Drugs, Are We Sending The Right Message?
A recent article on page two of the Northfield Hospital Family Health Winter 2009 Newsletter sites opiate use as “eclipsing marijuana as a gateway to the world of illegal drug use” and that according to Charles Reznikoff, MD, an opiate addiction specialist, “pain pills contribute greatly to the opiate addiction he sees. From what I could gather, it appears, Dr. Reznikoff, believes that adolescent risk taking and self medicating to “address untreated mental health disorders, such as anxiety, depression or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder,” are primary reasons for this trend. I can’t help but ask myself at this point, what risk and why not?
What risk is he talking about? By the time we’re 20 years of age, every western citizen has experienced 18,000 hours of advertising. That’s 18,000 hours of opportunities to establish and build on a belief system that perpetually reinforces the idea that you are weak and that your health is dependent on outside sources like drugs for answers. Our country makes up 5% of the worlds population and yet consumes 60% of the world’s drugs, that’s 25 million pills consumed every hour every day every week of every year. This trend is not expected to end any time soon as it’s estimated that in the year 2013, the global market for pharmaceuticals will top $1.0 trillion with the highest growth rate expected in the generic prescription drug market.
How is it that our kids are supposed to understand that there’s any risk whatsoever in popping a few pills to feel good when from infancy they’re taught that all answers are expected to come from a bottle? Self medicating is the rule rather than the exception for if you have a headache, take Tylenol, if you have a runny nose take an antihistamine, if you have an upset stomach take the pink stuff (you know what I’m talking about), if you have allergies take Benadryl, if you’re depressed take Paxil if you’re anxious take Valium if you can’t sit still take Ritalin and if you don’t have any energy, drink coffee until one day you have no reservations about going to the medicine cabinet for a hit of Oxycontin, Percocet, Vicodin or Methodone to take the edge of your stressful day.
Ironically enough, the same article then goes on to suggest the use of Methadone and Suboxone (drugs) as “tools available to manage withdrawal” and that they’re “proven to reduce death from drug overdose and HIV transmission.” I wasn’t quit able to follow the logic but then that’s the point. Do you really believe that the power that transformed two cells at conception into a living breathing human being has now become so inept at birth that the only chance we have at living a long and healthy life is to rely on drugs made by companies that make more money each year than most countries? Why should any child take us seriously when we believe that “to prevent kids from wandering into recreational opiate use and the prospect of addiction” we think the answer lies not in nurturing the bodies self healing power but in “disposing of all pain pills and controlled substances when they have served their purpose or hiding them if they are still needed for legitimate medical use.” Kids using drugs, ‘risky’ as it may be, is only a symptom and until we’re ready to correct the cause, expect the symptoms to get far worse before they ever get better.