Essay On Prescription Drug Abuse

Each year more than 20,000 people die from a drug overdose, which has to do with opioid, depressants and stimulants prescription abuse or other controlled prescription misuse. Nonetheless, prescription drug abuse has become an epidemic. The nonmedical use of prescription medications has increased in the past decade. W little over 2 million Americans have used prescription drugs non-medically, increasing the morbidity associated with prescription drugs. The misuse of prescription drugs can cause serious health effects, including addictions and death (“Addressing Prescription Drug Abuse in the United States Current Activities and Future Opportunities”).
Drug overdose rates in the United States have increased greatly since 1980. In contrast,

First, assessment, monitoring health status to identify community health problems, which in this case would be the misuse of prescription drugs. Then, investigate the problem, looking at a person’s lifestyle, economic status, habits or study the problem as a whole population. Next, policy development, by informing, educating and empowering people about the health issue with brochures, public speaking events, community partnerships that can help raise awareness in schools. Lastly, assurance, enforce laws and regulations for ensuring safe use of prescription drugs but also ensuring that there is a balance between regulations and a patients access to pain prescription drugs. There are economic consequences alongside prescription drug abuse. Those who abuse prescriptions result in over “$72 billion in medical costs each year, which results in lost work productivity and criminal justice costs” (“Addressing Prescription Drug Abuse in the United States Current Activities and Future Opportunities”). It is important to highlight, the socioeconomic factor of people who have “Medicaid are more likely to be prescribed opioids therefore, the overdose deaths are more common among Medicaid-eligible populations” (“Addressing Prescription Drug Abuse in the United States Current Activities and Future