Addiction By Prescription

Description:
Invited Panelists: Charles G. Curie, Administrator, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), HHS; Chris Kelly, Director, DC Chapter of Advocates for Recovery through Medicine (ARM-DC); Dr. Anthony C. Tommasello, Associate Professor and Director, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Office of Substance Abuse Studies; Dr. Nora Volkow, Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH), HHS.

Data from the 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health show the second most popular category of drug use after marijuana is the non-medical use of prescription drugs. An estimated 6.2 million people, 2.6 percent of the population aged 12 or older are misusing prescription drugs. Of these, an estimated 4.4 million used narcotic pain relievers, 1.8 million used anti-anxiety medications (also known as tranquilizers), 1.2 million used stimulants and 0.4 million used sedatives. The survey estimates that 1.9 million persons aged 12 or older used OxyContin non-medically at least once in their lifetimes. This program highlights groundbreaking strategies to treat addiction to prescription medications and looks at the new office-based and pharmacological approaches that are helping to make treatment more effective.

Host:
Ivette Torres, Associate Director for Consumer Affairs, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)