“In 2010, approximately 46 Americans died per day from an overdose involving prescription opioids” (moving beyond) Pharmaceutical opioids addictive properties leave patients needing another script even though their symptoms are gone. Big pharmaceutical companies push these drugs; therefore, doctors feel pressured to over prescribe them. “Millions of people in the United States report nonmedical use of prescription drugs, and recently drug overdoses have surpassed motor vehicle accidents as the leading cause of injury death” (moving beyond) Our government spends billions of dollars for the war on drugs, but only a small percentage of it focuses on pharmaceutical opioids that are being misprescribed and abused. Opioids are chemically similar to heroin and morphine and act on the brain in the same manner as these street drugs. They present intrinsic abuse and addiction, especially if used for nonmedical purposes. Even people that are taking these pills for medical purposes have a slight chance of getting addicted, but if not taken appropriately then these chances rise. (drugabuse.gov)
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Obama proposed a bill that would dedicate 1.1 billion dollars to exterminate the pharmaceutical problem (morning). That is only a fraction of the money spent to fight all the other drugs like heroin, meth, cocaine, etc., therefore the problem is so prevalent. There is an unfathomable amount of people prescribed painkillers within the United States. Thirty-eight percent of the American population use prescription painkillers, meanwhile only thirty-one percent are in use of tobacco products. Opioid painkillers killed around 19,000 people in 2014, that is a greater number of murders committed that year (washingtonpost). Today, there is nearly 129 people killed by opioid overdoses each day (morning). There is no doubt that if America doesn’t start focusing on this issue more, it will be a prevalent problem for decades to
Obama proposed a bill that would dedicate 1.1 billion dollars to exterminate the pharmaceutical problem (morning). That is only a fraction of the money spent to fight all the other drugs like heroin, meth, cocaine, etc., therefore the problem is so prevalent. There is an unfathomable amount of people prescribed painkillers within the United States. Thirty-eight percent of the American population use prescription painkillers, meanwhile only thirty-one percent are in use of tobacco products. Opioid painkillers killed around 19,000 people in 2014, that is a greater number of murders committed that year (washingtonpost). Today, there is nearly 129 people killed by opioid overdoses each day (morning). There is no doubt that if America doesn’t start focusing on this issue more, it will be a prevalent problem for decades to