Shaylee McCarthy

Health 1050

April 29, 2017

Prescription Drug Use in Utah

The topic I have chosen to discuss throughout this research paper is prescription drug use

in Utah. This has become quite the issue recently so I thought it would be a great topic to cover

and research a little bit more about. There are multiple issues related to this topic that I want to

touch on as I continue with this research paper. The key issues that I am going to be covering are:

How can you misuse prescription drugs, the affects that prescription drug use is having on

citizens, which of these citizens is being affected the very most and what things are being done to

control this problem.

To evaluate the misuse of prescription drug use you have to know what prescription drugs

actually are, where do they come from? How can they be obtained? Based off this definition

prescription drugs are: A prescription drug (also prescription medication or prescription

medicine) is a pharmaceutical drug that legally requires a medical prescription to be dispensed.

In contrast, over-the-counter drugs can be obtained without a prescription. So, from the

definition we learn that prescription drugs must be written and signed off on by a medical

professional to be obtained. From this definition, there are a few ways that prescription drugs can

be misused includes: taking someone elses medication, when someone elses name is written on

the prescription even if it being used for the intended use it is being misused. Taking a

prescription medication other than described for example taking more than prescribed or taking it

differently than described. Taking a prescription medication to get high, basically taking a
prescription drug for getting high is drug misuse. Mixing your prescribed drug with other drugs

is also a form of misusing drugs. There are three kinds of prescription drugs that are commonly

misused. Visit our separate Drug Facts pages to learn more about each of these classes of

prescription drugs: Opioidsused to relieve pain, such as Vicodin, OxyContin, or codeine

Depressantsused to relieve anxiety or help a person sleep, such as Valium or Xanax Stimulants

used for treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), such as Adderall and

Ritalin.(Prescription Drugs)

What effect is prescription drug use in Utah having on its citizens? This may seem like

silly question seeing that it is drug use and drug use does not come without its affects and issues

throughout the people who are using as well as selling them. So, from the definition we learn that

prescription drugs have to be written and signed off on by a medical professional in order to be

obtained. So, what are the effects of prescription drug use if they must be obtained by written

consent? How can these drugs be abused and negatively affect an individual? One of the biggest

effects of prescription drug use is addiction. Other effects that come from Prescription abuse, he

or she will have difficulty concentrating. He will be inattentive and his reflexes and perceptions

will be slowed which means it is not safe to drive or operate equipment. Drivers may fall asleep

at the wheel.(Effects of Prescription Drug Use) Central Nervous System Depressants: Sedatives

and Tranquilizers This class of drug includes sedatives of the benzodiazepine class, sleep aids

like Ambien and Lunesta, and barbiturates like Seconal and Nembutal. Effects that come from

abusing these types of prescription drugs include, difficulty with memory, driving accidents due

to memory difficulties, slow respiration and heart rate and seizures. In all, CNS depressants sent

363,000 people to the emergency room in 2009.(Effects of Prescription Drug Use)

 Prescription drug abuse has been known to affect young adults ages eighteen to twenty-

five the very most. There are three main drugs that are abused by young adults these include:

opioid pain relievers, ADHD stimulants, and anti-anxiety drugs. They do it for all kinds of

reasons, including to get high or because they think Rx stimulants will help them study better.

But Rx abuse is dangerous. In 2014, more than 1,700 young adults died from prescription drug

(mainly opioid) overdosesmore than died from overdoses of any other drug, including heroin

and cocaine combinedand many more needed emergency treatment.(Abuse, National Institute

on Drug) More than twelve percent of abusers ages 18-25 use these drugs for nonmedical

purposes. How are young adults receiving these prescription drugs if like we stated earlier in this

paper prescription drugs are drugs that are administered and signed off on by a medical

professional and cannot be bought over the counter? According to an article by the National

Institute on Drug Abuse, When asked how prescription opioids were obtained for nonmedical

use, more than half of the 12th graders surveyed said they were given the drugs or bought them

from a friend or relative. Interestingly, the number of students who purchased opioids over the

Internet was negligible. (Abuse, National Institute on Drug) In an article from Partnership for

Drug-Free Kids, While most people recognize the dangers of leaving a loaded gun lying

around the house, what few people realize is that far more people die as a result of unsecured

prescription medications, Miech said.(Join Together Staff) Because prescription drugs dont

have a trigger or create holes in your body or blood pouring out of you, they forget how much

deadlier they can be. Not only are the individuals misusing these drugs affected but the family

and friends surrounded by the person abusing the drugs also suffer and play a big role in the

recover and as a help aid to the individual. The friends and family involve struggle and

experience difficulties coping with the problem that has been created. From an aricle called
Drug Use Hurts Families, it talks about what specific things happen when a family member

abuses prescription drugs, those listed are: You can't count on them to do what they say they

will do, they may forget or get distracted because their focus is on getting and taking drugs. they

might lie or steal money to buy drugs, they might get fired from their jobs, they might not come

home at night, they may do bad things they would never do if they weren't using drugs. (Drug

Use Hurts Families). Imagine living with someone like this. Imagine not being able to trust your

own spouse or have your spouse lie to you, or even lose their jobs because of it. These stresses

can cause arguments within the family they can cause things to happen that wouldnt have

happened If drugs were not being misused. Prescription Drug Addiction is not just affecting

those misusing but those involved as well.

After discussing how prescription drugs can be misused, what effects abusing these drugs

can have and who they are effecting the most the last question we have to ask is, what is being

done to control the amount of prescription drug abuse? A lot of the preventing is going on within

the doctors offices there are many ways that the Doctors are able to keep an eye on the amount

of nonmedical prescription drug uses these include: taking note of rapid increases in the amount

of medication needed or frequent, unscheduled refill requests. Doctors should be alert to the fact

that those misusing prescription drugs may engage in "doctor shopping"moving from provider

to providerin an effort to obtain multiple prescriptions for their drug(s) of choice. (How Can

Prescription Drug Misuse be Prevented) There are also prescription drug monitoring programs in

place or (PDMP) these programs are state run and use an electronic database to track the number

of controlled drugs prescribed and dispensed to patients. This effort has helped with the amount

opioid overdosing. Besides doctors other people that can help in preventing prescription drug

misuse would be the patients themselves by doing simple things such as: following the
directions as explained on the label or by the pharmacist, being aware of potential interactions

with other drugs as well as alcohol, never stopping or changing a dosing regimen without first

discussing it with the doctor, never using another persons prescription, and never giving their

prescription medications to others storing prescription stimulants, sedatives, and opioids

safely.(How Can Prescription Drug Misuse be Prevented) The other individual responsible for

helping prevent this abuse would be the Pharmacist. Pharmacists can help patients understand

instructions for taking their medications. In addition, by being watchful for prescription

falsifications or alterations, pharmacists can serve as the first line of defense in recognizing

problematic patterns in prescription drug use.( How Can Prescription Drug Misuse be

Prevented)

To conclude, there are so many ways that prescription drugs are being abused, and they

are at such young ages, there are so many different effects from drug abuse and so many different

people effected by drug abuse. We as a society need to take the necessary steps to prevent the

amount of access to prescription drugs in our homes, we need to not teach our children that

sharing prescription drugs is ok, and we need to continually keep an eye on the effects that

prescription drug misuse has to be able to help those in need who wont find the help themselves.

There are many things that can be done to prevent more deaths and addictions throughout the

world, they just need to be done.

 Works Cited

"Effects of Prescription Drug Abuse." Narconon International. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2017.

Abuse, National Institute on Drug. "Abuse of Prescription (Rx) Drugs Affects Young Adults

Most." NIDA. N.p., 08 Feb. 2016. Web. 30 Apr. 2017

Abuse, National Institute on Drug. "Adolescents and young adults." NIDA. N.p., n.d. Web. 30

Apr. 2017

October 18, 2012 by Join Together Staff. "Teens, Young Adults Driving Prescription Drug Abuse

Increase, Study Finds." Partnership for Drug-Free Kids - Where Families Find Answers.

N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2017

"Prescription Drugs." NIDA for Teens. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2017

"Drug Use Hurts Families." Easy to Read Drug Facts. N.p., 19 Jan. 2017. Web. 30 Apr. 2017

Abuse, National Institute on Drug. "How can prescription drug misuse be prevented?" NIDA.

N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2017