Prescription Drug Abuse Fastest Growing Drug Threat, Reports DEA

Prescription drug abuse continues to be the nation’s fastest growing drug problem, and abuse of controlled substance prescription drugs poses a significant drug threat to the United States, stresses the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in 2013 National Drug Threat Assessment Summary. The agency notes that nearly 30% of law enforcement agencies responding to the 2013 National Drug Threat Survey reported that controlled substance prescription medications were the greatest drug abuse threat, up from 9.8% in 2009. “Law enforcement and treatment officials throughout the country are also reporting that many prescription opioid users have turned to heroin as a cheaper and/or more easily obtained alternative to prescription drugs,” indicates the report. In addition, the report provides an overview of steps being taken at the national level in order to reduce prescription drug diversion and abuse. These include implementation of the DEA National Prescription Drug Take-Back Days, and new policies implemented at top search engines, including Google, Bing, and Yahoo! to only accept paid advertising from Internet pharmacies in the US that are accredited by the NABP Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice SitesCM (VIPPS®) program. The 2013 National Drug Threat Assessment Summary (PDF) is available for download from the Department of Justice Web site. Information for consumers about the dangers of abusing prescription drugs, and how to help prevent misuse and abuse, is available on the AWAR_XE^®Web site.