Take a walk downtown. Anyone who does will inevitably see the destruction that drugs have had on the city. Substances, especially opioids, have taken over the city of Indianapolis. 

But this is not where the problem starts or ends. Society has decided to put some drugs on the lower and some on the upper. This outlook on drugs has led to more misuse than purely illegal activity. 

On a broad scale, opioids are for the majority produced by large pharmaceutical companies. There is a large presence of Fentanyl trafficking from mostly China and India, controlling the majority of fentanyl on the streets. Myanmar is the largest producer of opium poppy, the plant that is used to make opioids, and they traffic the majority of it. These are illegal methods of drug use, which most people can all agree is unwanted and detrimental. 

However, the legal side is just as negative.

Almost all people are familiar with the happy-go-lucky families depicted in all commercials for medication. This happiness is often played while a long list of negative side effects is being spouted off. But, of course, the images of pretty flowers and playful children overpower the risks. 

This is the way big Pharma advertises their substances. They make it look like their medication is the end-all-be-all. This gives them the ability to profit from very dangerous drugs.

An example of pushing harmful medication is Purdue Pharmaceutical’s advertisement of OxyContin. This is a long and unethical situation where Purdue somewhat paid doctors to prescribe their medicine, Oxy. This is illegal, but they found the loophole.

Basically, according to the National Library of Health, Purdue held many seminars inviting doctors to resorts around the country for an all-expenses-paid trip. More than 5000 medical professionals attended these conventions. To top all of that off, they offered a seven to 30-day supply coupon for the drug, taking “Extreme Couponing” to a whole new level. 

This is just another example of a pharmaceutical company foregoing potential risks, such as addiction and even death, just for its own profit. Oftentimes, opioid addiction starts with a prescription and that leads to street use, which is much more dangerous, according to the National Library of Health.

Pharma continues to feed on society’s addiction to profit without remorse. This problem is incredibly embarrassing and abhorrent for multi-billion dollar companies. The fix is alternative medications and treatment outside of a pill. There’s a lot to unpack, but the facts shown here remain shocking and true.