Former Professor Criticizes Drug Policies in America

Posted by azdrugrehabctr on October 20, 2014 under Addiction Trends, Prescription Drugs | Comments are off for this article

A closer look at the statistics surrounding drug addiction and drug use show that the drug problem is continuing to get worse in our country. While the President explained that the war on drugs needed to change tactics, some people are still fighting against drugs using the old playbook. Instead of focusing on prevention, education and treatment, some people are still blindly incarcerating addicts and punishing them instead of trying to solve the core issues.

Drug use continues to be a problem throughout towns, cities, states and the entire country. The number of people who have died from heroin overdoses has doubled since 2012. The United States reports more deaths from drug and alcohol overdoses than car accidents. Older adults are contributing to the increase in addicts in our country as well, not just teenagers or young adults. Many addicts obtain their drugs from their doctors, as the biggest increase in drug problems throughout the country involve prescription medications.

It is clear that as a nation, we are facing a problem regarding the way we deal with pain. Since millions of people are abusing painkillers, and then often resorting to heroin abuse because it is cheaper than purchasing pills, we need to address our policies on prescription painkillers. While most states have implemented some type of prescription monitoring tool to help doctors and pharmacists keep track of who is getting what and ensuring that less people are going from doctor to doctor in search of painkillers, this is not the ultimate solution. Not everyone uses the system and if you look at the prescription painkiller problem closer you will see that what needs to be addressed is our lack of willingness to feel pain, says Allen Frances, Professor Emeritus from Duke University.

As the leader of the task force for the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual (DSM-IV), Frances is basing his opinions on a large body of data. He says that in an attempt to avoid pain, doctors are willing to put their patient at risk of developing a severe addiction to prescription painkillers. There was once a time when prior to such a severe course of action doctors would prescribe an exercise regimen, new diet or physical therapy. These are the alternatives that can prevent an addiction before it ever even starts.

While not everyone can be pleased with the drug policy of our country, it does seem to be continuing to shift more in favor of treatment over incarceration This should help to have a positive impact that should be noticed in the near future as well as man years down the road.