Celebrity Drug Abuse – Are Prescription Pills Better than Illegal Drugs?

Celebrity Drug Abuse – Are Prescription Pills Better than Illegal Drugs?
With all the attention on prescription pain pills because of the Michael Jackson incident, there is more light than ever being shed on the subject of prescription pain pill medication use and abuse. It is important to make a few key distinction when it comes to clearly viewing what has happened to Michael Jackson, Heath Ledger, Anna Nicole Smith, and others. First, doctors who prescribe drugs to famous people who have addiction problems are just as bad as illegal drug dealers on the streets. Second, we need to focus our attention on the addict and the addiction, and defocus our attention away from catching the drug dealers (i.e., the doctors prescribing the medication). It is true that doctors must be made an example of who prescribe pain medications like it was candy to people complaining of “pain,” but, how culpable do we hold street drug dealers when they sell drugs to drug addicts who die from overdose? There must be laws just as strict for doctors who prescribe pain medication irresponsibly as there are for drug dealers on the street. Now, the chances of this happening are slim, because just like the powerful drug cartels like to ensure their business continues, so do the large drug companies like to ensure their business continues. It will be harder to curb pain medication “dealing” by licensed doctors than it will be to stop the major drug cartels in the world from dealing illegal narcotics, legitimate pharmaceutical companies have better lobbyists. That’s a joke of course, but it is the truth. Pain medications will become a bigger and bigger business and has now rivaled the major illegal narcotic drug trade. But, it is important for us all to remember that it begins and ends with the addict. The age old argument that an addict will find drugs one way or another, even if they are on a deserted island is very true. If an addict wasn’t able to get pain medications from loosely prescribing doctors then they would most likely turn to alcohol, get their California medical marijuana license, or buy their drugs off the street. One way or another, an addict will find their drugs. To illustrate this fact I often refer to the prison system that is filled with addicts and alcoholics. Prison systems are specifically designed to monitor, control, and incapacitate people-Mail is opened, cells are thoroughly searched, people are investigated, people are scanned, and they are all anally probed. Even with all of the prison’s heavy technology, strict rules, disregard for personal rights and property, and surveillance, if a prisoner wants drugs or alcohol they are able to get any drug they want just as easily as if they were on the street. This is my perfect example of what would happen if we did everything we could to control illegal drugs in this country-Drug addicts would still find a way to get their drugs, even if they had to make it themselves. So, I think our efforts are better spent towards treatment then controlling the drug dealers or the drugs. Drug addicts are extremely resourceful and clever people, and nothing we do will be able to stop them from getting their drugs. If a drug addict isn’t able to get prescription pills from one doctor, then they will go to another, and another, and another… So let’s try and focus on the addict and not the drug dealer, because while the drug dealer is an evil entity that needs to be dealt with, where one falls another will arise.