Prescription Drug Abuse

Prescription drugs are being misused and abused at alarming rates throughout the United States. As part of their efforts to address this problem, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is sponsoring a National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on September 25. On that day, the DEA will collect potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs for destruction at sites nationwide from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

Car crashes involving prescription drugs are often harder to detect and prosecute than those involving alcohol or illicit drugs, the New York Times reported recently. Drunk-driving crashes are declining, but law-enforcement officials say that more people are being charged with driving under the influence of prescription drugs. However, unlike with alcohol, there's no standard for intoxication for prescription painkillers, anti-anxiety medications, and other legal drugs that may or may not be used according to their prescription. Also, taking such drugs (alone or in combination with other substances or alcohol) has widely different effects on different people — all of which makes prosecuting such offenses more difficult.

They came, they saw, they conquered! That’s what nearly 1300 prevention leaders did last week at CADCA’s 2010 Mid-Year Training Institute in Phoenix, Ariz. Prevention leaders, representing community coalitions from across the country, heard from key federal officials and expert speakers, and learned new strategies and ideas to conquer their local drug abuse problems.

A lack of mandated training for physicians has helped end a U.S. Food and Drug Administration proposal intended to curb misuse of prescription drugs, the New York Times reported July 23.

Do you want to raise awareness of the dangers of prescription (Rx) drug abuse and over-the-counter (OTC) cough medicine abuse, and enter in a drawing for a free iPad? Then take part in the CADCA 50 Challenge.

The proportion of all substance abuse treatment admissions of those age 12 and older involving abuse of prescription pain relievers rose by more than 400 percent from 2.2 percent in 1998 to 9.8 percent in 2008, according to a new study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Since prescription drug abuse is the fastest-growing drug problem in the United States, ONDCP launched a prescription drug abuse initiative aimed at preventing and reducing prescription drug abuse and emergency room visits resulting from that abuse.

For a team of Washington state high school students, spending two months to produce a 33-second public service announcement was well worth the time it could take to save a fellow young person's life.

A statewide social marketing and media campaign in West Virgina may be just what the doctor ordered. The "Take Care West Virginia: RX Drug Abuse Prevention Campaign" hopes public service announcements, a new website www.takecarewv.org, prescription bags that include the campaign message and town hall-style forums and discussions will be the cure for their prescription drug abuse problem.

Visits to hospital emergency departments involving the nonmedical use of prescription narcotic pain relievers more than doubled, rising 111 percent, between 2004 and 2008, according to a study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Twenty percent of U.S. high-school students say they have taken prescription drugs without consulting a doctor, including one in four high-school seniors, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A new podcast developed by the National Institutes of Health’s Office of Research on Women’s Health explores the effects of prescription drug abuse among women.

Nearly 800 community pharmacies in 40 states are making it easier than ever for consumers to safely dispose of unused patient medications at their local pharmacy through a new initiative spearheaded by the National Community Pharmacists Association and Sharps Compliance, Inc.