Facts About Prescription Drug Abuse...

Why The Concern?

  • Unintended prescription deaths rose 91% from 1999-2002 (1)
  • The most recent year studied, 2002, opiods or pain pills, were listed in 4,451 deaths that year.
  • Seven million persons aged 12 or older used prescription drugs non-medically in the past months. Of these, 5.2 million used painkillers, a 10% increase from 2005.
  • "With a few clicks of a mouse, the kids get drugs. It's not like you have to go through any big hassle. It's like ordering pizza." 
  • 1 in 5 teenagers (about 4.5 million) has taken a prescription painkiller like OxyCodone or Vicodin to get high
  • Today, more adults and teens report abusing prescription drugs that the number abusing all illicit drugs except marijuana


How Do Online Orders Work?

  • The prescription pills are commonly purchased over the Internet without talking to a doctor.
  • You simply "add to shopping cart" with the patient choosing the dosage and quantity.
  • Website operators have "consulting fees" ranging fro $80 to $200, many times with no consultation given, just a review of the complaints listed on the online questionnaire.
  • The "consulting fee" charged by the website operator is paid online with a credit card.
  • A doctor is paid a fee from the "consulting fee" by the website operator for writing/emailing a prescription and it is forwarded to the cooperating pharmacy.
  • The pharmacy or "fulfillment center" then sends the prescription, usually by overnight delivery, requiring a money order for payment


National Statistics

  • Between 1993 and 2005 the proportion of students abusing prescription drugs increased by:
343% for opiods like Percocet, Vicodin and OxyCodone 
93% for abuse of stimulants like Ritalin and Adderall 
450% for tranquilizers like Xanax and Valium 
  • 1 in 5 teenagers, about 4.5 million have taken prescription painkillers like OxyCodin or Vicodin to get high.
  • The rise in unintended prescription painkiller deaths mirrored an increase in sales of the drugs.  
Men in their 40's accounted for many of the opioid deaths. 
  • People feel they are safe because they are prescriptions when in fact they are like heroin and have very similar affects.
  • In the United States alone, the abuse of painkillers, stimulants, tranquilizers, and other prescription medication has gone beyond "practically all illicit drugs with the exception of cannabis."


Internet Websites

  • There has been a 70% increase between 2005 and 2006 in the number of websites identified that advertise or sell controlled prescription drugs.
  • There has been a 135% increase in websites advertising these drugs and a 7% increase in sites offering to sell them in 2006.
  • 84% of sites offering controlled prescription drugs do not require that the patient provide a prescription from his/her doctor
  • Of 187 sites offering prescription drugs for sale, only two are certified by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy.


"Pharm" Parties

  • It's not a keg party in someone's barn out on the family farm.
  • "Pharm" is short for Pharmacy.
  • "Pharm Parties" refer to a party were prescription drugs are readily available to a potentially lethal mixture.
  • Often times mind altering drugs like Zoloft, Prozac and Wellbutrin, commonly advertised on TV, are taken in concert with powerful pain pills and tranquilizers at these pharmaceutical cocktail parties.
  • These parties have been known to have bowls of different prescriptIons to grab a handful or mixed up in bags for the party-goers.
  • Pharm party-goers often refer to this potentially lethal concoction as "Trail Mix" or "Skittles". 


Take the Quiz:





Drugs from Inhalants to Heroin all have their own language.
Find out what these word are and what they mean