Prescription Drugs Kill One Person Every 19 Minutes

Prescription drugs kill one person every 19 minutes – The Quiet Epidemic: prescription drug abuse destroys millions of lives Nancy Rosen-Cohen The Baltimore Sun There isn’t much attention paid to prescription drug abuse, except perhaps when a Hollywood star dies from an overdose. However, it is estimated that nearly one in five Americans has used prescription drugs for nonmedicinal reasons, and 15 percent may be abusing prescription drugs. This silent epidemic has become the leading cause of addiction. This week, the Maryland Chapter of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and the University of Maryland Medical Center sponsored the annual Tuerk Conference, a gathering of 1200 health professionals working in the field of addictions to focus on treatment and prevention of prescription drug abuse. Confronting and debunking the common myth that prescription drugs are less deadly and less addictive was one of the items on the agenda. The dangers of prescription drug abuse are growing at an exponential rate. Between 1992 and 2002, the number of prescriptions written increased by 61 percent, but the number of prescriptions written for opiates increased by almost 400 percent. Opiates reflect three-quarters of all prescription drugs abused. Actor Heath Ledger had Vicodin (hydrocodone), OxyContin (oxycodone), Valium (diazepam), and Xanax (alprazolam) in his bloodstream when he died. All are legal opiates. According to a report this month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hospitalizations for …

Legalizing Pot Could Hinder Drug Dogs out on the Streets

Filed under: drug addiction newspaper articles

The drugs dogs in Washington learn to “alert” on five odors — marijuana, cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine — by sitting down, an action that indicates to their handler that drugs are present. In Washington, there are about 160 …
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'I Hate Teen Moms' Facebook Page Under Fire

Filed under: drug addiction newspaper articles

The social networking site declined to take down the page because it wanted to protect “expression,” ABC News' affiliate KOMO-TV in Seattle reported. …. They do drugs, they drink, the dump their kid on anyone who will take them, just so they can go …
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