ask the doctor
Medication Abuse
Thousands of people die each year through the abuse of legal drugs. Rear Adm. Joyce Johnson, D.O., explains the danger, how it happens — and what you can do to help.
A Growing Problem According to the National Institutes of Health, an estimated 20 percent of people in the U.S. have used prescription drugs for nonmedical reasons.
Drug abuse traditionally has been associated with illicit drugs. However, medications prescribed by health care providers also can be abused, especially some pain medications, antianxiety medicines, and stimulants. When used properly under medical supervision, these FDA-approved drugs can have very positive therapeutic effects. However, when misused (whether by the patient they are prescribed to or by someone else), they can be dangerous — even fatal.
Nationally, more than 10,000 people die each year from prescription drug abuse. Nearly 10 percent of people misuse opiates at some time in their lives. In Florida, about 75 percent of drug overdose deaths are caused by prescription drugs. When a drug is abused, its use interferes with occupational, family, educational, or social activities. An abuser might crave a drug and do dangerous or illegal things to get it.
People begin to abuse prescription medications in different ways. Sometimes a drug is prescribed to treat a specific medical problem, and the user gradually takes larger or more frequent doses than were prescribed. Other times, someone continues to take a drug even after his or her medical problem has resolved, either for its other effects or to prevent withdrawal symptoms. With repeated, frequent use, dependence can develop.
To satisfy their cravings for more drugs, people might go to multiple doctors for duplicate prescriptions or fill their prescriptions at different independent pharmacies, paying cash, to make tracking their actual use more difficult. Getting a steady supply of the drug becomes increasingly difficult and expensive. Addicts might risk legal problems by stealing or forging prescriptions. Others might steal drugs from a friend or family member’s medicine cabinet. Some purchase drugs illegally from friends or acquaintances, on the street, or on the Internet, risking not only imprisonment but also dangerous side effects, because the actual content and dose of the product might not be accurately known.
Prescription medication abuse can be as dangerous and difficult to treat as abuse of illegal drugs. Many times people are able to rationalize their drug abuse and conceal their dependence on prescription drugs from family members, friends, and even from themselves. (“My doctor prescribed it, my drug behavior is fine … ”) If you recognize, or even suspect, a family member or friend is abusing prescription drugs, help him or her get treatment. Your primary care provider, a mental health care provider, a clergy member, or a substance-abuse treatment center can provide assistance. MO
— Rear Adm. Joyce Johnson, USPHS-Ret., D.O., M.A., is vice president, Health Sciences, Battelle Memorial Institute, Arlington, Va. Find more health and wellness resources at
www.moaa.org/wellness. For submission information, see page 6.
*online: Visit
www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/prescription-medications to learn more.
44 MILITARY OFFICER APRIL 2012
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