Prescriptions are everywhere, and even adult prescriptions are easily accessed by youth abusing the wide variety of drugs. The 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) found four percent of America's youth "ages 12 to 17 reported nonmedical use of prescription medications in the past month," (National Institute on Drug Abuse 1). Children given medications at a young age also have a greater chance of developing later addictions. The same NSDUH survey found that the "Rates of abuse were highest among the 18-25 age group," at around six percent. What we do to our children affects them throughout the rest of their lives. Force feeding them into prescription addiction can potentially provide a horrible fight with addiction for a lifetime.
Addiction is a difficult battle to face, and a road which many are actually placed on through over-medication. It is a disease which "involves the repeated and excessive use of chemical substances to achieve a certain effect," (Belmonte 1). After being medicated for an entire childhood, it creates an addiction to the medication which then transfers on into adulthood. Thus, adults who had been over-medicated turn to further medications or illicit abuse of prescriptions. Along wit causing damage to relationships and professional endeavors, addiction may also cause withdrawal symptoms. These symptoms "depending on the drug, can include shakes, chills, severe aches and pains, difficulty sleeping, agitation, depression,...
It is a difficult fate for many who initially had no say in the cause o their addiction.
Understanding over-medication as a root cause in problems later in life may help
parents decide to go against trying out the latest trend in prescription medications for their children's ailments. It is important to represent the concept that prescriptions are not always for everyone, and not the magic in a bottle that many prescription drug companies amp them up to be. We, as a
society must remember the dangers of over-medication. It is a mistake which our children will surely pay for in the future.
References
Belmonte, Joelle. "Drug Abuse and Addiction: Signs, Symptoms, Effects And What You Can Do." HelpGuide.org. 2009. Retrieved 29 Apr 2009 at http://www.helpguide.org/mental/drug_substance_abuse_addiction_signs_effects_treatment.htm.
National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC). Information Brief:
Prescription Drug Abuse and Youth. United States Department of
Justice. 2009. Retrieved 29 Apr 2009 at http://www.usdoj.gov/ndic/pubs1/1765/index.htm#Prescription.
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). "Trends in Prescription Drug Use."
Prescription Drugs: Abuse and Addiction. National Institute of Health. 2009. Retrieved 29 Apr 2009 at http://www.nida.nih.gov/ResearchReports/Prescription/prescription5.html.
Partnership for a Drug Free America. "Prescription Medicine Abuse: A Serious Problem." Understanding the Drug Problem. 2008. Retrieved 29 Apr 2009 at http://www.drugfree.org/portal/drugissue/features/prescription_medicine_misuse.
