Message from the United States Attorney: Alabama’s Abundance of Prescribed Narcotics Easy Source for Abuse
By: U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance

In 2010, our state had the country’s highest rate of prescription narcotic use in the nation, according to a study by a health care company that manages pharmacy benefits for a third of Americans. The federal Drug Enforcement Administration also places Alabama as one of the highest narcotics prescribers in the nation.

Unfortunately, this high rate of legitimate prescription drug use translates into an abundant source of supply for people, many of them teens, who want to misuse those drugs. The forgotten and no-longer-needed prescriptions in our medicine cabinets are a hazard for our children, and a far more serious one than you may realize.

Take this sobering statistic into consideration: drug overdose deaths among teens 15 to 19 year olds are up 91 percent in the past decade. The vast majority of these deaths occur because every day, 2,000 teens in the United States use prescription drugs for the first time – solely for the purpose of getting high.

The year 2009 marked the first time more people in this country died from drug overdoses than from automobile accidents. Many of us assume drugs prescribed by a doctor are safe, but this is not true for people who don’t take them as prescribed, or who take them without a prescription. Today, more people abuse prescription drugs than the combined number of those who abuse cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin.

Research has always shown that the most successful way to prevent drug overdose is to prevent drug use in the first place. It is essential for parents to discuss with their children the dangers of abusing prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications. To help provide resources for parents to have that talk, my office, and U.S. Attorneys across the country have teamed up with the Partnership at Drugfree.org to educate Americans about the dangers that lurk in medicine cabinets.

On Sunday, Sept. 23, the Partnership will begin a multi-year Medicine Abuse Project campaign to help bring much needed attention to this epidemic.

As part of this initiative, I encourage you to participate in DEA’s fifth National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day on Saturday, Sept.  29. The take-back day allows us to turn in our unwanted, no longer necessary, and expired medicines in a safe and responsible manner. DEA and its partners have removed more than 1.5 million pounds of prescription drugs from the reach of our children in the last four take-backs. Make your home safer by taking advantage of the take-back. You can find locations close to you by visiting www.dea.gov.

Earlier this year, my office and the DEA presented a day-long symposium for law enforcement on problems and issues associated with the illegal diversion of prescribed narcotics. Key among those issues is the easy opportunity for abuse. A 2010 national drug use survey showed that among people 12 and older who abused prescribed narcotics in 2009 and 2010, more than half got the drugs for free from a friend or relative.

All of us -- Parents, grandparents, teachers, law enforcement, physicians and pharmacists -- must realize the scope and dangers of prescription drug abuse in America, and we must talk to our children about the problem. The drugfree.org website has tools and information to help you have that conversation with loved ones. Let's work together to make our community safer.

 

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