3 of 13

Write now Article Tools

Imagine the sensation of a colony of lice crawling through the veins underneath your epidermis, remember the worst flu of your life, and convince yourself that the only relief is a pill that will cost you $40.00 that you do not have. There are a million ways to describe the pain of an opiate withdrawal, and only one way to truly experience an opiate withdrawal. To be quite honest, the latter is one road that many of us will never have to follow; however, if you have chosen that path you know how desolate, barren and confusing it is to be on. We have all come across the typical drug addict- the one of the side of the road, standing with his hand out, begging for some change towards his next fix- it is no surprise that we keep our change to ourselves and presume that I will not be an enabler. Thankfully many of us are far away from ever having anything in common with that kind of lifestyle... or so we like to think.

Despite our efforts to deny the reality that we live in, our reality is there, and it will stare us straight in the face until we come to terms with it. Your reality is similar to mine: we probably know someone who is addicted to some form of an opiate. Maybe they were prescribed the pills to combat the pain from surgery, and even after the pain caused by the procedure vanished, they realized that the only time they did not feel pain was when they were on the pills. Maybe one of your co-workers is always nodding off, with pinpoint pupils, barely getting by and oblivious to the world around him. The fact is, it can be anyone, but it is definitely not no one. These individuals find themselves at a very frightening place in their lives, a place that they certainly had no intention of arriving at. These people do not fit the category of our preconceived notions of what a junkie looks like- they do however, know all too well what a junkie feels like.

Pharmaceutical companies are powerful, not only in monetary value but in political aspects as well, often disclosing only the minimum amount of information regarding the addictive properties of the drugs that they market to us in order to better preserve their respect. This means that not everyone is aware of the growing abuse of OxyContin, Vicodin, Percocet, and other pain medications that are easily found in many of our medicine cabinets. While these drugs are commonly prescribed, excluding oxycontin, they are also commonly purchased illicitly: on the streets for a surprisingly healthy amount of cash.

• 1
• 2
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about The dangers of prescription drug abuse?
We want to hear your view. Write now!