From prescription to addiction: a study of prescription drug abuse

Abstract

General practitioners are dispensing an increasing number of painkillers to their patients at a time when drug abuse is rife in Britain’s prisons and addiction to prescription drugs is in the headlines due to the fall from grace of a high-profile celebrity. This study seeks to investigate how widespread the abuse of prescription drugs has become and what possible solutions there may be. It will examine which drugs are most widely abused and the role of prescription drugs as a more easily obtainable source of illicit highs in the prison population. It will consider what action needs to be taken as a result. The study indicates that pregabalin and gabapentin are drugs most widely abused within the prison population and that drugs are being dispensed with too little consideration of their addictive properties. It is concluded that further research into this area is required with consideration of possible changes to the law in relation to which drugs are controlled, but acknowledges the difficulties due to the medicinal benefits and large numbers of NHS patients currently reliant on these drugs, and underfunding of alternative services such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and psychotherapy.