Prescription drug addiction has become a growing epidemic
Thirty-one of 75 patients hospitalized for opioid detox told doctors that they first became addicted to legitimately prescribed pain drugs. Another 24 patients began their addiction with pills prescribed from a friend or from their parents’ medicine cabinet. The remaining 20 patients said they became addicted to illegal drugs.
This information was reported to physicians at the University at Buffalo. Ninety-two percent of patients in the study said they eventually bought drugs on the street, mainly heroin, because it is cheaper and more effective than prescription drugs.
They told doctors that they continued to use drugs because they “helped take away my pain and emotional stress,” “make me feel normal,” or “make me feel like a better person.”
The information will be used to train University at Buffalo College of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences medical students and residents and practicing physicians to screen for potential addictions among their patients and direct them to a treatment program if necessary.
Prescription drug abuse is the greatest drug-related threat to Floridians’ health and safety. The 2009 Florida Medical Examiner Report revealed that prescription drug overdoses kill seven Floridians every day. This is five times higher than deaths from all illegal drugs combined.
The explosion of pain clinics in Florida has contributed to the problem. Many of these are “pill mills” where drugs are exchanged for money. Florida has become popular with drug seekers from other states who come to buy prescription drugs.
According to the 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 70 percent of people who abuse prescription drugs get their supply from friends and family. Other patients receive their prescription drugs from a doctor. Many others “seek doctors” to receive their prescriptions for pain relievers. Stolen, counterfeit, or counterfeit prescriptions are a common way addicts obtain their supply of prescription drugs.
In January, Florida convened a Statewide Prescription Drug Task Force comprised of various state agencies and tasked them with finding solutions to the problem. Along with federal agencies, the Task Force has accelerated its attack on the criminal activity that often surrounds the use of prescription drugs.
A law, SB 2272, was passed, giving health officials greater authority to regulate pain clinics in Florida. The Prescription Drug Monitoring Program will begin in December. It will allow physicians to consult the prescription history of their patients. As a result, potential “medical buyers” will be discouraged.
