Prescription drug addictions on the rise

11 year old, Sarah Roisman’s doctors prescribed her a muscle relaxant for seizures. By age 14, Sarah was hooked. Prescription drug abuse shot to prominence with the death of Hollywood actor Heath Ledger, who plays in the film Batman, The Dark Night, after he took six different prescriptions. The list of prescription drug overdoses is growing. In some age groups, prescription drug deaths now surpass motor vehicle deaths as America's #1 cause of accidental death. More Americans abused prescription drugs in 2007 than cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, Ecstasy, and marijuana combined. The number of Americans treated for abuse of painkillers surged 321 percent from 1995 to 2005. There's very low social disapproval. There are parents who are almost relieved that their kid is using Vicodin (painkillers containing hydrocodone and paracetamol) and not smoking marijuana. For many children, getting the drugs is simple. Roisman and her friends raided family medicine cabinets for OxyContin (a synthetic morphine), Ritalin and Vicodin - until she eventually passed out one day in school. A drug test showed she had seven different drugs in her system. “People think that it's okay because it's a prescribed pill. It comes from a credible source.” said Roisman, who became sober after two years of treatment at a rehab.

(Reuters Health, July 2008) Read full article

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