Prescription pain relievers are safe and effective when used correctly
for a medical condition and under a doctor’s supervision.
But they can cause serious side effects if not used correctly. Misuse or use for nonmedical reasons can lead to abuse, addiction and even death. Federal and state laws also make it illegal to share prescription drugs or use them without a prescription....
-
Prescription drug abuse is the nation’s fastest-growing drug problem, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has classified it as an epidemic.
-
Drug overdoses kill more Oklahomans than motor vehicle accidents, an average of two per day.
-
Hydrocodone or oxycodone were factors in 297 overdose deaths in Oklahoma in 2010, according to the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control.
- 26,000,000
Americans between 26 and 50
report they have used prescription
drugs nonmedically at some
point in their lives.
- 402%
Amount of increase in the
milligram-per-person use of
prescription opioids in the U.S.
from 1997 to 2007.
-
256MILLION
Prescriptions retail pharmacies
dispensed for opioids in 2009;
up from 174 million in 2000.
