Prescription Drug Abuse

The dealer supplying you or your kids might be a pharmacist. And people of all ages are getting addicted.

Here are some stats:

• According to a recent study one out of five teens has abused prescription medication.

“It’s an epidemic and I’m afraid we’re losing a whole generation. These pain medications are so highly addictive that these young people are digging themselves a very deep hole.”, stated Beth Lewis Maze, the Chief Circuit Judge for the 21st Judicial Circuit in Kentucky in an interview on MSNBC.

• Another study recently found that the number of Baby Boomers (those 50 and older) showing up for treatment has almost doubled in the last 15 years. Many of these admissions are for several drugs, prescriptions included. Though most reported that they had used drugs at an early age, the abuse picked up within the last five years.

“The graying of drug users in America is an issue for many programs and communities providing health or social services for seniors." These findings show the changing scope of substance abuse problems in America.” stated SAMHSA administrator Pamela S. Hyde.

• The American Journal of Preventive Medicine reported that hospitalizations for poisoning by opiates and tranquilizers rose 65% from 1999 to 2006.
• Meanwhile, the statistics for those who need treatment and don’t seek it are skyrocketing.

While physicians, pharmacists, drug companies and law makers have had a hand in the pharmaceutical epidemic, solutions will be slow in coming from the perpetrators.

It is up to families and individuals to find their own solutions and the only real answer for prescription drug addiction is effective treatment program through counseling.

If you know someone who is abusing prescription drugs, do something about it now. The consequences of waiting could be deadly. Call us today.

Acting now could very well save a life and the value of a life saved is priceless.