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CRJ4500—Disscusion Board—Due Saturday 10/28/17 @ 6pm

Topic:

Do you see a difference between the legal instrumental use of a psychoactive prescription drug (obtaining a prescription from a physician for a medical or psychiatric condition) and using the same controlled drug instrumentally, but without benefit of a prescription?

All discussion post must include citations, list references, and you cannot say “I agree”. You must reply to three of your classmates. A Minimum of 250 words.

Textbook for CRJ4500: Goode, E. (2015). Drugs in American society. [9th ed] Stony Brook University: New York, New York: McGraw Hill Education.

1st Person- Abby:

  According to Science Daily, “Psychoactive drugs may be used recreationally to purposefully alter one's consciousness (such as coffee, alcohol or cannabis), as entheogens for spiritual purposes (such as the mescaline-containing peyote cactus or psilocybin-containing mushrooms), and also as medication (such as the use of narcotics in controlling pain, stimulants to treat narcolepsy and attention disorders, as well as anti-depressants and anti-psychotics for treating neurological and psychiatric illnesses).

   Several people in my family suffer from depression and anxiety. My mom is clinically bi-polar and has been on medication for as long as I can remember. Each of the medicines my mom was prescribed served a different purpose, and together helped balance out her mental state. When my family was suffering from the loss of my dad, my brother and sister would often steal my mom’s medicine in order to “escape” the reality of our lives. This quickly became an addiction for both of them and turned a bad situation even worse.

   While I don’t think you should throw a pill at every problem, I do believe in the power of medicine because I have seen what it can do. On the flip side of that, I have seen how it can affect you and those around you if you choose to use a drug recreationally that was not prescribed to you.

 

 https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/psychoactive_drug.htm

2nd Person-

According to Goode (2015), there are two forms of legal instrumental drug use: over-the-counter (OTC) and pharmaceutical. OTC drugs are mostly safe, have a low toxicity, and are rarely abused (Goode, 2015). Examples include Tylenol, Advil, Benadryl, and the like. Pharmaceuticals are drugs “prescribed by physicians to patients for the alleviation or cure of physical or psychiatric ailments, and the prescriptions are filled and sold at licensed pharmacies” (Goode, 2015, p. 108). Instrumental refers to the motivation for taking the drug; which, in this case, is only for medical purposes. Achieving an altered state, or getting high, is not the goal of legal instrumental drug use (Goode, 2015). Examples of legal instrumental drug use include taking Tylenol for a headache or taking a sleep aid that has been prescribed by a physician to help one sleep.

Goode (2015) describes illegal instrumental use as “taking drugs without a prescription for some instrumental purpose of which society approves, such as driving a truck, studying for an exam, working at an all-night job, falling asleep, achieving athletic excellence, or calming feelings of anxiety so as to cope with the events of one’s day” (p. 111). An example of illegal instrumental use is a student who buys an Adderall from a friend to cram before finals. Like legal instrumental use, the goal here is not to get high. However, because the user has not been prescribed the drug, it is illegally obtained. Most people who partake in illegal instrumental drug use, however, do not view it the same as other criminal activity because their motivation is to achieve a goal that is socially acceptable (Goode, 2015).

While the end goal of illegal instrumental use may be socially acceptable, the fact remains that it is against the law. Drugs that require a prescription are regulated for a reason: because of their potential for harm (Goode, 2015). Although the users initial goal might not be to get high, these drugs have an increased potential for abuse and addiction. There is also a greater chance for harm when people take medications without the education physicians and other approved prescribers have on specific drug interactions. The risk  of legal consequences, dependence, or even death is not worth it when there are much safer alternatives to achieving the desired goal.

 Goode, E. (2015). Drugs in American Society. (9th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill Education.

3rd Person: Have not responded yet, I will send it to you as soon as they post.