Essay Sample on Prescription Drugs Usage in the United States

Abstract

Purpose Statement: To inform my audience about the increasing problem of the prescription drug abuse, some of the commonly abused drugs, the cause of that abuse, their impacts on the life of the user, and how this problem can be mitigated.

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Introduction

Attention-Getting Advice: Have you ever taken a drug other than the prescribed or that was not meant for you? The abuse of prescription drugs is one of the fastest and currently growing issues in the United States as well as other nations across the world.

Establish Credibility: The National Institute on Drug Abuse estimates that about 48 million people have used the prescription drugs in ways different than the intended purposes in which those drugs were meant for. I have personally encountered the circumstances that revolve around the prescription drugs. The prescription drug abuse was a huge pandemic in my high school, and it affected the people of all ages irrespective of the background.

Identify With Audience: I have lost friends with individuals who were close to me because of the prescription drug. The Prescription Drug Use, therefore, means the intentional use of a medication without a prescription or in a way other than the prescribed or for just causes. I have close family members and friends and have conducted extensive research as well as talking to numerous health professionals. My name is XXXXXXXXXX, and I will talk about the most commonly abused prescription drugs, the effects that such drugs have on the life of the user and the ways of overcoming the rising addiction problem.

Thesis Statement: There need to be strong restrictions established because people think that because it is prescribed by the doctor, it is safe for them to subject to submit the drugs to abuse.

Preview of Speech: To address the issue of prescription drug abuse in the United States, we must discuss

Main Idea=The commonly abused prescription drugs

Main idea=The impacts that prescription drugs have on the individual and

Main Idea=Ways to overcome the spread of addition and the entire issue of prescription drug abuse

Internal Preview= Let us begin by talking about some of the most commonly used prescription drugs and their purposes.

Main Idea 1

Most commonly used prescription drugs include the Opioids, depressants and the stimulants. Fundamentally, the Opioids refers to the category of the prescription drugs that are prescribed for pain relief. They include the Vicodin, Oxytocin, and Demerol.

Evidence: The National Institute of Drugs estimates that nearly 1.9 Americans meet the abuse or the dependence criteria for the opioids (Califf, Woodcock & Ostroff, 2016). As such, there present a large number of people who still use these class of drugs for the purposes that are not meant for them. In the same way, the depressants are drugs that are prescribed for anxiety, panic attack or sleep problems. They include the valium, Xanax, and Nembutal.

Evidence: While the purpose of the drugs may be displayed either in the instruction guide or by the physicians, research suggests that users still despise this advice to use them. The drugs are often manufactured and given to the individuals who suffer mental disorder as well as the depression. The stimulants constitute another class of drugs that are most abused in the U.S (Haffajee, Jena & Weiner, 2015). Notably, these drugs refer to those prescribed to increase an individual's alertness and energy. They include the Dexedrine, Adderall, and the Ritalin. Most of these drugs come in tablet, capsule or the liquid form which a person takes through the mouth (Hernandez & Nelson, 2010).

Main Idea 2

Evidence: The abuse of prescription drugs can cause tremendous negative impacts on the health of users. According to (Yu, 2012), the long-term effect of the use of the prescribed drugs include the dependence as well as the addiction. However, numerous short-term health impacts exist. The opioids can lead to drowsiness and constipation when taken in addition to the severe depression in the respiratory system. This state has been described as one of the major causes of death in the United States among the people who abuse prescription drugs. In the same way, antidepressants can cause serious impacts such as sexual dysfunction, weight gain, and fatigue. Studies have shown that the use of these drugs can make someone physically uncoordinated for a few days until one can build tolerance (Zgierska, Miller, & Rabago, 2012). The stimulants, on the other hand, can increase the alertness regarding the energy and the elevated blood pressure.

Evidence: While it is evident that the increased brain activity may increase the overall brain activities, such impact may pose other challenges such as the sleep deprivation whereby the user is prompted to stay awake and made to feel jittery, anxious, irritable, and even paranoid. Additionally, the stimulants may improve certain skills at the expense of others. There is also existing evidence of the decreased appetite level, which can tremendously lead to a massive weight loss and serious cases of malnutrition (Yu, 2012). Additionally, when a person stops taking the prescribed drugs such as the stimulants, he or she usually gain the weight back and sometimes put on more pounds. In this sense, therefore, it is possible for the prescribed drugs to provide a short-term solution but eventually leads to chronic conditions such as acute respiratory infections and other health consequences. Other general effects include increased blood pressure, heart rate, increased blood sugar and increased breathing. At high doses, the prescription drugs can lead to dangerously high body temperature, irregularity in the user's heartbeat, the heart failure and seizures. Prolong impacts on these symptoms may lead to death if they are not addressed through effective treatment mechanism.

Transition: While it is evident that the issue of prescription drug abuse is on the rise, all is not lost.

Main Idea 3

Evidence: There are various ways through which this rising problem can be addressed (Hernandez & Nelson, 2010). The clinicians, the patients, and the pharmacists all have vital roles to play when it comes to the identification and prevention of the non-medical use of the prescription drugs. Placing doctors in unique in positions to identify the non-medical use prescription of the drugs and take the measures aimed at preventing the escalation of the patient's misuse of substance use disorder. By asking about all the drugs, the clinicians can help the patients recognize whether the problem exists and ultimately refer them to appropriate treatment.

Evidence: In the same way, the patients can embrace various steps to ensure they utilize the prescription drugs appropriately. Firstly, they must be aware of the possible interactions with other drugs as well as alcohol (Hernandez & Nelson, 2010). Additionally, they should never use another person's prescription and never give their prescription medication to others. According to McHugh, Nielsen & Weiss (2015), the pharmacists must be able to help the patients understand the instructions for taking their medications along with the manner in which their medication works for their conditions - being watchful for the prescription drug use. Along with the clinicians, the pharmacists can use the PDMPs to facilitate the tracking of the opioid-prescribing and the dispensing patterns within the patients.

Internal Summary: Given the statistics and the impacts we have discussed today, it is important therefore to communicate the rise of the prescription drug use and the established of strong restrictions to prevent people from abusing such drugs.

Conclusion

Signal the ending: Let us review what we have discussed today. As the college students, we must know and understand what constitutes to the abuse of the prescription drugs, their effects on our bodies and the ways through which we can help reduce any potential impacts.

Summary of Main Points: The clinicians, the patients, and the pharmacists all have vital roles to play when it comes to the identification and prevention of the non-medical use of the prescription drugs. As such, working together for this common purpose will help reduce the rising trend of prescription drug abuse

Final Appeal to Students: We should collaborate with the clinicians, pharmacists, and patients about the various mechanism we can use to address the issues.

Closing Device: A famous say goes by the statement, the prevention is better than cure. I urge all of us to collaboratively work together to ensure towards ensuring that we have used the discussed strategies to prevent any potential impacts that will be associated with the use of the prescription drug.

References

Califf, R. M., Woodcock, J., & Ostroff, S. (2016). A proactive response to prescription opioid abuse. New England Journal of Medicine, 374(15), 1480-1485.

Haffajee, R. L., Jena, A. B., & Weiner, S. G. (2015). Mandatory use of prescription drug monitoring programs. Jama, 313(9), 891-892.

Hernandez, S. H., & Nelson, L. S. (2010). Prescription drug abuse: insight into the epidemic. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 88(3), 307-317.

McHugh, R. K., Nielsen, S., & Weiss, R. D. (2015). Prescription drug abuse: from epidemiology to public policy. Journal of substance abuse treatment, 48(1), 1-7.

Yu, H. Y. E. (2012). The prescription drug abuse epidemic. Clinics in laboratory medicine, 32(3), 361-377.

Zgierska, A., Miller, M., & Rabago, D. (2012). Patient satisfaction, prescription drug abuse, and potential unintended consequences. JAMA, 307(13), 1377-1378.