Prescription Drugs Kill One Person Every 19 Minutes
Prescription drugs kill one person every 19 minutes – The Quiet Epidemic: prescription drug abuse destroys millions of lives Nancy Rosen-Cohen The Baltimore Sun There isn’t much attention paid to prescription drug abuse, except perhaps when a Hollywood star dies from an overdose. However, it is estimated that nearly one in five Americans has used prescription drugs for nonmedicinal reasons, and 15 percent may be abusing prescription drugs. This silent epidemic has become the leading cause of addiction. This week, the Maryland Chapter of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and the University of Maryland Medical Center sponsored the annual Tuerk Conference, a gathering of 1200 health professionals working in the field of addictions to focus on treatment and prevention of prescription drug abuse. Confronting and debunking the common myth that prescription drugs are less deadly and less addictive was one of the items on the agenda. The dangers of prescription drug abuse are growing at an exponential rate. Between 1992 and 2002, the number of prescriptions written increased by 61 percent, but the number of prescriptions written for opiates increased by almost 400 percent. Opiates reflect three-quarters of all prescription drugs abused. Actor Heath Ledger had Vicodin (hydrocodone), OxyContin (oxycodone), Valium (diazepam), and Xanax (alprazolam) in his bloodstream when he died. All are legal opiates. According to a report this month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hospitalizations for …
Prescription drug strike force carries on despite lack of direct funding
Filed under: prescription drug addiction
Rick Scott created the strike force, which coordinates efforts among local law enforcement agencies with the FDLE, in March 2011 to combat prescription drug abuse and “pill mill” operators – doctors who set up pain clinics for the sole purpose of …
Read more on The Florida Current
Drop-off boxes get drugs out of the house
Filed under: prescription drug addiction
Prescription drug abuse has been classified as an epidemic by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Nationwide, approximately 60 percent of teens say that access to prescription drugs is easy via their home medicine cabinets or that of a …
Read more on WickedLocal beverly
State Hopes to Curb Overuse of Prescription Drugs
Filed under: prescription drug addiction
According to the latest statistics, Tennessee ranks second in the nation for over-utilization of prescription pain medications. Adults 18 to 25 have the highest rate of prescription drug abuse. For the last two years, unintentional drug overdose is the …
Read more on Wgnsradio
From Twitter:
Glad to see prescription drug addiction as a topic on Today Show, but I don’t think they really get it. It’s been out of control for years. – by kellylaine (kellylaine)
From Twitter:
RT @BobbyElectric: Study Finds Cannabis Is Widely Used As A Exit Drug From Toxic Prescription Drug & Alcohol Addiction http://t.co/p … – by zenmommaNgrimes (Sheila)
From Twitter:
RT @BobbyElectric: Study Finds Cannabis Is Widely Used As A Exit Drug From Toxic Prescription Drug & Alcohol Addiction http://t.co/p … – by hipgroove (rich hufnagle)