Coming in at second of the ‘most commonly abused’ category drugs are prescription drugs. Marijuana tops the list. Not all prescription drugs are addictive. However, if they are used in a manner that is contradictory to the label, and of course not using them for what they are prescribed, a lot are. The most abused prescription drugs that often lead to a prescription drug detox include opioid or narcotic painkillers such as; OxyContin and Vicodin.
Here are some interesting statistics from the National Institute on Drug Abuse:
- 20% of People in the United States have used prescription drugs for non-medical reasons.*
- 15.2 million Americans age 12 and older had taken a prescription pain reliever, tranquilizer, stimulant, or sedative for nonmedical purposes at least one in the year prior to survey.**
- 2.9% 8th graders, 6.7% 10th graders, and 9.7% 12th graders had abused Vicodin.**
- 2.1% 8th graders, 3.6% 10th graders, and 4.7% 12th graders had abused OxyContin.**
*http://www.drugabuse.gov/ResearchReports/Prescription/Prescription.html **http://www.nida.nih.gov/drugpages/prescription.html