Our society loves over-the-counter (OTC) drugs almost as much as it loves prescription meds. Bored teens and adults have been known to down a bottle of Ny-Quil or Robitussin just to attain a loopy, cough medicine high. There are even entire message boards devoted solely to discussion of how to best achieve the “robo” high based on your sex, height and body weight. I think ultimately it comes down to the fact that, we as a culture, are constantly in search of the eternal buzz. Some people smoke cigarettes, some people drink, some people take painkillers and some people drink cough medicine. Why is that humans feel the need to alter their state of mind? I personally believe that it has a lot to do with a need to escape the stress of everyday life.

chris rock never scared- drugs

NSFW

Chris Rock hits it right on the nail.

Saturday Night Live has done countless hilarious spoofs of prescription drug ads, and this one for Annuale is especially hilarious to me. I’ve always thought all these new-fangled birth control pills were a little frightening. I mean, while it would be of course fantastic to skip that time of the month, doesn’t it seem… well… err … just a little odd to skip it altogether for years at a time? Once again, the quest for convenience in a pill knows no bounds.

One in five respondents to an informal, nonscientific online survey in the science journal Nature said they have used drugs like Ritalin and Adderall to boost their brain power, according to a CNN Health article.

1,400 people in 60 countries were polled, and the majority of those who responded said they worked in biology, physics, medicine or education. Respondents said they took the drugs to improve their concentration.

Drugs like Adderall and Ritalin are prescribed to children and adults with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD and ADHD), but they also enhance focus in people who don’t have ADD or ADHD. Subsequently, these drugs are a hot commodity among college students and adults with demanding jobs. Articles in the past have also indicated that many mothers steal their children’s ADD meds to have energy and stay thin.

Once again, our society seeks instant gratification in pill form.

Still, I’d almost venture to say that it’s better for adults to be taking these drugs than young children. I have babysit kids on Ritalin, and there just seems to be something inherently wrong with dosing small children up on powerful prescription drugs. They are taking a stimulant drug that has similar effects to amphetamines, at a time when their brains are going through crucial development. I’d say you have to be phenomenally unfocused to merit that kind of risk.

I’m complementing today’s post with a picture of the contents of one of my kitchen cabinets. It is filled with the bottles of medicine prescribed to my boyfriend by his countless doctors, some of whom are in Virginia, and some of whom are in Chicago. Most of the containers are still filled with pills because he didn’t take all of them (thank God), but still… it seems excessive, doesn’t it?

I was at a bridal shower this past weekend, and as I navigated the room, I overheard a bevy of conversation on various prescription meds.

“Oh, just take half a Lexapro, and you’ll be fine,” was one tidbit.

“I take half a Xanax to fall asleep at night,” was another.

“She’s been acting out of it and lethargic? Oh that’s definitely the anti-depressants - trust me, I know,” was another.

Prescription drugs are pervasive in today’s society, and it shows.

In today’s Wall Street Journal, there are numerous articles on prescription drugs gone bad. The concept of inhaled insulin was stopped in its tracks by an announcement from Pfizer that six diabetics taking its inhaled insulin, Exubera, during clinical trials developed lung cancer, compared with one case of the malignancy among patients not using Exubera.

In another WSJ Article, the FDA has tripled the number of deaths it attributes to allergic reactions to the blood thinner heparin since January 2007 to 62 from 19.

In keeping with the theme of tainted drugs, Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. said it has warned the Food and Drug Administration that one of its antibiotic drugs, Cubicin, has been tainted with a potentially harmful industrial chemical, according to another article in today’s edition of the Wall Street Journal.

And you thought that WSJ only had dreary financial news these days.