Prescription Drug Program and Rehab

Prescription drugs are meant to be used to alleviate the symptoms of a disease, but as with any other drug, many people have begun to suffer from prescription drug abuse, such as oxycontin. These drugs can have major effects - here are some statistics on prescription drug abuse.

2.5% of the population of the United States have abused opiate pain relievers such as oxycontin. This makes approximately 6 million people age 12 and up. The majority of these people were from 18-25 years. They show the most risk of gaining a lifelong drug addiction.

The abuse of prescription drugs in 2004, for the first time, (with 2.4 million people from 12 and up using them) surpassed those who abused marijuana – there were 21 million people who abused marijuana, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
In the same time of that year, there were about 9.5% of 12th graders who abused the medicine called Vicodin, with 5.5% abusing Oxycontin for non-medical purposes.This shows an overall increase.
Stimulant prescription substance abuse has also increased – 8.6% of seniors in high school have spoken of using amphetamine, which is a parent class of drugs that includes methamphetamine). Prescription drugs used for attention defecit disorder, such as Ritalin, are also used among high school students, with 4.4% of them reporting abuse of methylphenidate.

Posted in: Prescription Drug Abuse, Prescription Drug Addiction, Prescription Drug Detox