For the first time in history in the State of Florida, more people died from overdoses of prescription drugs than from illegal drugs.  This statistic reported in the  June 8, 2002 St. Petersburg Times came from a report of the 24 medical examiners in Florida for the year 2001.  The article noted that there were 939 cases where lethal levels of prescription painkillers such as OxyContin, methadone and Vicodin, or benzodiazepine drugs such as Xanax or Valium were found. The 939 cases in 2001 more than tripled the 284 cases in 2000.

Drug Addiction: Prescription Drugs

Everybody knows what addiction is. It is a continuing intense need for a certain something: alcohol, food, cigarettes – you name it, you can get addicted to it. It is the unnecessarily strong need to have the item you are craving for. When you talk about drug addiction, the usual idea that pops into our minds are those drugs that can be obtained through drug dealers and are illegally bought and sold. What some people do not know is that drugs or medication that we ingest to help us feel better or to cure certain ailments are emerging as substances that can also be abused. These are often mood-altering drugs like sedatives or pain killers that give people that feeling of being detached from the world or being in a state of euphoria. These drugs are either taken in tablet form, via injections, or as pills. Whatever form they take, prescription drugs are now becoming a rising force to be reckoned with in the fight against drug addiction.

What Prescription Drugs are People Getting Addicted To

Drug Addiction has become the norm in today’s world. It’s wide spread and even though the authorities come out in force trying to bring it under control, it still remains. Though there is some controversy where addiction is an illness. It certainly causes psychological problems. Drug programs and rehab makes up a large part of medical treatment in this country.

Drug addiction causes depression, mania and fantasies which brings on violent episodes that evolves causing harm and police involvement. Drugs can cause addiction leading to heart attacks, strokes, organ failure and even death.

An addiction is a strong need or compulsion, lost of control, physically dependency and being unable to stop with out use of a drug program and rehab intervention to escape the terrible life that is apart of the addiction.