Recently our
local county sheriff was interviewed and communicated this idea: That while
heroin is a growing problem for our area, prescription drug abuse was a greater
and more harmful problem.
More harmful than heroin.
Most prescription drugs that are abused are opioids. That is, they come from the same family as heroin. Prescription drugs are easier to find without the seedy drug dealer, right in your own home or a friend's home or someone's purse or...well, the possibilities are endless.
Washington, D.C. October 7, 2013 -
Michigan has the 18th highest drug overdose mortality rate in the United
States, with 13.9 per 100,000 people suffering drug overdose fatalities,
according to a new report, Prescription Drug Abuse: Strategies to Stop the
Epidemic.
The number of drug overdose deaths
- a majority of which are from prescription drugs - in Michigan tripled since
1999 when the rate was 4.6 per 100,000. Nationally, rates have doubled in 29
states since 1999, quadrupled in four of these states and tripled in 10 more. (http://www.healthyamericans.org/, 2014)
At a seminar for continuing education that I attended last
year, a state police officer described how people, not just kids, were grabbing
prescription drugs from their grandparents or sick relatives and taking them to
parties where they would put all of the pills into a container. Then they would
reach in and take pot luck whatever pill they happened to grab. It could be a
mix of blood pressure medication, thyroid meds, pain killers, water pills; it
didn’t matter. This is a new and scary kind of Russian roulette.
Someone described to me how a family member was so addicted
to pain killers that they would take topical pain patches and open them up and
lick the medication from them. People crush painkillers and inhale or inject
them. There are new forms of certain prescription drugs that are crush proof to
try to stop this practice and make the drug less desirable.
And then there is the money question. In the light of the
economy and the uncertainty involved with being able to receive medical care,
people are taking advantage of selling their prescription drugs, whose cost in
the first place is hard for these same patients to manage.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Prescription
drug abuse, now the fastest-growing drug problem in the country, has created a
ballooning street market for highly-addictive pain relief, anxiety and
depression drugs. Given the money involved, it's no wonder.
Here's a sampling of the street
prices for a single tablet of some commonly trafficked drugs, compared to their
retail prices:
-Oxycontin: $50 to $80 on the
street, vs. $6 when sold legally
--Oxycodone: $12 to $40 on the
street, vs. $6 retail
--Hydrocodone: $5 to $20 vs. $1.50
--Percocet: $10 to $15 vs. $6
--Vicodin: $5 to $25 vs. $1.50 (CNN, 2011)
These are per pill prices, not per quantity. Most people I know are strapped for money. This is pretty temping. Big bucks for hardly any effort.
So, what can we do about it?
Do not share, sell, or give away prescription drugs. There
are so many reasons not to, but let’s see if saving a person’s life is a value
you can work with.
Turn in out-dated and unused prescription drugs to your
police department. I know Benzie Police Department has a locked container to
drop drugs in for safe disposal. Some pharmacies have yellow jugs for disposal of old drugs.
(http://www.munsonhealthcare.org/News/Default.aspx?sid=1&nid=340,
Do not flush your old prescriptions down the toilet,
particularly if you have city water. What goes around comes around, and traces
of prescription drugs are showing up in city water supplies as well as
non-prescription drugs.
Don’t assume someone will not steal your drugs.
.
For your information: There are a lot of people contesting
which drugs are controlled substances. As of October 2014, this is the current
standing:
Definition of Controlled Substance Schedules
Drugs and other substances that are
considered controlled substances under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) are
divided into five schedules. An updated
and complete list of the schedules is published annually in Title 21 Code of
Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) §§ 1308.11 through 1308.15. Substances are placed in their respective
schedules based on whether they have a currently accepted medical use in
treatment in the United States, their relative abuse potential, and likelihood
of causing dependence when abused. Some
examples of the drugs in each schedule are listed below.
Schedule I Controlled Substances
Substances in this schedule have no
currently accepted medical use in the United States, a lack of accepted safety
for use under medical supervision, and a high potential for abuse.
Some examples of substances listed
in Schedule I are: heroin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), marijuana
(cannabis), peyote, methaqualone, and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine
("Ecstasy").
Schedule II Controlled Substances
Substances in this schedule have a
high potential for abuse which may lead to severe psychological or physical
dependence.
Examples of Schedule II narcotics
include: hydromorphone (Dilaudid®), methadone eperidine (Demerol®), oxycodone
(OxyContin®, Percocet®), and fentanyl (Sublimaze®, Duragesic®). Other Schedule II narcotics include:
morphine, opium, and codeine.
Examples of Schedule II stimulants
include: amphetamine (Dexedrine®, Adderall®), methamphetamine (Desoxyn®), and
methylphenidate (Ritalin®).
Other Schedule II substances
include: amobarbital, glutethimide, and pentobarbital.
Schedule III Controlled Substances
Substances in this schedule have a
potential for abuse less than substances in Schedules I or II and abuse may
lead to moderate or low physical dependence or high psychological dependence.
Examples of Schedule III narcotics
include: combination products containing less than 15 milligrams of hydrocodone
per dosage unit (Vicodin®), products containing not more than 90 milligrams of
codeine per dosage unit (Tylenol with Codeine®), and buprenorphine (Suboxone®).
Examples of Schedule III
non-narcotics include: benzphetamine (Didrex®), phendimetrazine, ketamine, and
anabolic steroids such as Depo®-Testosterone.
Schedule IV Controlled Substances
Substances in this schedule have a
low potential for abuse relative to substances in Schedule III.
Examples of Schedule IV substances
include: alprazolam (Xanax®), carisoprodol (Soma®), clonazepam (Klonopin®),
clorazepate (Tranxene®), diazepam (Valium®), lorazepam (Ativan®), midazolam
(Versed®), temazepam (Restoril®), and triazolam (Halcion®).
Schedule V Controlled Substances
Substances in this schedule have a
low potential for abuse relative to substances listed in Schedule IV and
consist primarily of preparations containing limited quantities of certain narcotics.
Examples of Schedule V substances include: cough
preparations containing not more than 200 milligrams of codeine per 100
milliliters or per 100 grams (Robitussin AC®, Phenergan with Codeine®), and
ezogabine. (US Department of Justice Drug
Enforcement Administration, 2014)
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