SITE: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/15/us-usa-poll-drugs-idUSBRE97E06220130815
Reuters, August 2013
ARTICLE: A recent poll found that one in ten Americans have taken drugs prescribed for someone else, a quarter of those saying they've done so purely to get high. Six in ten took them for pain relief, as borrowing Vicodin from a friend is a much cheaper than a trip to the ER for someone without health insurance. The poll showed a fifth took others medicine to manage anxiety, stress or sleep loss. Prescription drug use has reached unprecedented levels, and is now the second most abused drug in the United States after marijuana. Another study found that 70% of Americans are on at least one pill, the top being antibiotics, antidepressants and opioids, with older adults and women as the highest users. Just last month the Times reported a sharp rise in overdose deaths from women using prescription painkillers. The high levels lead to several questions of the dangers of an over medicated or "pill society," Americans using pills or drugs to deal with mental issues and difficulties in life rather than seeking help, as well as questions of if the medical system is adequately helping those in need (and how that will change with Obamacare).
SITE: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/15/us-usa-poll-drugs-idUSBRE97E06220130815
SITE: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/15/us-usa-poll-drugs-idUSBRE97E06220130815
