I must apologize for the crudeness of this video, but I heard this headline on CNN this morning, and it started me on this trail, pertaining to the area of prescription drugs and the growing problem it presents.
So, I whipped out my cell phone, and hit record. I left it like this, because that's how things are sometimes, raw and uncut!
So, on this page, we have gathered just SOME of the many resources on the web, talking about this topic. These numbers are alarming!
Check it out for yourself.
(links have been provided to the original source)
Now, some of the information below, may be contained in part, in the above video, but there may still be additional information in another video source, so that's why they are here.
You will find a number of video on CNNs' video page, like there:
President Obama to unveil plan to combat drug abuse
http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2016/03/29/obama-war-on-drug-abuse-gupta-nr.cnn
The problem of substance abuse touches many areas of public policy, from border security to the health system and criminal justice. The rise may have been spurred partially by an increase in supply: the amount of heroin seized at the border with Mexico quadrupled by 2013 from the 2000s, making the drug cheaper in the U.S. and more pure. During 2008-2011, there were about 1.1 million emergency department visits for drug poisoning each year, or 35.4 visits per 10,000 people.
Abuse has increased most drastically in the Midwest.
Age-adjusted rates for drug-poisoning deaths involving heroin, by census region: United States, 2000, 2007, and 2013:
But prescription drug abuse is the bigger epidemic.
Heroin abuse is tightly tied to prescription drug abuse. Almost half of people addicted to heroin are also addicted to painkillers. People are 40 times more likely to be addicted to heroin if they are addicted to prescription painkillers. Abuse of prescription painkillers is incredibly common — one in 20 Americans age 12 and older reported using painkillers for non-medical reasons in the past year. While it's true that heroin abuse has skyrocketed in the last years, prescription drug abuse is more common. The number of overdose deaths from prescription pain medication is larger than those of heroin and cocaine combined.
But prescription drug abuse is the bigger epidemic.
Heroin abuse is tightly tied to prescription drug abuse. Almost half of people addicted to heroin are also addicted to painkillers. People are 40 times more likely to be addicted to heroin if they are addicted to prescription painkillers. Abuse of prescription painkillers is incredibly common — one in 20 Americans age 12 and older reported using painkillers for non-medical reasons in the past year. While it's true that heroin abuse has skyrocketed in the last years, prescription drug abuse is more common. The number of overdose deaths from prescription pain medication is larger than those of heroin and cocaine combined.
Age-adjusted rates for drug-poisoning deaths, by type of drug: United States, 2000–2013
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