Pubdate: Sat, 16 Jul 2005
Source: Star-Banner, The (FL)
Copyright: 2005 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.starbanner.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1533
Author: Ruben Navarrette, The San Diego Union-Tribune

FIGHTING THE REAL DRUG WAR

Welcome To The Real Drug War. And The Front Line May Be As Near As Your 
Medicine Cabinet.

A new study by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse finds 
that the number of Americans who abuse prescription drugs nearly doubled in 
just over a decade - from 7.8 million in 1992 to 15.1 million in 2003. That 
more recent figure exceeds the number of Americans estimated to be abusing 
cocaine, hallucinogens, inhalants and heroin - combined.

You might be shocked to hear that. But something tells me that Tom Cruise 
isn't so surprised. You'll recall that the movie star recently got into a 
rhetorical shoving match with, well, just about everyone over whether 
prescription drugs should be used to treat mental illness.

A recent column on the subject brought a tremendous reaction from readers, 
including many parents determined to keep their kids off Ritalin and other 
medications.

It also brought a gentle scolding from a child psychologist who, in a 
lengthy phone conversation, insisted that the media missed the real story. 
She said that while the Tom Cruise story was about - or rather had become 
about - whether psychiatrists (and these days, increasingly also 
psychologists) overprescribe drugs, mental health professionals were 
getting a bad rap.

It's not that there isn't prescription abuse going on, she said. It's just 
that psychiatrists and psychologists aren't the ones who are doing most of 
the abusing.

It is, she said, a well-known fact within the medical profession that 
general practitioners, family doctors and pediatricians are really quick on 
the draw when it comes to writing prescriptions.

That makes sense. These are the entry points into the health care system, 
where people first go when they suspect something is wrong. And, she said, 
the problem is that these kinds of doctors usually don't have the training 
or expertise to diagnose conditions such as Attention Deficit Disorder. So 
you end up with a lot of kids being put on drugs when they may not really 
need them.

But even that isn't the real story, she said. The real story is that we 
wouldn't have so many prescription drugs if so many people in our society 
weren't so darn eager to take them - and, in some cases, even ask for them 
by name, often after seeing them advertised in television commercials.

That's the key. Like so many other things that leave Americans feeling 
perplexed and helpless - from illegal immigration to our society's 
declining moral values to the challenges that come with raising children - 
this is one of those areas where Americans could easily find the culprit if 
only they would look in the mirror.

For most of the people who wrote me, the easy way out was to blame doctors 
or the pharmaceutical companies who reap huge profits from producing the 
drugs that wind up in so many American homes.

But let's be honest. A big part of the problem is that too many Americans 
want quick and easy solutions to all their problems - and that includes 
their health problems and those of their children. And as the National 
Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse study points out, sometimes the 
pressure that doctors feel to whip out their prescription pads comes not 
just from drug companies, but from patients who demand the convenience of 
being able to pop a pill and go on their way.

I'll buy that. I've been there. Who hasn't? I remember a former employer 
who, after noticing that I had a cold and a cough, urged me to go to the 
doctor and specifically ask for a kind of extra-strength antibiotic known 
to clear up such things in a few days. My boss wanted me back at work as 
soon as possible. So I went to my doctor and did as she suggested.

The convenience factor also shows up with regard to Ritalin. A lot of 
parents would simply rather give their kids pills every day than spend the 
time and money to schedule therapy sessions with the right specialist who 
could accurately diagnose and treat the problem.

And whose fault is that? Not the doctors and the drug companies. Oh, they 
may profit - perhaps even to an obscene degree - from a situation like 
this. But most of the blame goes to the parents and to other ordinary 
Americans with all manner of ailments who, rather than go to the trouble of 
getting real help, try to find relief from a little orange bottle.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom