The Epidemic Of Prescription Drug Abuse, America’s New War On Drugs
War On Drugs
It seems American has always been at war with drugs. In the 1960s and 1970s the enemy was marijuana, psycho-pharmaceutical drugs like LSD and other hallucinogens, and heroin. At the end of the Vietnam War soldiers came home addicted illicit drugs and brought back more than Purple Hearts and Silver Stars, they brought back a “heroin epidemic”. In 1971 the then president Richard Nixon called the American drug problem “public enemy number one”. Nixon would later order the creation of the first federally funded methadone treatment program and just two years later in 1973 the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) was created.
The War On Drugs Begins
In the 1980s and 1990s cocaine became the drug of choice and the infamous “Crack” epidemic was born. On October 14th 1982 President Ronald said illicit drugs were “a threat to the US national Security” and declared a “War on Drugs”. In 1988 he created the Office of National Drug Control Policy to coordinate drug-related legislative, security, diplomatic, research and health policy throughout the government.
In 1993 President Clinton followed suit declaring his own war on drugs and appointed an actual four star general, General Barry McCaffrey, to the head the fight. Today, Americans have another drug war on their hands. But this war is not with illicit or illegal drugs. This war is with the prescription drugs and OTC (over the counter) pain killers and cough suppressants like Oxycontin, Xanax, NyQuil and Robitussin cough syrups just to name a few. These drugs are much more dangerous, in my opinion, because the are prescribed by a doctor, easily accessible and more readily available. “Young people more addicted to what they find in the medicine cabinet than what they find on the streets…” Mary Rieser, Founder of Narconon Georgia.
Growing Problem Of Prescription Drugs
According to the office of the National Drug Control Policy, prescription drug abuse is the fastest growing drug problem in America today. Second to only marijuana, prescription drugs are the most abused drugs in the country and the second leading cause of accidental death in America after automobile accidents.
America is in the midst of a health epidemic driven by prescription drugs
On April 19th 2011, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, along with Gil Kerlikowske the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the Health and Human Services (HHS) Assistant Secretary Howard Koh, in collaboration with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC), announced the Obama administration new National Prescription Drug Abuse Plan. The plan is to put strict prescription drug safety measures in place to fight prescription drug abuse. The plan, according to CBSNews.com, is “aimed at saving lives and stemming the abuse” of prescription drugs. “America is in the midst of a health epidemic driven by prescription drugs,” said Gil Kerlikowske, the White House Director of National Drug Control Policy (NDCP), adding that the number of people who overdose on prescription drugs now exceeds the number who die of gunshot wounds.
The plan, according to CBSNews.com, will involve the tracking and monitoring of painkillers, a more organized effort and means of disposing of drugs. It also will implement education programs to make patients and doctors aware of the risk involved with the use of painkillers. The plan also includes enforcement aimed at eliminating pill mills and what is known as “doctor shopping”. all this at the cost $123 million for drug prevention programs and another $99 million for drug treatment programs in 2012. Welcome to the new “War on Drugs” Arm yourself with information and education.
Article by Michael Bonds, Criminal Justice Senior Bauder College Atlanta Georgia
