Prescriptions on forefront of drug abuse
by Laura Jones, Reporter
The recent death of Heath Ledger, who was found with a large stash of sleeping pills and anti-anxiety meds at the site of his death, shows that even though prescription drugs are legal, it does not necessarily mean that they are safe. On the contrary, currently the second leading cause of accidental death in the U.S. is combining drugs that are not compatible. All prescription sleep aids have significant side effects and a drug's side effects are compounded when more than one drug is prescribed.
Another reason for the increased death rate could be the rising amount of advertising for drugs. I know, you were wondering why you had a hankering for an Ambienâ?¢ or Lunestraâ?¢ and you don't even know what those drugs do, right? If so, you're probably the victim of the subtle advertising on popular TV shows like "House," "Grey's Anatomy," and "Scrubs," which often have product placements because their drug brand is already written into the script.
Of course, subliminal advertising in your favorite medical drama is probably not very effective. The more recognized kind of drug commercial is one that shows a person not getting to sleep at night as soon as he or she lais down and consequently reaching for the nearest sleep aid that you should "ask your doctor about" pronto. Being at George Fox University, though, you probably just can't sleep from that late night run to Dutch Bros.
I had the opportunity to talk to a doctor about these over-simplistic commercials and he said that because of these ads patients now know exactly what symptoms they need to have to get the drug they saw on TV, so they simply repeat those to their doctor. Then the doctor, knowing that they are quoting from an ad that almost anyone can identify with at one time or another, only has fifteen minutes to talk them out of demanding something that was cleverly marketed to them and that they really believe they need.
The amount of teen prescription drug abuse is also on the rise, and the abuse of prescription drugs among teenagers is second only to marijuana. Among students, the abuse of drugs like Modafinilâ?¢ and Ritalinâ?¢ to study late at night and to stimulate cognitive functioning is becoming more common. One survey revealed that 10% of college students are using these "smart pills." Many people wonder whether these pills are at all different from using caffeine to sharpen cognitive abilities and others wonder if their usage will become as common to students as steroids are to athletes.