News / Education
Prescription Drug Abuse Clear Problem
“Operation Medicine Cabinet” event is planned for later in the month
Studies suggest that Marijuana use has been declining for 10 years and past-month use is down 25 percent since 2001 according to the largest tracking study in the U.S., "Monitoring the Future" by the University of Michigan. This is not an index at all of over-all drug abuse – it just shows a shift in preference of drugs.
The real problem facing America is Prescription drug addiction which has held steady over the past five years according to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, with nearly one in five teens (19 percent) abusing prescription medications to get high.
In an interview on the CBS Early Show National Drug Control Policy Director Gil Kerlikowske said, "The issue of prescription drug abuse, which the Office of National Drug Control Policy has been shouting about from the rooftops, is a significant problem in this country."
The Office of National Drug Control Policy has begun to spend its entire budget for media campaigns directed at parents - $14 million since 2008 – on the abuse of prescription and over the counter drug.
As pharmaceutical abuse increases, our safety measures have to increase commensurately. Over the Counter and Prescription Drug abuse is life threatening. Concerned citizens and legislatures have done an excellent job of getting drunken driving under control.
We can put a major dent in the abuse of medications by insisting in a similar way that our citizens and legislatures take heed of the dangers of medicine, whether it is prescribed or over the counter. Doctors need to be held accountable also. Training should be required for any doctor who has a heavy load of pain management type patients.
Narconon of Georgia has been actively providing the public with information on prescription drug abuse through its public service announcement and free brochures. A collaborative “Operation Medicine Cabinet” event is planned for later in the month with a local Sheriff’s office. The public are encouraged to bring their unused prescription medications in exchange for gift cards. Other communities are encouraged to do the same.
