Prescription drugs are one of Americas biggest killers in the drug world. Centaur University strongly supports the chemical dependency counseling community and just recently a meeting was gathered for the issue of prescription drugs...
"John Schwarzlose, CEO of theBetty Ford Center, recently moderated a panel discussing “Prescription Drug Abuse: Identifying Solutions to Save Lives” at the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, CA.
Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack organized the event to help make more people aware of the toll that prescription drug abuseis taking on our society.
The invitation-only event drew close to 75 people and included several parents whose children have died by overdosing on prescription medication.
Although the focus was primarily on the abuse by young people, statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that drug overdose has now surpassed automobile accidents as the leading cause of accidental or injury death in the country.
“This is in large part due to prescription drug abuse,” said Congresswoman Bono Mack. “The fastest-growing drug problem in America is the abuse of prescription drugs, especially painkillers, stimulants and depressants. It is estimated that nearly 30,000 Americans will die from prescription drug abuse and overdoses this year.”
The panel included Betty Ford Center Physician Director Dr. Harry Haroutunian; Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Jeanne Roy; Eisenhower Medical Center ER Director Dr. Ehthym Kontaxis; State Assemblyman Brian Nestande and Stacie Mathewson, who shared from the perspective of a mother – and grandmother – whose life has been directly impacted by prescription drug abuse.
Dr. Haroutunian explained that a combination of opioids, benzodiazapines and alcohol can easily cause death. He said it’s not uncommon for young people to create these combinations by something called ‘pharming’ – taking prescribed medications from their homes, dumping them into a bowl at a party and taking them indiscriminately.
Although many prescription drug abusers end up in inpatient treatment, he solemnly said that “a high number of these young users don’t live long enough to become addicts.”
Ms. Bono Mack also pointed out that the Drug Enforcement Administration has held three National Prescription Drug Take-Back Days and collected almost 996,000 pounds of unused medication. The event was set up for those who have accumulated unwanted, unused prescription drugs to safely dispose of those medications. The next take-back day is scheduled Saturday, April 28, 2012, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Details may be found on the Office of Diversion Control website.
“The parents in this room, none of us would ever think that we were close to being perfect parents by any means,” Ms. Bono Mack shared toward the end of the meeting. “But I think every parent in this room would beg for help from a system that is failing our children.”
Source: http://www.bettyfordcenter.org/recovery/featured-home/alarming-prescription-d...
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