When people are in acute or chronic pain, they turn to their doctor for help. One of the most common forms of help that is provided is a prescription painkiller. Although this medicine helps the body change the way that it perceives pain, the opioid based painkillers also have an addictive quality to them. When needed over the long term for care, it becomes very easy to abuse this medicine and become addicted to it.
Facts About Painkiller Abuse
1. 10%. That’s the percentage of high school students who admit to abusing painkillers in the United States.
2. Misuse of painkillers represents 75% of the overall problem of prescription drug abuse.
3. In 2007, the painkiller Methadone was responsible for nearly 800 deaths by itself in the state of Florida.
4. Abuse of tobacco, alcohol, and painkillers is costly, resulting in over $600 billion of annual in costs related to crime, lost work productivity and healthcare.
5. In 2010, there were so many prescription painkillers prescribed that it would be enough for every American adult to take one every 4 hours for 30 days.
6. 5.1 million people in the US are believed to be abuse painkillers right now.
7. The number of people who have used a prescription for a non-medical purpose in the last 30 days: 6.1 million.
8. 5% of the US population consumes 75% of the world’s prescription drug supply.
9. Over the course of a lifetime, 52 million people above the age of 12 have at least once used a prescription in a way that it was not intended.
10. 54% of the painkillers that are abused are obtained for free from a friend or a relative.
11. 0.3%. That’s the percentage of painkillers that are obtained over the internet.
12. More than 8 out of 10 people who abuse painkillers will get their prescriptions from just one doctor.
13. 62% of teens who abuse painkillers say they do so because they’re so easy to get – right out of their parent’s medicine cabinet.
14. Among youths aged 12 to 17, the rate of current non-medical use of prescription-type drugs declined from 4% in 2002 to 2.8% in 2011.
15. Overdose deaths involving prescription opioid analgesics, which are medications used to treat pain, have increased to almost 17,000 deaths a year in the United States.
16. In 2012, an estimated 493,000 persons aged 12 or older used a prescription pain reliever non-medically for the first time within the past 12 months. That’s over 1,300 people per day.
17. 17% of people who abuse drugs for the first time will choose a painkiller as their first drug of choice.
18. 1.2 million. That’s the number of emergency room visits that are associated with an unapproved use of painkillers. 29% of those visits were classified as medical emergencies.
19. Medical emergencies resulting from prescription drug abuse increased 132% over the last 7 years. Opioid abuse has increased by 183%.
20. 26% of students today believe that using prescription drugs is a way to improve their studies.
21. More than 100 million Americans suffer from pain annually.
22. The US spends over $600 billion annually just to treat pain.
23. 21.5 million people aged 12 or older suffered from substance use disorders. 9 out of 10 of those people didn’t receive any treatment for their condition.
24. Nearly 2% of all U.S. opioid prescriptions are purchased by patients presumed to be shopping around with doctors.
25. 10.9% of those abusing painkillers bought the drug from a friend or relative.
26. 4.3 million prescriptions each year and 4% of all opioids by weight are distributed to patients who are seeing multiple doctors to have their painkiller addiction satisfied.
27. The number of people who die every day because of painkiller abuse: 45.
28. Overdose deaths from prescription painkillers have quadrupled nationwide in recent years, rising from 4,030 deaths in 1999 to 16,651 in 2010.
29. 125,000 lives were lost in the last 10 years to legal drugs like Vicodin, OxyContin and methadone.
30. For every overdose death because of painkillers, the CDC estimates that there are 825 people who are taking them for non-medical purposes.
31. There are 10 treatment admissions for painkiller abuse for every overdose death that occurs.
32. The quantity of prescription painkillers sold to pharmacies, hospitals, and doctors offices was 4x higher in 2010 than in 1999.
33. 1 in 20 people in the US self-report that they use painkillers for something other than their intended reason each year.
34. A California study found that 3% of doctors wrote 62% of painkiller prescriptions.
35. Painkiller abuse is more common in men than in women.
36. States with the most painkiller sales per person have the most deaths.
37. Rural Caucasian males are the most likely demographic to be abusing painkillers.
38. Painkiller overdoses exceed the overdoses of heroin and cocaine combined.
39. In the US, UK, and Australia, painkiller abuse is up to 20x greater in the general population than in countries with fewer resources.
40. Of the estimated 78,000 annual global deaths that are attributed to drug overdoses, about 50% of them come from painkillers and 2 out of 3 overdose victims are men.
41. The most common age for painkiller overdose fatalities is the 20-29 age demographic.
42. The maker of OxyContin, Purdue Pharma LP, has been compiling a database for the past 10 years of doctors who recklessly prescribe their painkiller. There are over 1,800 doctors on that list right now.
43. The states with the highest rates of narcotic painkiller abuse are all in the West: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington.
44. The number of people undergoing treatment for prescription painkiller drug abuse and addiction quadrupled from 2004 to 2010.
45. 28% of 12th graders in a recent survey had abused prescription medications in the previous 12 months. 6 of the top 11 abused drugs were painkillers.
46. Just 4% of kids aged 12-18 will take painkillers from a friend without asking.
47. There is no way to know how quickly someone taking prescription painkillers will become addicted to the drug.
48. In 2007, 2.5 million Americans abused prescription drugs for the first time, compared to 2.1 million who used marijuana for the first time.
49. 50% of teens believe that taking prescription drugs is much safer than using illegal street drugs.
50. In 2007, for example, abuse of the painkiller Fentanyl killed more than 1,000 people even though it was believed to be safe. In follow-up research, it was discovered that the painkiller was up to 50x more powerful than heroin.
51. 1 in 15 people who are taking prescription painkillers for non-medical purposes will try heroin within 10 years.
52. The number of people dependent on heroin and painkillers has tripled since 2004.
Drug abuse isn’t something that is new to any society around the world. There was a time when cocaine and morphine could be legally used for any purpose. Caffeine is widely used around the world every day. Yet painkillers are a unique problem that faces society. Not only are some painkillers available over the counter in NSAID format, but when combined with other drugs or alcohol, the body can become quickly overwhelmed.
Painkillers should be avoided whenever possible to reduce the chances of addiction and personal harm. Otherwise someone might just become one of these statistics.
What Can We Do To Stop the Abuse?
The most important thing to do is to follow the existing laws. It is illegal to use a prescription for any other purpose than how it is intended. Giving a family member or a friend a painkiller that is not intended for them is also illegal. By making sure we’re being ethical about our drug use, we can begin to stop this problem.
Securing painkillers is also an important part of abuse prevention. Most teens who are abusing painkillers are taking them straight from their parent’s medicine cabinets that are not secured. Prescription painkillers do not belong in an unsecured location. Store them in a lockbox, a safe, or other locked area where access is limited only to you. If you’d lock a liquor cabinet, then lock your medicine cabinet, even if it is a little inconvenient at times.
As a final step, it is also important to education yourself and empower your family and friends to look for alternatives. Pain can be treated in many different ways. Painkillers are just one option. Instead of creating the foundation of a possible addiction, speak with your doctor about alternative pain management techniques that may be just as effective. Don’t just settle for a quick prescription and a 5 minute conversation.
You can shop for doctors just like a minority of painkiller abusers do. If you aren’t being treated as a person, then it’s time to find someone new.