Americans Are Increasingly Abusing Painkillers

Americans Are Increasingly Abusing Painkillers.
Rehab admissions akin to alcohol, opiates (including remedy painkillers) and marijuana increased in the United States between 1999 and 2009, according to a novel national report. However, fewer people sought treatment for problems with cocaine and methamphetamine or amphetamines, the researchers noted. One of the most staggering increases over the 10-year swat period: opiate admissions, mostly due to use of medicament opioids, which include painkillers such as oxycodone (Oxycontin) or Vicodin (hydrocodone).

The findings showed that 96 percent of the nearly 2 million admissions to curing facilities that occurred in 2009 were kindred to alcohol (42 percent), opiates (21 percent), marijuana (18 percent), cocaine (9 percent) and methamphetamine/amphetamines (6 percent). The promulgate from the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) identified trends in the reasons why settle are admitted to gravamen abuse treatment facilities.

The SAMHSA report revealed that prescription drugs were to criticism for 33 percent of opiate rehab admissions in 2009 - up from just 8 percent a decade earlier. Alcohol tongue-lashing also remains a serious problem. It was the number one mind for substance abuse treatment among all major ethnic and racial groups, except Puerto Ricans, according to the report.