What You Can Do
Prescription medication abuse is not new-the names of the drugs may change, but the results are consistent-people misuse or abuse medications, damage their health, and sometimes die. Because of the wide range of people abusing and misusing prescription drugs, approaches and strategies to confront the problem must be carried out on many fronts. The challenge is to create activities and programs that are appropriate for certain contexts and populations, and that evolve with the changing patterns of abuse.
There is no doubt that pharmaceuticals have revolutionized medical treatment over the past century. However, the potential for prescription drug abuse has raised special new implications regarding their use, and the role of health professionals in prescribing them. Physicians have a special responsibility in the broader implications of prescription drugs. Health care practitioners should prescribe medications appropriately, and also assist in preventing illegal diversion and identifying drug abuse, where possible. Preventing the diversion of legal medications to illicit use is also the responsibility of local, state, and federal governments. Recent prescription drug monitoring programs, as well as recent legislation created to deal with the challenges posed by the Internet, demonstrate that technology can be harnessed as an effective tool to prevent prescription drug diversion.
Education and training are another critical component of any strategy to control the abuse and misuse of prescription drugs. Advocacy and community organizations, as well as federal and state governments, can help by developing and implementing public education initiatives to raise awareness, change cultural norms, and teach the public that prescription medications must be used only as prescribed, safely stored, and properly disposed of. Physicians and pharmacists are well situated to reinforce these messages when they interact directly with patients to write or fill prescriptions.
Medical professionals can also receive training on the pharmacology, the abuse of prescription medications, the prevention of diversion, identifiable characteristics of "typical" prescription drug abusers, and the legal implications of prescribing medications without careful patient assessment. At the same time, it is crucial that these messages also emphasize the reason these medications are available, and acknowledge they have legitimate and valuable purposes, when used responsibly.
While efforts to prevent abuse and diversion should not interfere with care of patients with legitimate medical needs, many areas of society must respond to the increasing risks posed by prescription drug abuse and misuse, including the following: