In an article written in the Journal of Drug Issues, the writers state that " results from the Monitoring the Future Program, which surveys 8th, 10th, and 12th graders, reported that methamphetamine use has doubled in the last decade." While this article only speaks of methamphetamine use teenagers have increased their use of other drugs as well. This increase in teenage drug use indicates that peer pressure is strong, family problems have heightened, and curiosity to experiment with drugs has risen. Unfortunately, in a society where economic class, popularity, good looks, and the student's learning or athletic ability are often the markers for success more undue stress is being placed on teenagers than ever before. Thus society has unwittingly supported an increase in drug use not only among teenagers, but adults as …show more content…
Probable explanations for OxyContin abuse within rural eastern Kentucky include: prescription drug use is a culturally entrenched phenomenon; Kentucky leads the nation in prescription drug use, in part because the state has the fourth highest cancer rate in the nation; Kentucky has an above-average older population that uses prescription drugs; Kentucky's higher levels of chronic 245 illnesses and debilitating diseases contribute to increasing numbers of pharmaceutical prescriptions and addictions; prescription fraud largely has been ignored by medical, academic, and legal communities; OxyContin is a very powerful drug whose design makes it easy to abuse; and Purdue Pharma aggressively promoted …show more content…
In an article by Bernd Debusmann, Special Correspondent for Reuters, "Despite three decades of upbeat reports on battles won in the war on drugs, cocaine, heroin and marijuana are as easily available as ever and experts say the United States has yet to develop a strategy that works." Debusmann goes on to state, "In the drug war, the pattern has been one step forward, one step back - - one trafficking organization smashed, another one formed; one hectare of coca or opium poppy destroyed, another one planted; one dealer imprisoned, another taking his place." So it seems that there has not been any major progress in deterring America's trend in the distribution and use of illegal drugs and at best the amount of illegal drug use has remained