Stop precription drug abuse!

Figure 1: 52 Million people in the US, over the age of 12, have used prescription drugs non-medically in their lifetime.1

Figure 2: 6.1 Million people have used them non-medically in the past month.2  5 percent of the United States is the world's population and consumes 75 percent of the the world's prescription drugs.3

Figure 3: In 2010, enough prescription painkillers were prescribed to medicate every american adult every 4 hours for 1 month.4

The number of prescription medicine abusers in 2010 was 8.76 million. Most abused prescription drugs fall under 3 categories: 5

Painkillers: 5.1 million
Tranquilizers: 2.2 million
Stimulants: 1.1 million
Figure 4: Non-medical use of prescription drugs by state6

Figure 5: Where are prescription drugs obtained?7

0.3%: Bought on the internet
1.9%: More than one doctor
2.2%: Other
3.9%: Drug dealer or stranger
16.6% Bought/took from friend or relative
18.1%: One doctor
54.2%: FREE from friend or relative
Figure 6: Twelve reasons teens use prescription drugs:8

62%: Easy to get from parent's medicine cabinets
52%: Available everywhere
51%: They are not illegal drugs
50%: Easy to get through other people's prescriptions
49%: Can claim to have prescription if caught
43%: They are cheap
35%: Safer to use than illegal drugs
33%: Less shame attached to using
32%: Easy to purchase over the internet
32%: Fewer side effects than street drugs
25%: Can be used as study aids
21%: Parents don't care as much if caught

The prescription drug abuse epidemic continues to grow as an increasing problem and we need to put an end to it!!! Too many lives have been cut short and too families have had to bury their family members who overdosed. This isn't right...those people had a long lives to live yet they were cut short by taking prescription medication. All it takes is one person to bring this topic to light in order to create a much needed change.

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