Monday, January 18, 2010

Prescription Drugs

So maybe you know this but the most abused 'illicit drugs' in the U.S. (after marijuana) are prescription drugs.  The chart below from the most recent National Household Survey on Drug Use, includes mis-used prescription drugs as illicit drugs in the top line of all illicit drug use, but when you look at the drugs broken out, you can see that prescription drugs (and mj) are way out ahead of the others.

Makes you wonder why the War on Drugs is focused primarily on cocaine and to a lesser extent on heroin when these drugs are used far less often than those we get from our doctors.  I'm not suggesting we should start cracking down on psycho-pharmaceuticals, but I am questioning our irrational drug policy that makes arbitrary distinctions between drugs/medicines to serve political purposes.




Source: SAMHSA

1 comment:

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