How Can I Stop My Spouses Over The Counter Drug Abuse?

Published May 15, 2010

One of the most common reasons Over The Counter Drug Abuse takes place is because patients have access to their doctors DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) number. They should never be written on a prescription and their patients shouldn’t ever have access to this for any reason. If a specific Prescription demands a DEA number then this should be faxed or phoned into the pharmacy only. Then the pharmacy will be able to verify the prescription directly through the doctors office.

Because of the widespread abuse of Over The Counter Prescription Drugs, it is now common for a pharmacy to require a DEA number before they write the prescription. Pharmacies like to sell drugs for one simple reason. They are very cheap to make and the markup is incredible. A pill that takes a few cents to produce could end up selling for up to $35.00 each. Yes you can argue that the costs to develop drugs are very high. If drug companies couldn’t plan on making a profit, then new drugs would never be developed.

There are solutions for ailments that consumers would be able to purchase for just a few dollars. But we will never see them because the Pharmaceutical Companies selling these wouldn’t make enough money. What many don’t know is the Patent will eventually expire on any new drug, and when that happens, dozens of companies will clone this drug and this product will have its monopoly lifted, subjecting it to a state of pure competition.

Sorry I got off on a bit of a rant here. There are a couple of options. You can either approach him and ask him to stop taking these drugs. You could threaten to turn in his doctor if you can prove he’s giving him more than he needs. For example, a weeks worth of codeine should be sufficient for a broken arm, just to get through the initial first week of pain. Contrary, a six month prescription would be highly inappropriate.

If rationalizing with him won’t work, you might have to structure an Intervention. I know this isn’t the easiest concept to warm up to, but it may be the only viable solution if he won’t quit.

Let Brian Garvin and Jeff West teach you about Drugs Intervention and Substance Abuse Intervention at our Substance Abuse Prevention Website.

How Can I Stop My Spouses Over The Counter Drug Abuse?

More Meth Drug Addiction Info: