2008 Woodie Awards
Letter to the Editor
Student supports prescription drug use for 'legitimate' mental disorders
By James Corkern, Tacoma, Wash., sophomore
Issue date: 1/31/08 Section: Editorial
As usual, The Echo has misrepresented an issue in order to pass off its own agendas. I am referring, of course, to the article dealing with actor Heath Ledger's death. I can assure you that the use of prescription drugs in America, though occasionally abused, has nothing to do with a "microwave society," a poor metaphor that I assume the author of the article meant to use in order to describe a society of instant gratification.
The sad fact is that, despite ridiculous assertions such as "drugs are... 16,400 percent more deadly than terrorism," mental health issues are not a result of prescription drug users' inability or unwillingness to find the "root" of a problem, but because millions are affected by mental disorders that are proven (through actual science, not speculation) to be caused by different levels of chemicals in the brain.
I hope that in the future The Echo will take into account the millions of Americans that live day after day with legitimate disorders, many of whom are forced to take prescription medicines in order to function as healthy adults in our society.
The sad fact is that, despite ridiculous assertions such as "drugs are... 16,400 percent more deadly than terrorism," mental health issues are not a result of prescription drug users' inability or unwillingness to find the "root" of a problem, but because millions are affected by mental disorders that are proven (through actual science, not speculation) to be caused by different levels of chemicals in the brain.
I hope that in the future The Echo will take into account the millions of Americans that live day after day with legitimate disorders, many of whom are forced to take prescription medicines in order to function as healthy adults in our society.
