Prescription Drug Abuse

The US government’s “War On Drugs” has been rather productive in the past few decades, causing the use of many illegal drugs to decrease nation wide. Although, its major success with illegal drugs, it has not been productive in decreasing the abuse of prescription drugs. The use of prescription drugs has increased over the past years and risen greatly within the younger age groups. The younger groups of society have even been called “Generation Rx” due to their increasing rates of prescription drug abuse. Prescription drug abuse is a huge social problem that is caused by a flaw in the functional structures of our modern society. To approach this social issue through a sociological perspective, I will explain it using the Structural Functionalist method. A functionalist is a person who views society as a bunch of structures. Each structure has a specific purpose in society and all the structures that make up society have to be working correctly for society to function as a whole. A functionalist would view the issue of prescription drug abuse as a flaw in one or more of the many structures of society.

I believe that the systematic flaws in society that are causing prescription drug abuse lie within the family and medical structures of society. I think that the flaw in the family and medical structures are the easy availability of prescription drugs to teens. I’ve seem from personal experience and the experiences of those close to me, how easy it is to get prescription drugs from a physician. My experience with this came from a broken collarbone where a doctor prescribed me 40 Vicodin (Hydrocodon) with availability of refills if needed. Throughout the time of healing, I took 2 of these pills, leaving me with 38 (plus more if refilled) dangerous pills. I found this very unnecessary and a flaw in the medical system that could lead to abuse if those pills got into the wrong hangs. I’ve seen this happen over and over. I can’t think of a time where I’ve had friends with many left over pain pills when they’re recovering from injury of surgery. My point is that prescription drugs are easy to come by through the medical system and abuse of these drugs is on the rise.

I also think that easy availability to prescription drugs comes from a flaw within the family structure of society. It is often to find a cabinet full of a lifetime of prescription drugs within a family home, saved up from past injuries or illnesses. People often like to hold onto these drugs just incase another injury occurs or someone in that family falls ill. The issue with this, is that teens can steal these medications from their family’s stock pile and abuse them very easily. With free, easy access to drugs that they think is safe because it is doctor prescribed, teens will often abuse these drugs. This flaw in the family structure is a major cause in the social issue of prescription drug abuse. To fix the issues of prescription drug abuse, one must fix the flaws in these systems, thus making society function as a whole correctly once again.

Here is a video on Prescription drug abuse. What do you think should be done to fix this issue? Would you agree that fixing flaws in these structures would help stop prescription drug abuse? Can you think of any other flaws that might be causing this issue?

References:

Neff, Nancy. "Generation Rx?." University of Texas. (2008): n. page. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. <http://www.utexas.edu/features/2008/01/21/drugs/>.

"Fact Sheets." Utah Department of Human Services. N.p., 2008. Web. 23 Oct 2011. <http://www.dsamh.utah.gov/factsheets.htm>.

Eye To Eye With Katie Couric: Rx Drug Abuse (CBS News) . Perf. Katie Couric, . Youtube, Film. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqWaf9DMFOc&feature=fvst>.