Saturday, July 3, 2010

Prescription Drug Addiction Follows Availability And Effect, Not Security

Medical drug detox centers across the country are finding that many people abuse dozens of kinds of doctor prescribed drugs in their quest for euphoria, not simply because they’re safer, but simply because they’re easily obtainable.

The majority of individuals checking into how to get prescribed painkillers may have abused a dozen or much more various prescription drugs simply because they’ are part of a new culture that celebrates pill-popping like a way of life.

Utilizing prescription drugs recreationally is typical across America, from grade schools through high school, college and on into the work place. Even seniors, particularly aging “baby boomers”, are reaching for prescription drugs like never prior to to get high, rather than traditional street drugs like heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine. And if 1 prescription medicine isn’t obtainable, nearly any other 1 will do. Only marijuana is more commonly consumed than doctor prescribed drugs.

This trend has led to soaring rates of prescription drug habit everywhere within the country. Opioid painkillers like OxyContin, Percocet, Vicodin, Lortab and many others, including the generic opioids oxycodone, hydrocodone, methadone and morphine, are all dangerously addictive and have caused tens of thousands of cases of doctor prescribed medicine addiction. Some of them, particularly OxyContin and methadone, are killing more Americans than all illicit drugs on the street combined.

The recreational doctor prescribed medicine culture has led to most cases of prescription drug addiction, but a big minority -- some think as much as 40% -- have become addicted after taking legitimate prescriptions exactly like a doctor ordered.

Some experts say that the soaring abuse rates derive from a perception that doctor prescribed drugs are safer than street drugs. Prescription drugs might be safer than street drugs in terms of purity -- street drugs are cut and contaminated with all sorts of unknown and potentially dangerous substances. But as anyone who suffers from a full-blown prescription medicine habit will attest, there is nothing safe about doctor prescribed drugs once you’re either addicted or dead.

This security concept about prescription drugs evaporates when you consider that doctor prescribed narcotics, antipsychotics, tranquilizers and a host of other drugs can get you hooked or killed just as very easily and quickly as heroin, cocaine or methamphetamine.

Prescription medicine addiction is based on the truth that prescription drugs can and do get people high. And doctor prescribed drugs are safer to obtain and are available absolutely everywhere -- there’s no need to lurk in dark alleys or seedy parts of town to discover them.

Doctor prescribed drugs are passed around among friends and relatives by the thousands every single day. They're sitting out for the taking on kitchen counters, in medicine cabinets, and on bedside tables in nearly every home in America.

Yes, numerous of those suffering from prescription drug addiction wind up supporting their habits by buying stolen prescription drugs from street dealers. But most get their fix by faking symptoms to obtain prescriptions from the doctor -- a lot safer than scoring heroin or cocaine from a street dealer.

Until the government, the healthcare profession, and especially the public, wake up to the fact that prescription medicine addiction is a serious epidemic, the difficulties will continue.

Meanwhile, hundreds of individuals addicted to prescription drugs stream into treatment centers every single day seeking assist, and much more and much more are turning to more comprehensive medically-based detox clinics, rather than submitting themselves to the difficult, hit-and-miss one-size-fits-all medicine detox modality so prevalent, and so ineffective.

These newly-developed protocols carefully think about each patient’s unique metabolism and DNA, state of health, the type of drug or drugs used, and the extent of physical dependence. They supply selected assistive therapies where needed, and watchful 24/7 healthcare supervision is always present during the detox period. Called medical drug detox, this approach reduces or eliminates unpleasant withdrawal symptoms, and can greatly reduce the time required to complete the detox.