People usually don't think that taking prescription medication, which is prescribed by a doctor, can create a drug problem that could affect their lives for years to come. Prescription drug abuse is an ever growing problem in the United States because many people are addicted to prescription drugs without even knowing how or why they are addicted. The number of people addicted to prescription drugs has risen substantially throughout the years. "About 6.2 million Americans, including disproportionately high numbers of young people and the elderly, abuse prescription drugs, according to government data released in September. More than 14.5 million people report they've taken such drug for non-medical purposes during the past year" (Graham and Higgins). With these numbers consistently on the rise, it is predicted that many more Americans will be addicted to prescription drugs in the years to follow.
Prescription drug abuse affects many type of people in the United States.
English: Drug overdose
Dr. R.V. Toker prepares prescription of a patient....
RitalinTeenagers all the way to senior citizens are the type of people that are addicted to prescription drugs. Teenagers often get addicted to prescription drugs when they take a medication that makes them feel good. "At colleges across the country, students taking pills they've sneaked from home, tossing them into bowls and swallowing handfuls with a chug of beer or a sip of a margarita. It's called "pharming" for the pharmaceuticals ingested" (Graham and Higgins). Without even realizing that their fun actions may cause a lethal drug interaction in their bodies these college students are thinking of their good time before their lives. "The 2002 National Survey on dug use and health is conducted by the subsistence abuse and mental health services administration. This year, its findings include that current illicit drug use among young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 is the highest, with over...