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Prescription drug overuse or non-medical prescription drug use is the use of prescription medications that is more than the prescribed amount, regardless of whether the original medical reason to take the drug is legitimate. [1] [2] A prescription drug is a drug substance prescribed by a doctor and intended to for individual use only. [3]
Many of these medications can be bought in retail pharmacies or grocery stores without a prescription. OTC medication overuse is most prevalent in adolescents and young adults. [1] This overuse is common due to the relatively low cost, widespread availability, low perceived dangers, and internet culture associated with OTC medications. [2]
While prohibited drugs are generally viewed as being the most dangerous, the misuse of prescription drugs is linked to more deaths in several countries. [ 12 ] [ 16 ] Cocaine and heroin combined caused fewer deaths than prescriptions drugs in the United Kingdom in 2013, [ 17 ] [ 18 ] and fewer deaths than prescription opiates alone in the ...
Prescription drug and over-the-counter (OTC) drug abuse together constitutes 2.6 percent of all primary illicit substances admitted to South African drug treatment facilities. [78] However, lifetime illicit drug use for prescription or OTC medicines was highest among adolescents, at 16 percent prevalence rate, followed by inhalants, club drugs ...
Since 2000, fatal overdose rates involving heroin and prescription painkillers have increased by 200 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. From 2013 to 2014 alone, the rates jumped by 14 percent.
The rate of prescription drug use is fast overtaking illegal drug use in the United States. According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, 7 million people were taking prescription drugs for nonmedical use in 2010. Among 12th graders, nonmedical prescription drug use is now second only to cannabis. [19]
[22] [23] [24] The epidemic began with the overprescription and abuse of prescription drugs. [25] However, as prescription drugs became less accessible in 2016 in response to CDC opioid prescribing guidelines, [26] there was an increase in demand and accessibility to cheaper, illicit alternatives to opioids such as heroin and fentanyl. [27]
A Kentucky county nestled in the heart of Appalachia, where the opioid crisis has wreaked devastation for decades, spent $15,000 of its opioid settlement money on an ice rink.