Wednesday, October 29, 2003

Prescription abuse grows across U.S.
Chicago Tribune story reprinted in the Billings Gazette (Montana) - "The face of drug addiction is changing in America, from cocaine or heroin addicts snorting or shooting up to teenagers and grandmothers popping pills purchased at the local pharmacy or delivered through the mail in plain packages. ... Prescription drug abuse is the fastest-growing type of substance abuse in the United States, a phenomenon fed by aggressive drug marketing, Americans' habit of taking pills for any ailment, physicians' tendency to over-prescribe and the Internet, which is expanding the availability of drugs exponentially."