prescriptionDue to an escalated prescription drug problem, The Oklahoma State Medical Association is backing legislation that will put a prescription monitoring program into action in Oklahoma. Dr. Todd Brockman, the President of this Association, expressed support for this proposal. He stated that the group understands the severity of the prescription drug abuse problem in the state. Governor Mary Fallin also expressed support for this particular program, admitting that Oklahoma has risen to the top of the nation in terms of prescription drug abuse. This should not come as that much of a surprise, taking into consideration that Oklahoma scored 8 out of 10 on a new policy report card of promising strategies to help curb prescription drug abuse. The national averaged scored 6 or less. In fact, Oklahoma has the fifth highest drug overdose mortality rate in this country. In Oklahoma, the number of overdose deaths tripled since 1999, a majority of these actually being caused by prescription drugs. Nationally, the overdose deaths doubled, on average, since 1999. What is the unnerving cause behind Oklahoma’s drug epidemic?

According to a report from the Trust for America’s Health, these Oklahoman deaths linked to prescription drug abuse have now outnumbered deaths related to heroin and cocaine combined. This is a pretty staggering statistic. This is compounded by the fact that deaths related to drug overdoses have also outnumbered the deaths related to motor vehicle accidents in Oklahoma, which is an average of two per day. Though these facts may have an urgent tone, it is fully warranted. The abuse of these types of legal drugs, which are supposed to be safe and regulated, has started to increase faster than the abuse of illegal street drugs. Many of anti-drug campaigns focus on the use of illegal drugs; maybe it is time to refocus the campaigns to include prescription drug abuse as well.

The abuse of these drugs remains a looming threat in society. This makes for a dire situation, as access to these drugs is so widely available. The most common prescription killers are of the opioid variety, particularly hydrocodone (Vicodin, Lortab, etc) and oxycodone (OxyContin, Percocet, etc). According to the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control, hydrocodone contributed to 153 Oklahoman overdose deaths in 2010, and oxycodone had contributed to 144. Xanax contributed to 139 of the overdose deaths. Additionally, methadone contributed to 99 overdoses, which is ironic considering one of its primary purposes is to wean addicts off of street narcotics like heroin. More than half of these overdoses were linked to a combination of several prescription drugs, an accidental and fatal cocktail of medication. A lot of these people are not aware of the potentially lethal interaction between benzos and opiates, which is where ignorance plays a significant role in this equation and where an urgency to inform and regulate the system appears to be more vital than ever before.

The Big Picture

Oklahoma seems to be just another puzzle piece from the broader perspective that the prescription drug epidemic has risen to the national level. In addition, the prescription drug abuse problem costs the country a rough $53.4 billion a year. To add insult to injury, only one in ten Americans with a substance abuse problem receive the necessary treatment, according to the report by the Trust for America’s Health. Additionally, since 1999, sales of these drugs per capita have quadrupled across the nation. It is evident as to why this is the fastest growing drug-related problem in the country and why action in this direction is being taken immediately. Apparently about 52 million Americans have used a prescription drug for non-medical reasons at least once in their life, and a majority of these cases have been younger people. Prescription drug abuse ranks in third place now, following directly after marijuana. Alcohol it is the most commonly abused substance in the country. An addiction attached to a prescription isn’t that hard to come by these days. It’s not only “low life addicts” living on the streets that are ruining their life over these pills. Furthermore, it is the misuse and abuse that wreaks havoc, with a myriad of issues following (such as side effects, long-term effects, health problems, etc). All too often, a patient will lie in order to get more pills. High school students will start taking some leftover surgery pills from one of their parents that are hoarded in a medicine cabinet that goes unsupervised. These situations are all too familiar and happen frequently. Let’s take a look at this Oklahoman issue from a broader point of view, taking the country into consideration as it so obviously is relevant here.

The prescription drugs normally abused are opioids (like OxyContin and Vicodin), central nervous system depressants (like Valium or Xanax) and central nervous stimulants (like Adderall and Dexedrine). Opioids generally aid a patient for pain relief, while central nervous system depressants aid with anxiety or sleep problems, and stimulants aid with sleep disorder, obesity, etc. However, the proper and necessitated use of these pills is clearly not followed in many cases, as is evident in the statistics. This leads the person toward a path of addiction, and a majority of these addicts are high school students. In 2010, 1 in 10 high school senior students reported past-year abuse of Vicodin and 1 in 20 reported past-year abuse of OxyContin, per a survey done by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. These drugs are evidently gaining popularity at a fast rate in this country. All too often there seems to be a misconception that these drugs are safer, milder, less harmful, not as risky when abusing due to the fact that they are actually prescription drugs. However, the repercussions from abuse of these drugs remain far from mild.

The side effects from these pills are seriously severe and these teenagers usually have absolutely no idea what they’re getting themselves into. This is compounded by the fact that most of these pills, when abused, greatly increase the risk of getting side effects. For example, some side effects from Adderall are nervousness, uncontrollable shaking of part of the body, restlessness, seizures, hallucinations, mania, paranoia and aggressive behavior. Symptoms of Dexedrine abuse are irritability, hallucinations, nausea, dry mouth, compulsive behavior and weight loss. Additionally, Dexedrine abuse is linked to heightened anxiety or depression, an increase in mood swings, paranoia and psychosis. When withdrawing from Dexedrine, the person can experience seizures, violent outbursts, psychotic reactions and confusion. These are pretty major red flags and if observed in someone you know it should be taken as a warning sign that perhaps they have a pill problem.

When someone withdraws from something like Valium or Xanax, they can experience seizures because the pills tend to have a backfiring effect if ingestion is stopped. When combined with alcohol, these types of pills can affect heart rhythm, cause slow respiration and sometimes death. Some long-term effects from them are blacking out or memory impairment. Abusing prescription pills has been linked to depression, psychotic episodes, aggressive and impulsive behavior, delirious states as well as cognitive deficits.