors have a hand in the matter. I feel that the companies responsible for making the drugs only play their part to produce painkillers with minimal content that has a relieving effect in the body. The drugs are made in a way that they have a calming effect of the body and should be used as the doctor prescribes them. Looking into the fact that the drugs are readily available even without a prescription is a problem. This is related to the fact that the drugs are manufactured from the pharmaceutical companies knowing the contents and the rates of overdose in the United States yet continue even to increase the production rate since the demand has also increased. From the beginning, I believe that the intention was not intended as the outcome has revealed. The difference of a bona fide doctor to a back-alley drug pusher is that the doctor seeks a patient seeking help to subside their pain while a back-alley drug pusher only sells the drug for financial benefits. Although some doctors are also involved in the hidden deeds, it is not all that have the vice (Miles, 2018).

Few prescribe drugs to patients that do not need them for other purposes and then keep on administering them to the same patient resulting in addiction. The reason is that as the person with the prescribed drug takes, it says that their doctor gave them the drugs; therefore, it cannot be harmful to them. They end up going for more each time that makes the addicts with a beginning that they cannot explain.

The Nature of Addiction

The pills can be got from anywhere. There have been pharmacists who explain about drugs like OxyContin. Some people have wired demands for the prescription and have had to go far and wide looking for the specific drug that has been prescribed to them. The pharmacists have to sell because it is a prescription and they say that the sales have increase was much higher compared to how it was previously. The drugs have been made in a way that they are in different forms that it is easier to use them and reach the bloodstream faster than when they are in the form of tablets (Abigor, 2019).

The company stopped making the drug in powder lost a significant number of its revenue up to 80 percent. This means that people to 80 percent use the pills and then continue to use the drugs, yet they no longer require them. The doctors keep the patients sick for their benefits. The doctors do not consider the health of patients, and they learn differently. Considering that they were told that the opioid drugs could not be addictive to a patient that is in pain, but this is not the case (Abigor, 2019). The fall of the company that produced the drug in powder form, which shows that the drugs were used for other purposes other than the intended. The companies continued to take the drug without being concerned about the health of other people.

Other Reasons for Over-Prescription

The doctors that were interviewed contend that some of them differently, therefore, have a misstatement of the very relevant facts like opioid not being addictive to a patient that is suffering from pain which is not valid. A doctor may not be able to tell in some circumstance that may seem false. Other doctors prescribe the drugs, and the patient has to keep on getting over their pain. The pain leads to addiction in some way as Chris explains to his parents. Prescription drugs may be used illegally, which is unethical. I believe that drugs should be used for the intended purpose. The doctors prescribe the drugs to persons that do not need them, and the pharmaceutical companies produce them. The people are encouraged to take the pills, therefore, leading to profit for the companies (Warner, 2018). The companies continue to make the drugs yet know of the effect of drugs. The drugs are given to the people for free at first, and the addiction begins from that point where they have to look for them.

Some people work in pharmaceutical drugs that various real-life situations are related to the use of various drugs. Therefore have to take various drugs resulting in taking the chain of pills that are connected to the problem. The only way to deal with the challenge is to say no to the pills.

References

Abigor, J. (2019). Prescription Thugs (2015 Documentary). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2GEKne4D1A

Miles, F. (2018). Overdose deaths up in NYC; fentanyl most common substance identified, report says. Retrieved from https://www.foxnews.com/health/overdose-deaths-up-in-nyc-fentanyl-most-common-substance-identified-report-says

Warner, A. (2018). America's Deadly Opioid Epidemic by the Numbers. Retrieved from https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Americas-Deadly-Opioid-Epidemic-By-the-Numbers-458709663.html