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Prescription for Abuse

NCJ Number
203363
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 51 Issue: 11 Dated: November 2003 Pages: 93-96
Author(s)
Russell Schanlaub
Date Published
November 2003
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article discusses current problems associated with the abuse of prescription drugs.
Abstract
While the abuse of prescription drugs is not new in the United States, the continual improvement of drug technologies has resulted in prescription drug abuse now reaching epidemic proportions. Prescription drug abuse is the use of a drug by any person other than the person for whom the prescription was originally prescribed. Law enforcement training has largely focused on prescription drugs that are produced illegally, and the prevalence of street level drug abuse has often relegated the problem of prescription drug use to a back burner. In 1999 more than 9 million Americans used prescription drugs for non-medical reasons; the improper use of these medications kills over 125,000 Americans each year. After breaking down prescription drug abuse into abuse of opioids, central nervous system depressants, and stimulants, the article explains that many prescription drugs are controlled but not scheduled. Focusing on one particular prescription drug, the article discusses OxyContin, a drug for treating chronic pain, that is becoming the primarily prescribed schedule II narcotic in the United States. Police agencies and Drug Enforcement Agents need to work together to insure that drugs such as OxyContin are controlled. The National Drug Information Center is an excellent resource for providing training materials and information in order to educate State police agencies about the wide variety of drugs available legally and illegally. The author contends that the wide availability of prescription drugs that effectively alter the mental and physical states of young and old alike need to be considered a serious problem and monitored closely.

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