Blog #7: A Turning Point

This week, my research took a more focused and concluding turn as I began considering my central question: Are the side effects of psychoactive drugs worth their intended purpose? The more I explored this, the more I realized that the answer isn’t as straightforward as I initially thought. It depends heavily on the context, severity of the condition, and how the drug is being used. One factor that I hadn’t taken into account was the commercialization of psychoactive drugs and how it can be normalized within society. Through this, I decided to narrow my overall scope and change the title to be: Off-Label drug use: A deeper dive into prescriptions and their commercialization.

This change wasn’t easy for me to accept, as I took time to reflect on the overall message of my project. I recognized that our perceptions of side effects can vary depending on the context, while advertisements for drugs are presented more objectively. Instead of focusing just on the biological impacts of the prescription, I wanted to focus more on the commercialization of pharmaceuticals are and how catering to certain demographics can be harmful. As my research went on, I noticed that while there are regulations on prescription medications, there are also billion-dollar companies involved that prioritize profit above all else.

To introduce this idea in my paper, I worked on building a strong narrative hook that challenges the way we typically think about drugs in American culture. I used alcohol as an example of a widely normalized psychoactive substance. When you really consider the biological impacts of alcohol, you will find a long list of side effects, like dizziness, slurred speech, and memory loss, along with more serious long-term effects like liver disease, cancer, and cognitive deterioration. Despite this, it remains deeply embedded in everyday life; it’s present at weddings, birthdays, holidays, and social events. Alcohol isn’t considered a “drug,” it’s a 122.63 billion dollar industry. This epiphany helped me highlight a key idea in my project: just because something is normalized or accessible does not mean it is harmless. I plan to use this as a bridge into discussing prescription psychoactive drugs, which can be advertised into normalcy, making people trust them without the same level of questioning.

Overall, this week felt like a turning point in my project. Instead of just gathering information, I began connecting ideas and forming a clearer argument.