Millions of people across the U.S. and Canada suffer from prescription drug abuse and alcohol abuse. There are ample studies that conclude prescription drug abuse is rampant with people suffering from drug addiction, drug poisoning, and tens of thousands of people are losing their life to prescription drugs. Statistics also indicate that alcohol abuse affects almost twenty million people annually. Prescription drugs and alcohol are considered controlled substances yet combined; they take tens of millions of more lives than illegal street drugs.
Alcohol Addiction
According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS), alcohol abuse permeates almost every age group with most addicts using alcohol as a tool to self-medicate in place of getting psychological help to deal with the issues they are hiding from. As of 2008, statistics compiled by the USDHHS revealed that 19 million individuals over the age of 12 (with 1.2 million of these between 12 and 17) needed treatment for alcohol abuse in 2007.
The University of Minnesota published a document entitled, “Alcohol Decisions” written by Sharon Wright. Some alarming statistics are revealed in this document. Alcohol abuse in the U.S. is involved in many health, safety and social problems. Alarming proportions of accidents, suicides, drinking and driving incidents causing harm or death, crimes, and incidences of family violence as well as juvenile delinquency are the result of alcohol abuse by one or more family members.
Percentages of social problems related to alcohol abuse across the U.S. are shown below. This information was gathered by various Minnesota studies and summarized by the Minnesota Prevention Resource Center.
- 41% of all deaths from falls,
- 30% of drowning deaths,
- 25% of boating deaths,
- 45 - 55% of fire fatalities are alcohol-related,
- 55 - 75% of murder victims,
- 40% of rape offenders were intoxicated,
- 50% of all sex abusers abuse alcohol,
- 80% of all adolescent suicides were reported to be children of alcoholic parents,
- In 44 - 70% of the reported cases of battered women, the offender was drunk,
- 70% of adult women alcoholics were sexually abused as children,
- Children of alcoholic parents are more than twice as likely to become an alcoholic,
- 82% of adjudicated delinquent adolescents had at least one alcoholic parent.
Prescription Drug Abuse
Science Daily reports that drug abuse that leads to poisoning is now the second leading cause of unintentional injury death in the U.S. The rates of unintentional poisoning deaths have been increasing for almost two decades, and in fact, unintentional poisoning has surpassed motor vehicle accidents as the leading cause of unintentional injury death among people 35-54 years of age.
In a study published in the May issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers found that hospitalizations for poisoning by prescription opioids, sedatives and tranquilizers in the U.S. have increased by 65% from 1999 to 2006.
CBC News reported in 2007 that in the United States alone, the abuse of painkillers, stimulants, tranquilizers and other prescription medications has gone beyond all illicit drugs with the exception of cannabis.
According to CBC News, a study published in November 2006 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal discovered that heroin is not the opiate of choice among many substance abusers in Canada; prescription drugs such as morphine and OxyContin have taken heroin’s place.
Many drug addicts are replacing one addiction with a “legal” addiction by using methadone, buprenorphine, and not getting the help they need to overcome the underlying psychological issues. Prescription drugs such as naltrexone (a highly addictive opiate) and topiramate are used to help alcoholics reduce their drinking.
Last year, USA Today reported that addiction to prescription painkillers, which are killing thousands of Americans every year “has become a largely unrecognized epidemic, experts say.” The article quotes Leonard Paulozzi of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “In fact, prescription drugs cause most of the more than 26,000 fatal overdoses each year.”
The number of overdose deaths from opioid painkillers, including morphine and codeine has more than tripled from 1999 to 2006, to 13,800 deaths in 2006 according to CDC statistics released in October 2010.
Prescription Drugs and Alcohol Make People Rich
According to the University of Minnesota, in the United States alone, alcohol is approximately a $35 billion a year industry. Public revenues from the liquor manufacturing, distribution and sales total $15.7 billion of which the federal government share is $5.7 billion. Alcohol advertising alone is a billion dollar business.
According to 2003 statistics by Stats Canada, alcohol sales in Canada totalled $14.5 billion, up 6.8 percent from 2000/01. Beer accounted for 51.1 percent of the total, and the remainder was split between spirits (25.6%) and wine (23.3%).
Profits from the control and sale of alcoholic beverages in Canada reached $3.9 billion, up 2.7 percent from 2000/01. Of that amount, $3.2 billion was remitted to the provincial and territorial governments.
According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, the U.S. healthcare industry is the world’s biggest, with over $300 billion a year spent on prescription drugs alone, and this figure is continuously rising. This figure does not include over-the-counter medications.
Sources:
- American Journal of Preventative Medicine
- Science Daily
- University of Minnesota
- Alcohol Sales in Canada
- Bureau of Investigative Journalism
- CBC News, February 28, 2007. Prescription drug abuse set to exceed use of illicit narcotics globally
- Medical News Today
- USA Today, October 6, 2010. Prescriptions now biggest cause of fatal drug overdoses
Karen Stephenson - Karen has written for several newspapers and print media in addition to many online publications. She holds a B.A. in English and an ...
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