Prescription Drugs

When Berger noted that prescription drugs can be just as addictive as "street drugs," it really hit home for me, because someone in my neighborhood at home was recently shot and killed over prescription drugs. He was nineteen years old and his girlfriend had to call 9-11. For a small suburb, this event was shocking and horrifying. Everyone assumed that prescription drugs were sold like candy under the table, but it was something that I never saw- probably because I did not participate.

To have a nineteen year old gunned down for some Vicodin just proves Berger's statement that prescription drugs, mainly the opiates, can be just as addictive and often leads to heroin use. It is just sad to watch people's lives fall apart and the fallout from drugs.

The problem, though, is that some people need the drugs for recovery, so how do we responsibly prescribe and regulate? How can people that need these opiates get what they need and keep from getting addicted? Are our doctors not prescribing well or are kids just getting into the medicine cabinet?

References:

Heroin [Video file]. (2016). In Last Week Tonight.