Robert De Niro is famous for saying many things, yet the one that tends to stick with me is a quote from his movie 'The Bronx Tale'. At one point he says the famous line "the saddest thing in life is wasted talent, and the choices you make will shape your life forever". I think about this quote a lot in regards to people not living up to expectations, whether it be due to death, addiction, circumstances, whatever it may be.
When Lil Peep, a rising star in the rap world, died at age 21 on Thursday, we saw another case of that quote being true. Of course, those close to him won't be sad about his "wasted potential," but it's still something worth talking about. Personally, before Thursday, I had no idea who Peep was, but upon reading about him, particularly the circumstances leading up to this day, I think Peep's death is a representation of a much bigger problem.
While it hasn't been confirmed yet, if we're basing it on both Lil Peep's social media account, Lil Peep died of an overdose, more specifically Xanax. Xanax is a drug name you've probably heard before, and based on the number of prescriptions that are handed out each year, it's safe to say you know probably a few people who use it. It's something that has become so common in people's lives that people joke about it and nobody bats an eye:
It's something that gets joked about even, yet it's something that ruins people's lives literally every day:
Now, I'm not here to talk about how bad Xanax is for you, or anything like that. What I find even more disgusting is just how much access people have to these drugs. In a study done a few years back, it was found that paid actors who claimed they had leg pain and straight up asked for oxycodone were given it, or something close to it, 73% of the time.There's even a wikihow page about how to get prescribed Xanax, and videos showing you how to get them: 
(side note: pretty ballsy of that woman to post that video, especially given it was literally the first thing that came up when looking for a video of how easy it is to buy prescription drugs)
Anyways, my issue isn't that these drugs exist, because they are in fact very necessary for people that actually need them. The issue is that they are so incredibly prevalent, and many of them are so incredibly addictive, that it is just flat out logical that people get dependent on and get addicted to these drugs.
Picture a scenario: you're in pain, depressed, anxious, something of that ilk, and you get prescribed Xanax or some other anti-anxiety drug. You take it and feel better, for the first time in a long time, and as a result, you want more. And that's how it goes.
What makes the prescription pill epidemic so damning, when compared to weed or some other drug, is that people are getting given these pills when they're at their worst in many cases, and while it definitely does help on many occasions, it also leads to many people overdosing on them, getting addicted, and ruining any real chance they had of overcoming their troubles. It's something that is present all around the world, but it is particularly egregious in America, which in 2016 consumed 80% of the world's opioid supply, which seems a bit disproportionate.
It's stats like this that just make you pessimistic about the minds of the doctors prescribing these drugs. I can personally attest that the amount of people I know who have access to these drugs is a lot more than the number that actually needs them. And from a medicinal perspective, if you can find an excuse to give them these drugs, you get to do your job and make money in the process. It's the sad truth, that medicine, just like everything else, comes down to money. That's something we joke about too:
The craziest part of that clip is, it makes sense! Imagine if they cured cancer, the medical industry would lose such a large amount of its income that it is probably literally in their best interest to never cure it. Same with these drugs, if you're a doctor, and you get a chance to give people these drugs and maybe justify it, why wouldn't you?
It amazes me how this is something that people are just okay with nowadays, letting greed run the medical profession, if it didn't, many young people would likely still be alive today.
