Prescription Drug Abuse
Without a healthy body-input, mental health is an impossible goal. People
tend be unrealistic about what substances they can safely ingest, inhale and
inject into their bodies. Small amounts of alcohol and other chemicals easily
and profoundly affect their mind. They believe that they are tougher than they
really are. According to estimates from the US Drug Enforcement Administration,
prescription medication abuse accounts for nearly 30% of the drug problem in the
US. In 1999, an estimated 4 million people were using prescription drugs
non-medically, a much larger population than use heroin, crack, and cocaine
combined. The most prescribed drugs of abuse were narcotics, Ritalin and
amphetamines. More than a decade later psychotropic drug use and abuses continue
to grow into a major societal problem that has no solution beyond abstinence.
Alcohol is a food drug and the legal psychotropic drug of choice, but can do
harm at great cost to the physical and mental health of modern citizens. Some
people consider marijuana a recreation drug with less harmful effects than
alcohol and argue in favor of legalization. The psychotropic chemicals in
marijuana have medical uses and arguments for marijuana on prescription are
actively debated in legislatures. Although most narcotic agents are available as medical drugs, heroin became
the most illegal, most vilified "hard drug" in the US and Canada and has not
been available even on prescription, despite the arguments of some physicians
that heroin is the best drug to relieve chronic and severe pain.
According to estimates from the US Drug Enforcement
Administration, prescription medication abuse accounts for nearly 30% of the
drug problem in the US. In 1999, an estimated 4 million people were using
prescription drugs non-medically, a much larger population than use heroin,
crack, and cocaine combined. Alcohol is a food drug and the legal psychotropic drug of choice, but can do
harm at great cost to the physical and mental health of modern citizens. Some
people consider marijuana a recreation drug with less harmful effects than
alcohol and argue in favor of legalization. The psychotropic chemicals in
marijuana have medical uses and arguments for marijuana on prescription are
actively debated in legislatures. Although most narcotic agents are available as
medical drugs, heroin became the most illegal, most vilified "hard drug" in the
US and Canada and has not been available even on prescription, despite the
arguments of some physicians that heroin is the best drug to relieve chronic and
severe pain.
The World Health Organization's survey of 54,000 adults for
legal and illegal drug use in 17 countries revealed that the U.S. has the
highest level of illegal drug use. Americans were four times more likely to use
cocaine than the next closest country, New Zealand (16% vs. 4%). Marijuana use
was prevalent worldwide; the U.S. had the highest rate of use at 42.4% compared
with 41.9% in New Zealand. In the Netherlands with more liberal drug policies
than the U.S., only 1.9% of people reported cocaine use and 19.8% reported
marijuana use. Overall, men were more likely than women to have used legal and
illegal drugs, and younger adults were more likely than older adults to have
used drugs of all kinds. Single adults were more likely than married adults to
report tobacco, marijuana, and cocaine use but not alcohol use. People with
higher incomes were also more likely to use both legal and illegal drugs.
The National Association for Public Health Policy in the USA stated:
"It is clear that most people who take illicit drugs are experimental or
recreational users. The typical drug user is scarcely distinguishable from the
typical citizen and most were introduced to illicit drugs by a close friend not
a pusher." The association reports that more than one hundred and fifty billion
U.S. dollars have been spent since 1981 on policing and enforcement of drug
laws. The result is a flourishing drug industry and a dramatic rise in the
imprisonment of young black American males. In contrast, the U.S. spends 3.2
billion dollars on the treatment of drug addicts and the prevention of
addiction. The association clearly believes that more money should be spent on
drug treatment and less on enforcement of drug laws.”
Brooks wrote: "Millions of Americans continue to use illicit drugs and
struggle with mental illness, according to a report released today by the
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). In 2013
SAMHSA reported 24.6 million Americans aged 12 years or older were current
illicit drug users. Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug, with 19.8
million current users: 4.5 million nonmedical users of prescription pain
relievers; 1.5 million current cocaine users; 595,000 methamphetamine users; and
289,000 current heroin users (0.1%). 43.8 million adults, had a mental illness
in 2013." (Megan Brooks. Millions Use Illicit Drugs, Struggle With Mental
Illness. Medscape Medical News: Psychiatry. September 04, 2014)
