Social Factors Associated with Pharmacists' Unauthorized Use of Mind-Altering Prescription Medications

Abstract

A “medical model” ideology dominates the study of drug abuse among health care professionals. This perspective defines and approaches drug abuse as a disease. While this disease is said to have bio-psycho-social origins, scholars have principally focused on possible biological and psychological factors that produce a “predisposition” to drug abuse. Pertinent social factors have been largely overlooked. Drawing upon the membership list (N=50,000+) of the American Pharmaceutical Association, a random sample of 2,036 practicing pharmacists were queried to investigate the relationship between pharmacists' educational, occupational, and professional socialization and their involvement in illicit prescription drug use. A total of 1,016 (50.2%) questionnaires were returned. The data show that 40.1% of the respondents self-reported illegally using some form of potentially addictive, mind-altering prescription drug. Further, 21% reported 5 or more lifetime use episodes and 6.6% reported more than 10. Multivariate analysis reveals significant relationships between numerous social factors and pharmacists' levels of self reported drug use. The existence of these relationships raises the possibility that certain aspects of the professional socialization process may also play a role in the etiology of pharmacists' drug abuse. We conclude that there exists a need to revisit current theoretical and policy approaches to this social problem.