Prescription drug abuse and addiction has continued to be a growing problem in this country for teenagers, young adults and older adults as well. In recent years prescription drugs have been more responsible for creating the need for rehab than street drugs.
According to SAMHSA's Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), nearly 1.3 million emergency department (ED) visits in 2004 were associated with drug misuse/abuse. Nonmedical use of pharmaceuticals was involved in nearly 500,000 of these ED visits.
Opiates/opioid analgesics (pain killers) and benzodiazepines were each present in more than 100,000 emergency department visits associated with nonmedical use of pharmaceuticals.
Opiates/opioid analgesics include hydrocodone, oxycodone, methadone, codeine, Dilaudid, morphine, Demerol, opium, and any other drug with morphine-like effects. Benzodiazepines include alprazolam and clonazepam.
Muscle relaxants (particularly carisoprodol and cyclobenzaprine) were involved in an estimated 28,000 emergency department visits related to nonmedical use.
Two thirds or more of emergency department visits associated with opiates/opioids, benzodiazepines, and muscle relaxants involved multiple drugs. Alcohol was one of the other drugs in about as quarter of such emergency department visits.
