Sedation of America by Michael Veremans

Think for a second of your friends. How many of them take pills everyday, prescription or otherwise? How many pills do you take in a day and what are they really for? Many people today have been put on a regiment of pill taking, a trend that has grown for in the past 20 years by over 200%. From painkillers to stimulants, taking pills has become a norm in American life, the little day of the weak plastic containers can be seen in almost anyone's bathroom. The increase in legal drug use may be due to astounding medical advances, or to the prevalence of a dependant and sedated society.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 7% of 6-11 year olds in America have been diagnosed with ADD, while 1.6 million children have been diagnosed with ADHD. These are extraordinarily large numbers for a disease that was only recognized and treated recently. The primary method of treatment is through medication. ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and the close related ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyper-Active Disorder) are characterized by a lack of concentration and concise thinking. This may seem bad, but everyone experiences some degree of boredom and restlessness in their lives.

The drugs used to treat these are Ritalin, Adderall, and Dexedrine, all stimulants that counter act the effects of these seemingly harmless "disorders". Most of the people diagnosed are also prescribed, and heavily. What did the world do before the age of pharmaceuticals to curb the activity of the restless? ADD and ADHD are easily seen as minor problems, but they can easily be blown out of proportion by doctors looking to over-prescribe and make money with it.

According to a Department of Education report, prescribed Ritalin can cost from 25-50 cents a pill, while the street value of Ritalin ranges between $3 and $15 on college campuses. These prices, when compounded over years according to certain prescription regiments can add up to large amounts. Many students diagnosed with ADD can pay over $500 a year for a drug they may not need. The diagnosis usually follows a brief observation of the child's "hyper" activity that would deem them necessary for a drug regiment, regardless of how much they may actually suffer from a behavioral affliction.

The problem with this may lay in the fact that abuse of prescription could de-emphasize people who truly have attention problems, while any kid with a lack of interest may find himself treated differently and ineffectually. Doctors may be doing this to acquire more money, healthy children are inexpensive, but if a child can be easily categorized into a broad category sickness in order to make money from the parents or the insurance company. It is a sad sight in society when pharmaceutical companies make huge campaign donations to politicians, and influence the country for their own personal gain.

There is simply a problem of over prescription. The world could soon be seeing Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World or George Lucas's movie THX-1138 come to life. A world where people are regulated by drugs and numbers, sedated from reality, into the safety blanket of chemicals that alter the brain. The over prescription is making Americans accustomed to taking pills, and leaving reality in a time when reality needs tending. The abuse of prescription drugs needs to end, lest we see the sedation of America.