There is a major problem of prescription drug addiction in the US. Compared to illicit drugs which are reported in media, the havoc of prescription drugs is so destructive that most equate it to a silent killer as it is equally destructive. It has been seen that teenage and overtly health conscious people take to prescription drugs, where they self-medicate an illness or a health problem.
Soon, the usage turns into addiction, from where they seemingly hit a point of no return. In fact, it has been that girls are prone to prescription drug abuse than guys. People above the age of 60 are also addicted to this kind of medicinal abuse.
Since the 90s, prescription drug addiction has increased manifold. One of the biggest contributing factors is the easy availability of medicines online without the need of asking doctors to prescribe them. People begin to believe that if a particular medicine is good for one stomach ailment, it will be good for every stomach ailment.
There are many people who take medicines for weight loss or weight increase without even caring whether they are approved by the doctor or not. Most abused prescription drugs include opioids like Vicodin and Oxycontin and Central Nervous System depressants.
Though the police are cracking down heavily on marketing and selling of illegal prescription drugs, it is not possible to monitor all of them as they are sold on the web easily. The statistics given by various authorities on the dismal situation is indeed disheartening.
The good thing is drug rehabilitation centers are there to help each one of these people who are afflicted with this problem. If you see anyone in your family suffering from addiction to such drugs, make sure you let them know about the harmful effects of the intake and keep the medicines out of reach of such people. Take an addicted person to a rehabilitation center so that he or she gets well soon enough.