Prescription Drug & Illegal Drug Abuse Neck & Neck
A new study shows that for the first time, abuse of prescription or over-the-counter medications results in as many cases of emergency room (ER) visits as those resulting from cocaine, heroin or other illegal drug abuses.
In 2008, there were one million ER cases of legal drug abuses, mostly painkillers and sedatives – and that was about the same number of cases of ER visits from illegal drugs. Just five years ago, statistics show, illegal drug ER incidents were double that of prescription drug cases. Some of the increase in legal drug problems may come from mixing several prescription drugs or from combining them with alcohol.
The director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy released a statement suggesting that, “the abuse of prescription drugs is our nation’s fastest-growing drug problem.“ The report was released June 18, 2010 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and can be read online at: http://bit.ly/d7giwz.