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According to a recent study published in the May American Journal of Public Health, approximately 1.3 million Americans age 12 and older abuse prescription drugs and require treatment for their problem.
Researchers from the University of Maryland, Baltimore calculated the number of prescription drug abusers using data from the 1991-1993 National Household Surveys on Drug Abuse. The surveys indicate that more than 8.2 million people, or 4 percent of the U.S. population, have used prescription drugs for nonmedical purposes in the past year. Data suggests that people who used prescription drugs for nonmedical purposes were considered problem users if they had at least two symptoms of abuse, including the inability to cut down on drug use or needing larger amounts of the drug, withdrawal symptoms, or use of the prescription drug in the past month and being depressed, upset or unable to think clearly.
Women, unmarried adults and those age 35 and older were more likely than others to be problem users of narcotic painkillers like codeine and morphine, the researchers found. Those who had the highest profile for abusing minor tranquilizers were women, Caucasians, daily drinkers and individuals in poor health. The study was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Note from NIDA Director about increased abuse of prescription drugs
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