Prescription Drug Abuse Treatment
Sales of prescription drugs specifically pain medication continues to increase at unprecedented levels. As a result, prescription drug abuse and addiction and prescription drug abuse treatment is continuing to increase at levels previously unheard of. The Centers for Disease Control has stated that prescription drug abuse and addiction has reached an epidemic level in the United States. Furthermore, the problem
of prescription drug abuse is overwhelming state and county resources by filling up jails, emergency rooms, and county supported prescription abuse treatment programs.
The epidemic of prescription drug abuse and prescription drug abuse treatment has evolved through the years from its beginnings with pain killers like Oxycontin in the late 1990’s. At this time Oxycontin became known as “Hillbilly Heroin” as a result of its popularity in the Appalachian region of the United States. From there it spread to Florida and its “pill mills” where greedy doctors saw an opportunity to make a quick buck by over prescribing pain medications to clients whose “pain” symptoms were questionable.
As a result of their ease of abuse, prescription pain medications have been modified as a reaction to the epidemic of pain medication abuse. In spite of the changes, however, prescription drug abuse has continued to increase in the United States as opiate addicts have reacted to the changes in pill manufacturing to continue to chase the high they seek. Along with this has come a whole new population of addicted Americans with no prior history of drug abuse because of the highly addictive nature of new opiate-based pain medications.
Addiction treatment centers across the United States have also kept pace with the changes and continued to modify their method of prescription drug abuse treatment. As with other forms of opiate abuse and addiction, prescription drug abuse treatment begins with an opiate detox where the poisons are given a chance to leave the body. After this, the detox phase of prescription drug abuse treatment is almost always followed up with further inpatient treatment at a facility that is familiar with the special needs of prescription drug abuse treatment. If you feel you or a loved one has become addicted to prescription drugs, don’t wait to contact a prescription drug abuse treatment program to discuss your options for help.
