A recent report by the US National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) has announced that prescription drug abuse is the fastest-growing drug problem in America,

The latest Monitoring the Future study also reveals that prescription drugs are the second most abused category of drugs after marijuana in the US.

The United States National Institutes of Health also confirms that 20 percent of people in the country use prescription drugs for non-medical reasons causing many Americans to become addicted to painkillers, sedatives and tranquilizers.

Experts say there are many factors that could affect the high rates of drug abuse among the Americans. However, they believe the availability of drugs and inadequate supervision over prescriptions are of great importance.

“Doctors could certainly prescribe more responsibly. I think there is a tendency that many physicians have given... that most of them spend... if they are lucky... 15 minutes at a time with a patient, and the patient wants something so doctors prescribe. Certainly, things could be controlled,” Ronald Wynne, a psychologist, told Press TV.

The reports also revealed that 56 percent of the 6 million new prescription drug abusers were over the age of 18.

Reportedly, 70 percent of people who used painkillers for non-medical reasons got them from a friend or relative for free, while 5 percent obtained the medications from a drug dealer or bought them on the Internet.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/234735.html