Consumption of prescription drugs in a manner that has not been prescribed by the doctor is an outstanding community health issue. This can be more harmful than people understand. In reality, it is drug abuse and is just as illegitimate as consuming street drugs. Overindulging in drugs is not the only technique through which drugs can lead to death. Chemicals and composites sometimes retort with one another. It is, therefore, dangerous and noxious to consume certain drugs jointly (Critser, 2007, p. 258). Prescription drugs are faster to obtain than street drugs. They are mostly got from relatives and colleagues. Prescription drugs assist many people to live industrious lives. They free people from the signs of medical situations like hopelessness or concentration discrepancy hyperactivity disability. This only happens when these drugs are stipulated to heal a specific disease (Hyde, 2005, p. 150).
Research conducted in 2009 shows that prescription drug abuse is increasing at an extremely high rate. It is mostly found in teenagers. The population of this project is college students. This is because there are high chances of prescription drug abuse by the youth in colleges. They think that prescription drugs are secure and less devote. They involve themselves in consumption of prescription drugs thinking that this is not illegitimate since these drugs are assigned by doctors (Lundy & Janes, 2001).
Prescription drugs are however only safe for persons who have directions for their use. The doctor has checked them and assigned them the correct dose of medication. It is only these patients who have knowledge of the manner in which they should take this medication and what to stay away from while in prescription. They are also knowledgeable of possible harmful side effects. The most frequently consumed prescription drugs include opioids, Central Nervous System drugs and stimulants. They have led to burdens in the society with the most serious one being insurance costs. This risk can be decreased by having all medications filled in the same health centre. The patient should then adhere to all directions on each drug. People should avoid as much as possible consuming someone else’ medicine even when suffering from the same ailment (Critser, 2007, p. 258).
Health promotion is the general approach that will be taken to solve this community health issue. It is an effective way of dealing with prescription drugs among the youth. It involves allowing the youth to amplify control over and to advance their health. It moves past a focus of personal behavior towards a broad range of societal and interventions of the surrounding. The basic way of promoting health is through establishing public health policies that meet the prerequisites of health. These include earnings, shelter, food availability and employment. This approach is arguably beneficial since it puts together learning from diverse sectors to eliminate prescription drugs (Hopkins, 2009. P. 431).
One of the greatest problems facing prescription drug abuse is the internet. Prescription drugs are being sold online. The increasing online supply of frequently abused prescription medications has increased interests in Public health. For instance, the parallel development of high-speed online utilization in the US has led to expansion of US prescription drugs misuse. It was established that each 10 percent rise in high speed online use at the nation level, related with medication service admissions for the abuse of prescription drugs increased by a percentage of 1. Admissions for the misuse of liquor, opium and heroin which are not willingly bought over the internet had little growth. These results proposed that better scrutiny of internet prescription drug trade is acceptable. Aggressive measures to curtail illegal internet pharmacies should be put in to practice (Lundy & Janes, 2001).
Another problem with Rx drugs is not just the young people, but the aging population. Older people are abusing medications. This is due to several reasons. To start with, the physiological alterations of aging raise the risk for medication issues among the aged. They cannot do away with medications from their body functions as effectively as the young people. They chances of older people consuming numerous, distinct medications are high due to manifold chronic illnesses, which raise hazards, for issues caused by drug exchanges. Finally, it is quite hard for the aged to know how different medications relate or how a dosage may influence them in a different way (Critser, 2007, p. 258).
References
Critser, G. (2007). Generation Rx: How Prescription Drugs Are Altering American Lives, Minds, and Bodies. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Hopkins, V. (2009). Prescription Alternatives: Hundreds of Safe, Natural, Prescription-Free Remedies to Restore and Maintain Your Health. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Hyde, S.S (2005). Prescription Drugs for Half Price Or Less. New York: Bantam Books.
Lundy, S. K. & Janes, S. (2001). Community Health Nursing: Caring for the Public’s Health. Sudbury: Jones.