Our growing addiction to prescription painkillers

When talking about the problems of illicit drug use in Australia, conversations will tend to focus on ice, heroin, ecstasy and similar drugs.

But one class of drugs rarely gets a mention, despite the fact that it's now overtaking heroin as the cause of calls to drug treatment services. Perhaps that's because there's a good chance you've tried it, and a very good chance that your doctor prescribed it to you.

Prescription pain-relieving opioids, such as morphine and oxycodone, are fast becoming the top drugs of misuse in Australia. For example, one Victorian alcohol and drug counselling helpline now receivesmore than twice as many calls about prescription opioids as they do about heroin.

Address of the bookmark: http://www.abc.net.au/health/features/stories/2014/11/10/4125167.htm

http://tipsandsteps.com/sharing/bookmarks/view/2145/our-growing-addiction-to-prescription-painkillers