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Substance abuse treatment admissions for non-medical use of prescription pain relievers have increased more than 400% over 10 years, according to a new government study.
The proportion of admissions for people age 12 and older increased from 2.2% in 1998 to 9.8 percent in 2008, and this rise was seen in all age, gender, race and ethnic groups, as well as in people of all education levels and in all regions of the country, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reported.
"The non-medical use of prescription pain relievers is now the second most prevalent form of illicit drug use in the nation, and its tragic consequences are seen in substance abuse treatment centres and hospital emergency departments throughout our nation," SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde said.
"This public health threat demands that we follow the President's National Drug Control Strategy's call for an all-out effort to raise awareness of this risk and the critical importance of properly using, storing, and disposing of these powerful drugs," she added.
The study
The study, based on data from SAMHSA's Treatment Episode Data Set, a reporting system involving treatment facilities from across the country, showed that the proportion of admission rates increased from 1.8% to 8.1% for men and from 3.5% to 13.3 % for women. Rates increased from 1.9% to 9.7% for those with an eighth-grade education or less, and from 3.8% to 12.1% for those with more than a high school education.
"Our national prescription drug abuse problem cannot be ignored," A. Thomas McLellan, deputy director of National Drug Control Policy, said in the news release. "I have worked in the treatment field for the last 35 years, and recent trends regarding the extent of prescription drug abuse are startling. We must work with prescribers, the pharmaceutical industry, and families to help us fight this scourge." - (July 2010)
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