Florida has not been spared by the growing prescription drug abuse and addiction crisis that is plaguing the rest of the United States. This form of abuse involves taking pharmaceutical medications in any way other than a doctor prescribed.

These drugs are designed to treat disorders, illnesses, and other maladies. However, if you take them without express permission from a licensed doctor or for the sole purpose of treating one condition or other, they can cause you to develop a substance use disorder.

Prescription drugs are any form of pharmaceutical medication that can only be dispensed by a licensed pharmacist with a prescription from a medical doctor. They are intended to chemically treat illnesses, disorders, and various other maladies, usually with a variety of different effects.

The Prescription Drug Crisis In Florida

But what exactly does prescription drug abuse entail? Effectively, it refers to the use of any prescription medication without a valid prescription written by a licensed physician for a real condition that actually exists.

However, some people who have valid prescriptions still abuse these drugs. this is because they have easy access to them, and also because they may already have become addicted to their medications in the course of trying to treat a given condition.

In Florida, like in the rest of the United States, the prescription medications that are mostly offered to patients by doctors and pharmacists include but are not limited to depressants, stimulants, and prescription opioid pain relief drugs.

Often, many people abuse prescription drugs in Florida because of the various effects that they are able to derive from these medications. This is why they contuse taking the medications even when they do not have a medical reason to.

Most prescription medications act on the receptors of the brain that are also affected by many other intoxicating and mind altering substances. As a result, they may be able to elicit a high that could be easier for you to experience than if you abused cocaine, meth, or any other illicit drug.

NIDA, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, has not reported that prescription drugs by their very nature make them the 2nd most commonly abused drug in the United States - as well as in states like Florida.

Often, drug overdoses are used to indicate the trends of substance abuse in any given area. This is because they are effective at showing the exact types of drugs that people are abusing.

According to a report published by the medical examiners of Florida in 2016, for instance, the following trends were reported in the state:

• 28 percent of all drug overdoses in Florida involved oxycodone
• 61 percent of all the drug overdoses that were reported in Florida that year involved prescription medications
• Amphetamines were responsible for 65 percent of all the drug overdoses that turned out to be fatal in Florida
• Benzodiazepine drugs were responsible for a total of 5167 deaths through a drug overdose
• Benzodiazepine prescription medications were listed in the 2nd position as the drugs that were most likely to be present in the bodies of people who lost their lives in this state
• Drug overdoses involving Valium (diazepam) increased by 10 percent while those involving Xanax (alprazolam) increased by 29 percent
• More than 50 percent of the drug overdoses reported in Florida involved oxycodone, methadone, morphine, fentanyl, or benzodiazepines - and these drugs were twice as likely to cause death in overdose situations
• More than 6650 people in the state lost their lives when they had at least one prescription medication in their system - this number was an increase of more than 24 percent
• Morphine was responsible for 38 percent of all the drug overdoses that were reported in the state
• Morphine was the drug that was 5th in all the drug overdoses that turned out to be fatal in Florida
• Overdose deaths involving opioid drugs such as prescription pain relief medications increased by over 35 percent
• Overdoses involving drugs increased by more than 22 percent
• Prescription drugs led to an increase of 40 percent in the total number of drug overdoses that were reported in Florida
• Prescription medications were responsible for more overdoses than illicit substances like cocaine

Florida has been attempting to reduce and eventually eliminate the prescription drug abuse epidemic affecting its residents. For instance, it has enacted legislative pieces designed to improve the use and effectiveness of the local prescription medication monitoring system.

Further, the state has now put limits on the total duration of time that doctors and pharmacists can dispense of certain controlled substances, including but not limited to prescription drugs.

In the same way, the state now educates healthcare providers to ensure that they are able to track all their patients and ensure that no patients receive drugs from more than one doctor for the same or similar conditions. This has effectively reduced the instances of doctor shopping among local residents.

Addiction Treatment In Florida

If you are already addicted to prescription medications, it is recommended that you check into an inpatient or an outpatient addiction treatment and rehabilitation facility. By so doing, you will be able to enjoy a wide variety of recovery services, such as therapy, detoxification, aftercare services, relapse prevention, and counseling among others. Through these services you may finally be able to overcome your growing substance use disorder before it gets out of hand.

CITATIONS

http://www.floridahealth.gov/provider-and-partner-resources/dpac/DPAC-Annual-Report-2016-FINAL.pdf

http://www.floridahealth.gov/statistics-and-data/e-forcse/health_care_practitioners/_documents/2018-pdmp-annual-report.pdf

https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/florida-legislation-helps-reduce-number-pill-mills

https://ufhealth.org/news/2016/uf-study-most-teens-who-misuse-prescription-stimulants-say-they-use-other-people-s

https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/policy/successes.html

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/palm-beach/fl-pn-heroin-emergency-20170322-story.html