Report states that prescription drug abusers in the US exceed 15 million
According to a recently released report, more and more Americans were found abusing controlled prescription drugs than they abuse cocaine, inhalants, heroin, and hallucinogens together between years 1992-2003.
Joseph Califano, chairman and founder of the center and a former health secretary, said that the country is the center of an epidemic of controlled prescription drug abuse and addiction. It was also said that the abuse of prescription opioids among teenagers has increased to a staggering 542 percent and the explosion in prescription has raised the level of temptation and more threat than the illegal street drug dealer.
From News-Medical.Net:
There are apparently hundreds of web sites advertising and selling controlled drugs, often without prescription and regardless of age, and teenagers and children can easily obtain them.
The most likely drugs to be abused were opioids, or pain relievers such as OxyContin or Vicodin; central nervous system depressants such as Valium or Xanax; stimulants including Ritalin or Adderall and anabolic-androgenic steroids like Anadrol or Equipoise.
The report says the problem can be seen in all sections of the community, across all age groups, ethnic groups and in all socio-economic groups.
In 2003, 2.3 million 12 to 17 year-olds (almost one in 10) abused least one controlled prescription drug. Girls were more likely than boys to be abusers.
The report says that teenagers who abuse drugs are twice as likely to use alcohol, five times as likely to use marijuana, 12 times likelier to use heroin and 21 times likelier to use cocaine than teens who do not abuse such drugs.
Law enforcement officials around the country have been fighting a lone battle against prescription drug abuse, especially against pain killers. It is sad to note that in the year 2002 alone, controlled drugs were implicated in approximately 30 percent of drug-related emergency room deaths.
