Prescription Drug Addiction, more...

Many people think drug addiction is limited to substances such as marijuana, cocaine, or heroin but in fact prescription drugs can be misused as well. 11.3 million Persons aged 12 or older (4.8 percent) were abusers of prescription pain relievers in the past year. The only other illicit drug that had a greater prevalence of use in the past year was marijuana. For any prescription-type psychotherapeutic drug, pain relievers, tranquilizers, stimulants, and methamphetamine, young adults aged 18 to 25 were more likely than youths aged 12 to 17 or adults aged 26 or older to report non-medical use in the past year

In terms of prescription drug addiction, the term “addiction” is used to describe a state when a person has lost the ability to control usage. Even a person taking a drug that is prescribed may not be able to control how much or how often they consume the medication.

Millions of teenagers are abusing a variety of prescription (Rx) and over-the-counter (OTC) medications to get high. Approximately one in five teenagers has abused a prescription painkiller to get high, and one in 11 has abused OTC products, like cough medicine. Today’s teens are more likely to have abused an Rx painkiller than they are to have experimented with a variety of illicit drugs – including Ecstasy, cocaine, crack and LSD.

The abuse of prescription drugs has taken place quietly among a segment of the population where you'd least expect it: the elderly. In many cases, the elderly feel better while taking prescription drugs. They take more and more of them, then ask the doctor to refill their prescription, says Kenneth Schmader, a geriatric medicine specialist at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C. To make matters worse, doctors often prescribe an inappropriately high dose of these drugs to seniors, Schmader says. Older people metabolize drugs less efficiently and thus need a lower dose, he says.

Currently, increasing amounts of Internet sites allow for people to order prescription drugs on line. These sites pose a threat to everyone by allowing for increased accessibility to unauthorized medications. Prescription drug addiction, like any substance abuse problem, can lead to consequences. It is a felony, if a person purchases prescription pills off the Internet without a valid prescription. Many people addicted to prescription drugs, withhold information from a doctor to obtain the medication. Withholding information or doctor shopping is a felony.

A person abusing prescription medication such as a benzodiazepine or pain medication should seek medical attention before discontinuing use. People taking benzodiazepine may suffer from severe anxiety attacks, problems sleeping or in severe cases seizures. Many people experiencing these symptoms may lead a person right back to the drug.

Unintentional fatal drug overdoses nearly doubled from 1999 to 2004 and were the second leading cause of accidental death in the United States in 2004, behind only automobile crashes, according to the Centers for Disease Control. In other words, the dramatic increase in drug overdose deaths is not driven by illegal drug use in the inner cities; it is being fueled by prescription drug abuse in white, middle-class, rural America.

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