Using pharmaceuticals to help reduce anxiety instead of weed can have the same disadvantages as using weed. The downsides can make it more confusing on whether to take the medications or not. The medicine is helping reduce the anxiety, however, the user is getting addicted to it at the same time. The side effects that come along with taking the medication can outweigh the helpfulness. Pharmaceuticals could cause health issues and lead to overdosing on the drug. Taking anxiety medication could create more problems rather than help any.
Anxiety reducing medications can be extremely helpful but can have a variety of downfalls as well. One of the downfalls is the risk of addiction. The medications are reducing anxiety but at the same time, the user is becoming more and more addicted to it. Anxiety medicine can easily become an addiction because of high the potency is. As the person suffering from anxiety takes the medicine it begins to build up in the body. This then causes the user’s body to become dependent on the medication in a physical and mental way. Most people do not realize that they are getting addicted and cannot always see the signs. In the article, “Understanding Benzodiazepines,” the author states: “…high abusive and addictive potential they hold… developing a tolerance to the drugs’ sedative effects or dismissing important people and activities to focus solely on getting and abusing the drugs.” The article discusses how most users do not realize they are building up a tolerance to the drug and just overriding the fact that it is supposed to help reduce their anxiety. Building up their tolerance can lead to needing a bigger dosage just to help reduce anxiety. Having an addiction to pharmaceuticals could lead to the users missing out on events and activities all because they constantly crave the drug. If the user begins to become addicted and tries to stop taking the drug they can begin to go through a withdrawal which could become harmful. Anxiety medications can cause more harm than good to the user and their families.
Sometimes the many side effects of medication can outweigh the purpose of the drug. Anxiety medication has a collection of side effects that could make it seem like there is no point in taking it. Some of those side effects are drowsiness, headaches, insomnia, tremors, and can lower blood pressure. A more worrisome side effect is the possibility of depression being worsened while on anti-anxiety medications. In the article “Anxiety Medication,” the author states: “…can worsen cases of pre‐existing depression… may potentially lead to treatment-resistant depression… can cause emotional blunting or numbness and increase suicidal thoughts and feelings.” The article talks about the possibility of the medications worsening depression if the user suffers from it. Depression being heightened can lead to the user having suicidal thoughts. Although the medications are reducing anxiety they are heightening depression in some users. Depression being worsened can lead to more suffering on top of the suffering that is happening from anxiety. The suffering of anxiety can be heightened as well because it is one of the symptoms of depression. The side effects for the medications can make it hard to want to take the drugs in the first place.
Anxiety medications can bring about health issues and cause more problems. Users can begin to have lower blood pressure, upset stomach, respiration issues, confusion, and memory loss. These health issues can make it harder to do daily activities. They can also worsen anxiety in a way because the user could start to become worried about their health issues which then leads to more anxiety. Health issues just like the side effects can make taking the medication undesirable.
Another downside to medications is the possibility of abuse which would result in overdosing. Abusing the drug can lead to an alcohol like buzz or a high which some people find enjoyable or relaxing. Constantly wanting to feel like this could result in an overdose of the drug. In the article, “More Overdose Deaths From Anxiety,” author Rabin states: “Meanwhile, the rate of overdose deaths involving anti-anxiety drugs reached 3.07 per 100,000 adults in 2013.” The article discusses how anxiety medication users are starting to overdose on the drug more often. Becoming dependent on the medications are also abusing it because the user is building up their tolerance which would lead to needing bigger dosages. Most of the time the user does not even need the drug anymore but have begun to enjoy the “buzz” it leaves. Mixing anxiety medicines with alcohol or other medications can lead to overdoses as well. Abuse and overdosing are just some of the factors to consider while taking anxiety medications.
Anxiety medications do help reduce anxiety and have advantages. They also have their fair share of disadvantages. Those being addiction, negative side effects, health issues, and the possibility of abuse and overdosing. All of these disadvantages can cloud the advantages and make it hard to decide whether or not to take anxiety medications.
References
“Prescription Anxiety Medication Addiction – Benzodiazepine Abuse.” AddictionCenter, www.addictioncenter.com/benzodiazepines/.
“Anxiety Medication.” Anxiety Medication: What You Need to Know About Benzodiazepines & Other Anxiety Drugs, www.helpguide.org/articles/anxiety/anxiety-medication.htm.
Rabin, Roni Caryn. “More Overdose Deaths From Anxiety Drugs.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 25 Feb. 2016, well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/02/25/more-overdose-deaths-from-anxiety-drugs/.
Counterintuitive 
Flowers, I have noticed considerable repetition in your first 13 sentences, which i have numbered to help you see how they repeat. Here they are in order:
1. Using pharmaceuticals to help reduce anxiety instead of weed can have the same disadvantages as using weed.
2. The downsides can make it more confusing on whether to take the medications or not.
3. The medicine is helping reduce the anxiety, however, the user is getting addicted to it at the same time.
4. The side effects that come along with taking the medication can outweigh the helpfulness.
5. Pharmaceuticals could cause health issues and lead to overdosing on the drug.
6. Taking anxiety medication could create more problems rather than help any.
7. Anxiety reducing medications can be extremely helpful but can have a variety of downfalls as well.
8. One of the downfalls is the risk of addiction.
9. The medications are reducing anxiety but at the same time, the user is becoming more and more addicted to it.
10. Anxiety medicine can easily become an addiction because of high the potency is.
11. As the person suffering from anxiety takes the medicine it begins to build up in the body.
12. This then causes the user’s body to become dependent on the medication in a physical and mental way.
13. Most people do not realize that they are getting addicted and cannot always see the signs.
Here they are reorganized to show the repetitions:
1. Using pharmaceuticals to help reduce anxiety instead of weed can have the same disadvantages as using weed.
7. Anxiety reducing medications can be extremely helpful but can have a variety of downfalls as well.
2. The downsides can make it more confusing on whether to take the medications or not.
4. The side effects that come along with taking the medication can outweigh the helpfulness.
6. Taking anxiety medication could create more problems rather than help any.
9. The medications are reducing anxiety but at the same time, the user is becoming more and more addicted to it.
3. The medicine is helping reduce the anxiety, however, the user is getting addicted to it at the same time.
8. One of the downfalls is the risk of addiction.
13. Most people do not realize that they are getting addicted and cannot always see the signs.
12. This then causes the user’s body to become dependent on the medication in a physical and mental way.
10. Anxiety medicine can easily become an addiction because of high the potency is.
11. As the person suffering from anxiety takes the medicine it begins to build up in the body.
5. Pharmaceuticals could cause health issues and lead to overdosing on the drug.
In fact, the claims are so similar, they could be organized in other ways as well to demonstrate different patterns of repetition.
Later in the second paragraph, you repeat the same claims again:
14. Most users do not realize they are building up a tolerance to the drug and just overriding the fact that it is supposed to help reduce their anxiety.
15. Building up their tolerance can lead to needing a bigger dosage just to help reduce anxiety.
In short, those early 15 sentences can be distilled to these 2 sentences:
Most surprising, most advocates for weed would dispute the disadvantages you identify here. Wouldn’t you agree it’s commonly argued that weed DOES NOT lead to chemical or psychic dependence and that it NEVER leads to overdose?
Is it possible you’re still confused about the purpose of the Rebuttal Argument? Its purpose is to identify the strongest argument AGAINST YOUR THESIS and refute it. Here you argue strenuously that pharmaceuticals are dangerous, often harmful, potentially fatal. But where’s the strongest argument AGAINST YOUR THESIS? Somewhere you need to find and offer up a credible and authoritative OPPONENT to voice the opposition point of view. The sources you cite here all support your own position.
We should talk about this.
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