Federal Support for Prescription Drugs Abuse
Prescription drug abuse is a major concern these days in our society, with many thousands of kids and adults now abusing prescription drugs. This only recently became a social problem. Beginning in 1995 when Oxycodone became available on the pharmaceutical market. It accounted for 90% of the US prescription sales.
Within the first decade, sales of Oxycodone increased by 850%. The prescription drug mainly used to manage chronic pain was now being pushed for every possible pain. Promoted to physicians as a safe pain killer.
Addictive Power of Oxycodone
This prescription drug under the name of OxyContin or “Oxy” or “OC” on the street is highly addictive. It is an opioid, like morphine, codeine, heroin, and methadone. In a short while, the drug went to the black market and sold on the street; cheaper than heroin but just as effective, it was soon referred to as the poor man’s heroin.
But it didn’t stop there. Soon, there were reports on various substance abuse chatter lines of “pharm parties.” This is when teenagers take some pills of all types from the home medicine cabinet and then dump their pills in a large bowl mixed with all sorts of pills, and these are taken at random.
Some pills can be for high blood pressure, some for arthritis, some for allergies or depression, and others for who knows what. This fad did not last long as the reports of overdose caused concerns, and awareness campaigns brought it under control quickly.
Proactive Measures
Yet, in 2014, there are still hundreds of thousands of people addicted to prescription drugs all across the US and Canada. A report launched in March of 2013 by the CCSA (Canadian Center on Substance Abuse) shows a response from a coalition with over 30 other organizations proposing a strategy to deal with the misuse of opiates, stimulants, and sedatives.
The recognition is that prescription abuse is too complex for only one organization to address and requires the help of many groups with the same interest.
Results for Relief
As a matter of fact, on Feb. 12, 2014, the chief executive officer of CCSA, Michel Perron, stated being very pleased to hear the federal government decided to increase funding to the Anti-Drug Strategy by helping with an increase of funds to address the problem.
Then again, $44.9 million over 5 years is a lot of money to combat a prescription drug abuse issue in Canada. Granted, there are cases that are severe and need medical attention to help them, but if we are only talking of the abuse cases, it makes one wonder, what exactly is this money being spent on?
Conclusion
No matter the prescription drug abuse, any good, reputable medical detox can help this person withdraw from using the prescription drug and then follow up with an affordable drug rehab treatment.
There are thousands of family members out there who want to help their son, daughter, wife, or husband get off the prescription drug, but lacking the funds to send them to a good private drug rehab causes serious problems for them; why not set up a drug rehab funding support agency to help these families out.
Source: http://www.digitaljournal.com/
If you or someone you know is struggling with prescription drug abuse our addiction referral counselors are standing by to take your call. There is hope with prescription drug addiction, we can help. Call today and ask how.
