Drugs are bad. That’s what we tell our kids, right? But legal drugs are OK. Drugs we get from the pharmacy are to better our health, but drugs we get from the street are bad. They can kill you or get you into big trouble. What if I told you that the prescription drugs many Americans use aren’t very different from the drugs you could buy on the street? All drug use is dangerous - one type is just legal and the other is not.

Our society gives us the idea that if we use drugs legally, we are not as bad as those who find other ways to use drugs. I am not in any way saying that all people who take prescription drugs abuse them, but prescription drugs can be very addictive. Prescription drug abuse means that a person is taking a drug in a way that is different than what his/her doctor prescribed. Once someone is administered the drug and begins to become dependent on it, it is very hard for that person to stop depending on the drug. According to the Foundation for a Drug Free World, more than 15 million people abuse prescription drugs which is more than the combined amount of people reported abusing cocaine, hallucinogens, inhalants and heroin. This statistic alone should tell us that prescription drug abuse in America is a large problem that is often overlooked because of its status as “legal.” It is important to remember that just because something is legal, it does not mean it is good.

Prescription drugs are dangerous. They kill people. Prescription drug abuse causes the largest percentage of deaths from drug overdosing. And though this statistic is terrible, we cannot look at the deaths of these people and blame them for their actions. We have to turn to the system for answers if we expect to see a change; otherwise, these death statistics will keep rising. Prescription drugs means money for pharmaceutical companies, and they provide incentives for doctors to prescribe drugs. This is how they make money. In recent years, some doctors have been increasingly prescribing drugs wrongly in order to be rewarded by pharmaceutical companies.This does not mean that most doctors do this; only a small portion do. In no way is this action representative of the entire population of doctors.

This is how it works. Doctors prescribe drugs, you spend money on drugs, pharmaceutical companies make the money, they reward doctors for prescribing the drugs and doctors prescribe more drugs. Because money is all that matters. Money fuels the whole system.

The system makes kids believe that prescription drugs are much safer than illegal street drugs. According to a survey completed by the Foundation for a Drug Free World, around 50% of teenagers think this. Between 60 percent and 70 percent say that they get their drugs from their medicine cabinet at home.

According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, in 2012, 259 million prescriptions were written for opioids, which is enough for every American adult to have their own bottle of pills. Opioids are dangerous. Four in five new heroin users started out misusing prescription painkillers before turning to heroin. This makes a lot of sense because opioids and heroin have a very similar chemical make up and affect the same brain systems. People turn to heroin because though prescription opioids are legal, they are far more expensive than heroin. Therefore, it is obvious to see how prescription drugs fuel and encourage illegal drug use as well.

If this is an eye opener to you, please inform those around you. Do not let the system fool you into the idea that these legal drugs are always beneficial. Though many times prescription drugs can help people deal with pain, depression, anxiety, etc., doctors are encouraged to prescribe drugs, even when they aren’t needed. Do not immediately view the people who are abusing prescription drugs as the ones in the wrong. It is far too easy for people to become dependent and addicted to prescription drugs that are prescribed by our doctors, those who are looking out for our health.

If you would like to learn more about prescription drug abuse and how it affects people, watch the documentary “Prescription Thugs,” which can be found on Netflix.

If you know someone who is struggling with prescription drug addiction, please visit this site to learn about how you can help him/her.

Prescription drugs are taking the lives of too many of our loved ones and we need to spread awareness so that users know they are not alone. We need to educate ourselves so that we understand why these deaths are occurring, and we need to find the motivation to make a difference.