Before you read any further, be sure you understand the difference
between using and abusing. I'll define my usage.
"Using" refers to taking a prescribed medication for a physical,
emotional or mental disorder precisely per doctor's orders.
"Abusing" refers to taking a prescribed medication in violation of
doctor's orders or taking a medication that was unnecessarily
prescribed. Additionally, I consider drug abuse to occur when a drug
is taken for a condition for which there are effective non drug
treatments.
I've read quite a few over the years and individual stories abound.
Heat Ledger found dead with several perfectly legal prescriptions at
his bedside for example. What's 28 year old guy with a successful
acting career doing with up to half a dozen sleeping pill and anti
anxiety medications?
Valium was so much abused by both it's users and the doctors who
prescribed it that a ban was seriously proposed which became a hot
news topic for months.
Sleeping pills are notorious for being addictive and a favorite means
of suicide. Two words: Marilyn Monroe.
I knew a woman who had four doctors in three states prescribing pain
pills for her for years following a back injury from a car accident.
While recovering she'd become addicted.
Ads are run by non profits and medical trade associations urging
parents to secure their prescription meds because teenagers were
swiping the pills. Such ads and news items on the subject pop up in
the media periodically. Rehab centers treat more people for abuse of
prescription than "street" drugs. Alcohol addiction is the number one
cause of admission to rehabs.
Dozens of links here.
http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&q=prescription%%20abuse
And many prescription medications pose risks higher than those of many
street drugs.
"To abruptly stop Valium after an extended period of use is extremely
dangerous and can cause seizures and sometimes death. Discontinuation
of the medication must include a physician supervised gradual taper
schedule and/or adjunct medications to minimize acute withdrawal."
http://www.drugabusehelp.com/drugs/valium/
And this is a drug originally thought to be non habit forming and
perfectly safe! Valium was widely over prescribed (abused) in the
sixties and seventies and turned out to be very addictive indeed as
well as very dangerous. It's still legally prescribed.
America has a deeply embedded drug culture that extends far beyond
street drugs. Any problem you have, a doctor can be found to
prescribe a pill for it. This is one of my objections to Part D. It
promotes drug culture by making drugs cheaper.
My dad takes 26 prescriptions. Over half of them are drugs which
compensate for the side effects of others. ONE heart medication set
off a chain of physical side effects that led to the addition of five
more drugs to his schedule. My mom has over 14 prescriptions and in
her case, nearly two thirds of them are prescribed to compensate for
side effects of others.
Both suffer from pancreatic and circulatory disease. Mom was obese
and had a stroke due to uncontrolled BP. She was diagnosed borderline
diabetic at the time as well and takes an oral medication that has
been shown to kill pancreas cells in some patients thus making the
problem worse, not better. Dad hasn't had a stroke and his BP wasn't
as bad, but he passed out some years back and the hospital found his
blood sugar at almost 400. He was put on oral medication and in short
order his pancreas shut down. He switched to insulin and has since
had an insulin pump embedded in his chest. Despite this, he's gone
blind. The doctor says that if he'll walk more, the exercise would
allow them to reduce his medications. Unfortunately, the side effects
of one of his most critical meds causes a restriction in blood flow to
the limbs that gets worse during exercise.
In both cases, diets high in perfectly legal chemical food additives
and highly refined food products can be directly blamed for their
health issues.
US government policies have given Americans a notoriously unhealthy
diet the physical effects of which, diabetes, obesity, heart and
circulatory disorders to name just a few, are then combated with
prescription medications that would never be needed if we didn't spend
our lives addicted to the empty calories found in processed and
convenience foods. When I was a kid, lard was common in most kitchens
being used for biscuits and pastries and a soda pop was a treat that
one got sometimes. By the time I was a kid, the government and
industry had spent billions convincing us that we should abandon dairy
and animal fats for vegetable shortening for health reasons yet the
above disorders exploded. Now we hear that these partially
hydrogenated or "trans" fats are less healthy than animal fat and soda
pop has become a staple beverage in many if not most households.
While this seems an aside from the main topic, it's actually a
demonstration of how and why our drug culture has exploded and why
prescription drugs are so abused. We have health problems caused by
increasingly sedentary lifestyles and diets rich in artificially
modified fats, starches and sugars. High fructose corn syrup for
example is a tremendous danger to the public health that should be
banned outright. New York City has banned transfats in restaurants.
Even low fat lifestyle and other healthy eating sites and tv programs
are urging people to avoid transfats and return to moderate use of
butter and other naturally occurring fats as well as increasing the
use of monounsaturates such as olive oil.
But instead, we spend tens of billions on dangerous drugs to treat us
for disorders caused by eating equally dangerous chemical food
additives and artificially modified foods vigorously promoted by our
own government.
In my house, transfats are forbidden. You'll find no Crisco or
margarine ever. We use only olive and other naturally unsaturated
oils and real butter. I keep lard on hand for making biscuits (which
doesn't happen often).
I'll posit that if the US DID ban transfats, high fructose corn syrup
and artificial sweeteners, we could cut the rates of diabetes, heart
attack, stroke and arteriosclerosis in half in just one generation
WITHOUT using drugs. Not to mention a plethora of other ills caused
by these chemicals. Assuming that is that we could also sharply
restrict sugar laden soft drinks as well.
I cook my own foods fresh and from scratch making my own microwave
meals for lunches and fast dinners. I don't buy any processed or
packaged foods except rarely. I don't buy anything with either
transfats or high fructose corn syrup in it and use real cream rather
than the powdered stuff in my coffee. Coffee creamers, whether liquid
or powder, are made by using industrial chemical processes to combine
transfats with HFCS and other sugars into a creamy tasting molecule
and that makes Coffeemate one of the most unhealthy food products on
the market.
Swill
