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Prescription Drug Abuse

Prescription Drug Abuse in America

Alyssa N Guerrero

The University of Texas at El Paso

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Prescription Drug Abuse
Introduction

In America the drug abuse epidemic has risen since 1999, but this isn’t only about the

illegal drugs in the streets this situation also happens with prescription medications. But not

everyone knows about this topic, people don’t understand that drug abuse can also be from

medication they are prescribed. The two sources I chose are a YouTube video and article which

both describe different subtopics about prescription drug abuse. The video is called “Top 10

Facts About Prescription Drug Abuse in America” which give as explained ten facts that the

average public wouldn’t know about prescription drug abuse. The video explains the statistics

about the recent years and how the numbers have increased in abuse, the type of medications that

are more likely to be abused, when did this epidemic start, the role of doctors, the affect in the

future generations, and others. The video is basic facts that the public should be aware about;

while the article called, “Walgreens Safe Medication Disposal Kiosks Now Available at Nearly

300 Pharmacies in 21 States; Initiative Leads Fight against Prescription Drug Abuse”. The article

discusses the initiative that Walgreens took to support the fight against prescription drug abuse,

they created kiosk to dispose of unwanted or unused prescription drugs for their local

communities. This article gives perspective to the public about what they can do to help others

around them or themselves. Both genres explain in detail and in their own way how to get the

topic to people and how to make this something pharmacies need to be aware of more. These

genres about prescription drug abuse facts or how it is being helped in communities will be

explained through out the analysis.

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Prescription Drug Abuse
Audience and Purpose

The first genre, WatchMojo News is a video posted on YouTube on May 5, 2016. The

purpose of the video is to inform the public about prescription drug abuse in America, the video

states ten facts that people might not know about especially the statistics. The research shows

that the prescription drug abuse has grown quadruple in size since the year 1999 and the number

of deaths has also increased with drugs like antidepressants and opioid medications. The second

genre, from EPNewswire an article called “Walgreens Safe Medication Disposal Kiosks Now

Available at Nearly 300 Pharmacies in 21 States; Initiative Leads Fight against Prescription Drug

Abuse” published July 26, 2016. The article focuses more on the local side of the prescription

drug abuse in America, the title explains that the article talks about Walgreens taking initiative

all over America. The way the company is taking initiative is by creating kiosk that are made to

dispose of unwanted or unused drugs in the community.

Although both genres are about prescription abuse they have very distinct subtopics

discussed. The video talks about basic facts and information that the public should know about to

be aware of this growing subject, while the article explains the efforts a company is doing to help

the communities around them. Both emphasize on the same subject but have a different

perspective on how they introduce the audience to it. Also the titles of both genres tell the reader

about what they are going to watch or read about which makes both of them different. Another

difference is the platforms which they are structured, one is a video while the other is a article,

both explain the topic well and are understandable, which makes it easier to digest the

information being analyzed.

The audience in the first genre which is the video is the public, while others can be

pharmacist and pharmaceutical boards. The pharmacists can be a discourse community because
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Prescription Drug Abuse
their main job is to help the patients and the information given in the video can be helpful. But

more generally the audience is the public which doesn’t know the majority information being

stated. While the article can also be toward the public especially because Walgreens is a retail

store in different areas around most of the cities. Also it can be expressed to different retail stores

with pharmacies so they can also take initiative in the epidemic.

Rhetorical Issues

Both genres express rhetorical appeals, although in different manners because of the type of

genres the following will explain the differences and what appeals are shown.

Ethos

In the first genre, the credibility is shown when mentioning the statistics at the bottom left

corner of the screen there are citations of where they obtained the information. First that shows

that the information being used is not fake, second the WatchMojo News has been popular for

many years and has been accurate every time. Another way of authority can be seen when

mentioning any organizations in the video like The Center for Disease and Control Prevention

(CDC) when stating the statistics, the CDC investigated. There is also news programs that made

the issue a bigger deal by broadcasting it like CNBC, CNN, etc. All these organizations, stations

and news media are example of people that carry credibility because of the amount of research

done on what they report. In the second genre, it is easier to see where the credibility is, for

example the article comes with a reference page which is where the authority can be

distinguished. Some credibility is seen from the CDC when they explain the importance of

disposing of unwanted medication. Also another form of authority is when the article mentions

the past House Speaker Paul Ryan, he was mentioned during the time Walgreens had a ceremony
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Prescription Drug Abuse
to celebrate the break through in the fight against prescription drug abuse. Both genres created a

sense of authority to reassure the public that what they were reading or watching was full of

investigated facts.

Pathos

The emotion that was revoked to the audience in the first genre was concern and to inform

the public about the issue. By creating concern people might be aware about what they can do to

help prevent the situation getting worse for the next generation. Even though the topic does not

seem as important as others, it is, because these are issues that this generation can help so it

won’t get worse like it did from 17 years ago. If prescription drug abuse keeps being a less

crucial topic the statistics in a couple years will also be quadruple the amount it was today. Both

genres state that prescription drugs cause deaths like the illegal drugs in the streets do, these are

more fatal than illegal drugs because millions of Americans take medication for one thing or

another. In the second genre, the emotions evoked were happiness and to inform the audience.

The emotion of happiness gets portrayed when reading about the ceremony that Walgreens

created in honor of establishing a new level of prevention of drug abuse in communities. But the

article was also to notify the communities about the new kiosk that are distributed in the

companies to dispose of unused or unwanted medication of any kind, whether it be prescription

or over the counter medication. Both genres were used to inform the audience about the issue

and certain information that varied depending on the genre but also it caused a different emotion,

also the emotions depend on who the reader is.

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Prescription Drug Abuse
Logos

In both genres’ logos were presented although in different ways, in the video the logos

presented were visually and details given while in the article it was seen in the credibility. In the

first genre, the logos are shown when giving details about the CDC and the number of deaths and

cases of misuse of drugs. But also when stating that the epidemic quadrupled since 1999 which

was shown citing The New York Times. Or when the clip that was shown on CNN is seen, for

example at 23 seconds in the video shows a clip of a scene from the news segment of a drug

epidemic in New Hampshire. While in the second genre, the supporting claims are with the

reference page at the end of the article. When the article quotes the CDC about a drug or facts on

how the kiosk works the references show that it is a fact. Both show supporting claims with the

citations made and that the organizations or news programs demonstrated are highly credible.

Structure and Delivery

The topic is prescription drug abuse in America which requires for there to be a lot of

information, but in both genres the facts or statistics are well organized and can be explained

thoroughly. In the first genre, the video is organized by stating ten facts about the topic, as each

fact is explained the video counts down until the end. The video although visually there is no

limitations and is eye catching the limitations might be in not understanding certain parts because

the audience is not reading the video. Other than missing a fact when the person only uses their

sight and hearing, the rest of the video is believed to be interesting and visually grasping. Even

though the structure to others might seem like a limitation there is also benefits, since the

platform is a video all the audience has to do is listen and pay attention to the visuals playing.

This makes it easier not to over think the context or a certain phrase because the video is straight

to the point. The language used in the video was formal in the sense of it being professional but
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Prescription Drug Abuse
able to understand for the public. The only time the language gets complicated is when stating

the drugs that are most common in being abused but even then, the video explains what the

medication is used for.

In the second genre, the information is well organized; the introduction consist introducing

the kiosk and its purpose, while also stating the ceremony that House Speaker Paul Ryan spoke

of in terms of achieving a new level pf success against prescription drug abuse, then the article

introduces a medication with high abuse rate, Naloxone, finally it ends stating certain programs

the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) suggest are helpful. While stating each part of the

article there is a limitation, which visually the article doesn’t bring attention due to the format

being like an essay. Not much of the information can be emphasized only when talking about

numbers because the format doesn’t allow for bold or colored text. But other than not being able

to emphasize the structure is easy to read and understand and can be easy to go back and read as

many times needed. When stating the article is easy to understand that is because of the language

and detailed information given while also being formatted easily. Mostly all the vocabulary is

professional and simple to comprehend, only when reading about Naloxone is when it might

seem complicated but as further reading is done the situation is explained.

Both genres, as stated above are effortless to understand and professional for the topic

being researched. The language in both in not complicated and when the medication is involved

all is explained. Both genres can be highly recommended for all readers or viewers and be help

in the fight against the epidemic for future generations.

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Prescription Drug Abuse
Conclusion

Overall, the topic prescription drug abuse in America has been a problem for many years

and the number of cases and deaths have increased every year, but with help like the genres of

explaining the situation it is easier for the public to understand and get involved. The first genre

be political and news based, although the audience can be anyone from the public it helps them

understand any question they might have over the topic. The second genre is seen as community

news based, the reason is because many states in America have the company Walgreens on every

other corner and each community can now have a place to support the drug abuse cause by

dispensing unwanted medication; this article is also mainly for the public to know about the

kiosk. Drug abuse is not only for illegal drugs which is stated in the first genre and can affect

anyone, with the statistics in both these should help the public to gain importance on the subject

and help future generations.

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Prescription Drug Abuse
References

E. (Ed.). (2016). Walgreens Safe Medication Disposal Kiosks Now Available at Nearly 300

Pharmacies in 21 States; Initiative Leads Fight against Prescription Drug Abuse. Retrieved

September 05,2018, from

http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=News&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchRe

sultsType=SingleTab&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm¤tPosition=1&docId=GALE|A459230

672&docType=Article&sort=Relevance&contentSegment=&prodId=SCIC&contentSet=GALE|

A459230672&searchId=R1&userGroupName=txshracd2603&inPS=true

W. (2016, May 05). Top 10 Facts About Prescription Drug Abuse in America. Retrieved

September 05, 2018, from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6yKQRqWxVQ&t=23s&index=4&list=PLejP5_Uae56TQE

yAwgRHqrhP0oxw18FAx