An American epidemic: prescription drug abuse now the fastest growing drug problem in the US

Recent news headlines have been dominated by the tragic death of award-winning singer and actress Whitney Houston.  Houston died in Beverly Hills, California last month in an apparent drowning.  Although the cause of her death was ruled an accident, much of Houston’s career was consumed by drug abuse.  Similar to Houston there are other entertainment stars who died young, partially from the effects of alcohol or drug abuse.  Other celebrities who have passed away at a young age include: Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse, and Heath Ledger.  Each of these deaths were tragic, however, circumstances regarding alcohol and drug overdoses are not confined to Hollywood superstars. 

Statistics indicate that prescription drug abuse amongst the general U.S. population is now an epidemic.  “In 2007, approximately 27,000 unintentional drug overdose deaths occurred in the United States, one death every 19 minutes.  Prescription drug abuse is the fastest growing drug problem in the United States,” according to a January 13, 2012, report titled CDC Grand Rounds: Prescription Drug Overdoses – a U.S. Epidemic.  Dr. Leonard Paulozzi and Dr. Grant Baldwin, both of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, were the lead authors of this report.

For young people, prescription drugs are the second-most abused type of drug. The leading abused drug amongst young people is marijuana.  Additionally, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, approximately 1/3^rd of people 12 and older who experimented with drugs for the first time in 2009 initially started using a prescription drug for nonmedical purposes.

In 2010, approximately 16 million Americans reported using a prescription drug for nonmedical reasons in the past year, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.  Also in 2010, President Barack Obama’s administration devised the National Drug Control Strategy which proposed the administration’s science-based method regarding drug policy.  In April 2011, the administration released its plan for addressing prescription drug abuse.  The plan, Epidemic: Responding to America’s Prescription Drug Abuse Crisis, includes four focal points: education, enforcement, proper medication disposal, and tracking & monitoring.

For more information regarding prescription drug abuse in the United States visit: http://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/prescription-drug-abuse