Restless nights tossing and turning is a daily routine that many people face. Many people use different methods to solve this problem, such as drinking tea before going to bed, drinking alcohol, or even simply staying awake. However, probably the easiest and simplest method is over-the-counter sleeping pills. These little pills can be kept by your bedside and easily taken when needed. While the effectiveness of these is uncertain, what is certain are the underlying side effects and corresponding health problems. People who don't struggle with sleep deprivation or lack of sleep will never know how serious it can be. They offer simple but ineffective solutions to what the problem may be. “Close your eyes and fall asleep” or “watch me fall asleep”, if only it were that easy. Instead of sleeping pills, everyone who has trouble sleeping should smoke marijuana and this should make them sleep like a baby. Marijuana will be delivered to everyone days with daily mail even on Sundays and it will be paid for through taxes. Once this plan goes into effect, everyone in America will sleep a lot and be productive citizens as well as in their jobs. Wouldn't that be great ?The answer to America's sleep deprivation problem is a plant. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? the "atrocious" things news stations tell you about marijuana However, they hardly inform you about the side effects of over-the-counter medications, such as sleeping pills. Sleeping pills are effective, but nothing is 100% effective. They're convenient and get the job done somewhat, but what else do they do to your body? Those pills filled with chemicals and additives can be habit-forming and cause the user to rely on them for sleep and have proven ineffective in providing lasting relief. As humans, we strive to sleep well; Good quality sleep has been shown to improve cognitive performance, memory, mood and even alertness. Since insomnia affects millions of people every year, there is a need for easy and affordable medications. However, when was the last time you checked for side effects? The chemicals used? Probably never. As long as you get eight hours of sleep, nothing else matters. People feel the need to take these pills and suppress the problem rather than address it. Sufferers take sleep medications because of everything they hear on the news and television, “insomnia is a thing of the past” or “can't sleep? Try this” However, these ads hardly inform you about the side effects or risks of taking the drug. Big pharma companies care about one thing and one thing only and that's not your well-being; all we are is money in their deep pockets. Those who suffer fear for their lives; they don't want to die of a vicious mix of heart attack, stroke and dementia. Big pharmaceutical companies instill in insomnia sufferers the constant fear that lack of sleep is seriously harmful to their health and it is necessary to act as soon as possible. As with everything we do in our daily lives, there are pros and cons to almost everything. One specific disadvantage of relying on medications for sleep is the fact that they can become habit-forming and cause dependence in the user. The drug causes the user to constantly rely on suppressing the problem. The user essentially trades their overall well-being for sleep. In addition to being habit-forming, constant dosesof drugs increase the risk of cancer, especially skin cancer; the chemicals in the pills are clastogenic, meaning they can break down chromosomes, and breaking chromosomes is known to cause cancer. Another reason why these sleeping pills are so popular is their low cost. The pills sell for about $5 each and can be found in just about any type of store. The user can sleep at the small cost of just 5 dollars. Amazing!$5 and a couple of years off your life! Nothing serious. Before you go to local stores, know the potential danger you pose to yourself. A specific type of sleeping pill is melatonin pills. Melatonin pills are very popular, especially among children, to help them sleep and combat jet lag. Children do not know better than the adult's response to make the right decision for them and they fail them by relying on melatonin pills as a way to put children to sleep. A 2014 study found that melatonin's effectiveness as a way to prevent jet lag is "weak"—basically, melatonin pills are about as effective as turning 180 degrees in bed. Another type and perhaps the most popular type of sleep medication is Ambien. Introduced in 1993, it was thought to be a miracle, as it appeared to promote sleep without any known side effects. The war on insomnia was about to be won, and people everywhere could sleep again: only if it were that simple. Ambien was later found to cause some users to do strange things at night, such as acting out dreams, eating food with no memory, even driving and having sex without remembering the next day. There is no effective but relatively safe sleep drug yet, so use it at your own risk. Forget short term effects, what about long term? Sleep medications are ineffective in providing lasting relief from insomnia. After a few months the effectiveness begins to decrease; resulting in taking higher doses to achieve the same result. However, higher dosages increase your tolerance and a higher dosage is needed to produce the same results. If the constant need for high doses persists, the user can expect to take pills every day and always be addicted to them. This can become a big problem as the user is so dependent on the sleeping medications that they cannot sleep without them. If high doses are consistently required, it's safe to say that getting punched in the face and knocked out is better for your health than taking all those pills. The dangers of taking sleeping pills are endless, and as research continues, people should expect to learn more about the potential dangers. A new study found that people over 65 who took the sleeping pill Ambien had a 50 percent greater risk of developing Alzheimer's and were five times more likely to die sooner than those who didn't take it. With all these risks and dangers, people would expect to see results. WRONG! That's actually not entirely wrong: a study conducted by the US National Institute of Health found that patients taking sleeping pills fell asleep on average 12 minutes faster and stayed asleep just 11 minutes longer than those who hadn't taken any. drug. Is twenty-three minutes of sleep worth your health? Is insomnia all in your head? Could be. Perhaps the only benefit to taking sleep medications is that they are easily accessible and provide temporary relief, but what if it's actually all in your head? According to a study conducted by US researchers and.