Health Insurance

10 Things to Know About Pain Reliever Drugs Abuse

A disturbing fact sheet…

Pain relievers are medicines that reduce or relieve headaches, sore muscles, arthritis or related aches and pains. There are many different pain reliever drugs. While some of them are prescription drugs, yet many of these are available over-the-counter (OTC) e.g. aspirin, naproxen (Aleve) & ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) etc. Many such non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drugs are available only at prescribed doses. Some of the most powerful pain relievers come under the category of narcotics.

In the United States, data generated by some recent surveys on drug abuse is quite disturbing. Data from the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse found that almost 3 million adolescents and about 7 million young adults from ages 18 to 25 had used prescription drugs for non-medical purposes at least once in their lives.

Today teenagers are not using as much cocaine, crack, LSD, and ecstasy as the teenagers of the 1960’s. Nowadays, kids have found other ways and means to get that high; painkillers & other prescription drugs are being abused at record levels as is aptly indicated in NSDUH data. This up coming generation of prescription drug abusers has been given the name “Generation Rx!”

How to Cope With Prescription Drug Abuse

Millions of individuals receive prescription drugs for their ailments and injuries each year. Some of them never finish the prescription and others take it as it was outlined. However, there are many individuals who use the drug to an extreme and they become addicted to it. In most cases, it starts out as an innocent way to control the pain they have on an ongoing basis. Yet the brain starts to crave more of it to feel good, and that leads to the monstrous habit called addiction. This is known as prescription drug abuse.

Many individuals who abuse prescription drugs have families and careers. This is a very different type of addiction than street drugs, yet often the symptoms are the same. The individual will usually do a very good job of hiding their needs from friends and family. They may even borrow or steal money to pay for the prescription drugs in some cases.

With a prescription drug abuse problem, addicts find themselves unable to go back to their doctor to get the same medication prescribed again and again. So, they usually sneak around and go to several different doctors. It is also common to buy the drugs in the black market without any prescription. In some extreme cases, people have been known to break their own bones or cause serious injuries so that a doctor will prescribe what they are after.

Club And Prescription Drug Abuse In Wyoming

Both club and prescription drug abuses are quite significant in the overall problem of drug abuse in Wyoming. These are apart from the other common forms of addiction such as heroin addiction, cocaine addiction, marijuana addiction and even alcohol addiction, which is the most prevalent form of chemical dependency in the state.
Here we shall see some details on these two forms of drug abuse in Wyoming. Here are some statistics and trends on club and prescription drug abuse in the state.
Club Drug Abuse in Wyoming
By definition, club drugs are those that people use in party and rave circuits. These are drugs that are typically popular among the youth, because these are the kinds of people that frequent such areas. The main forms of club drugs that are popular in the state are methamphetamine and ecstasy.
Methamphetamine is one of the most popular forms of club drug addiction in the state. This substance was not present on the drug addiction scene of Wyoming until about ten years ago, but in the last few years, the drug has become much more prevalent than other forms of addiction in the state. Methamphetamine comes into Wyoming mainly from Mexico, through road trafficking methods. The drug is brought here both in its original form a purer form known as crystal meth, locally known as ice.
Another source of methamphetamine in Wyoming is through the various meth labs that are secretly operating within the state. These labs work through the agencies of one or two people and can produce up to ten pounds of methamphetamine and crystal meth each day from some crude materials such as cough syrups, antifreeze and other such easily available materials.
Though there have been various crackdowns and patrolling on the highways have become stricter in recent times, methamphetamine and crystal meth still continue to flow freely into Wyoming, thus adding considerably to the problem of drug abuse in the state.
Other popular club drugs in the state are MDMA (also known as Ecstasy) and GHB. These drugs are sourced from the state of Colorado. They are locally distributed in the youth-centric areas of the state such as in nightclubs and rave party zones. These drugs are popular because they are cheaply available and they have a capacity to produce an immediate high. Psilocybin mushrooms and LSD are also popular on the scene of club drug abuse in Wyoming among the other substances already mentioned.
Prescription Drug Abuse in Wyoming
Prescription drugs are those drugs that are administered for the treatment of certain diseases or illnesses. However, a lot of these substances are habit forming. They are used by a wide cross section of people in Wyoming for recreation. This contributes to the problem of prescription drug abuse in Wyoming.
There are several drugs that are a part of prescription drug abuse in the state. The most significant of these drugs are Valium, Vicodin and Dilaudid. Valium is a benzodiazepine and th others are painkillers. They have a mild habit forming effect due to which they can be used for recreation.
This causes several supplementary problems in the state, such as making fake prescriptions, shopping for prescriptions, etc. There are several healthcare professionals involved in this activity. In any case, the problem of prescription drug abuse in Wyoming is quite prominently present within the state.
This problem is quite significant in two groups of people in the state. The most significant population is the senior population. These people are usually prescribed these drugs due to geriatric problems. The substances can become habit forming over time and this makes the addiction treatment more difficult too. This is a common issue in senior alcohol and drug abuse treatment in the state. The main reason why the drug abuse is common among the seniors is because of the ready availability (through prescription) to them.
The second group of people who abuses prescription drugs is the adolescents. These youngsters frequently find these substances within their own homes and that is the reason why they also have a ready availability of the substance. Youngsters who check in for drug abuse treatment in Wyoming are often found to have supplementary problems of a prescription drug abuse, most of which are narcotic painkillers that have been prescribed by a physician to an elderly person in their own homes.
These two kinds of drug abuse form a big share of drug addiction in the state. Several methods of treatment are used in various rehab centers to combat prescription and club drug abuse.