New data shows that drugs, both prescription and narcotic, are the leading cause of accidental death in the United States. This is the first time drugs have topped traffic accidents since the government began to record drug death numbers in 1979, and public health experts are calling it an epidemic. In 2009, drugs were responsible for at least 37,485 deaths across the country, which is 1,201 more than the number of deaths from motor vehicle accidents that year. In 2007, drugs were responsible for 27,500 US deaths. Currently, a person dies from drug overdose or complications every 14 minutes.
Two of the biggest contributing categories to this problem are pain medications and anti-anxiety medications. These prescription medications are now responsible for more deaths than are cocaine and heroin combined. These types of medication can be extremely powerful and addictive on their own, but this risk is compounded when the drugs are combined with other drugs or with alcohol. Some of the most frequently misused medications in these categories are OxyContin, Vicodin, Soma, and Xanax. One of the most dangerous drugs gaining popularity is Fentanyl, a painkiller about 100 times more potent than morphine.
A problem of overprescription in the last few decades may be a major factor in the rise of drug abuse. UCLA School of Public Health Dean Linda Rosenstock says the former willingness of doctors to prescribe addictive and extremely potent drugs “may in fact be the cause of the epidemic we’re now facing.” Prescription drugs often don’t carry the same weight on people’s minds as illegal narcotics. They can be obtained through doctors and at pharmacies. Nearly everyone’s parents take some prescription medication, possibly affecting the viewpoints of children and teens. But the difficulty in obtaining prescriptions for these medications, especially for those seen as drug seekers, means prescription drugs have an enormous street value. Authorities say an addiction to OxyContin can cost about double what a heroin addiction might.
Bob Anderson, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s chief of mortality statistics, was grateful to see traffic accidents drop, which he felt was primarily a result of seatbelt laws and speed limit enforcement. But he also lamented the new leading cause:
“On one hand the motor vehicle death rate has been going down, and I think that’s important in and of itself. [...] On [the] other hand, we’ve seen a fairly steep rise in drug-related deaths, and the rise is mostly due to drug overdose.”
The largest deaths by age group reveal that most drug fatalities were suffered by people in their 40s, but drug deaths have more than tripled in the 50 to 69 year age group. The most prescribed drug in the nation also contributes to a huge number of drug-related deaths: Vicodin receives more yearly prescriptions than the top antibiotic or the top cholesterol drug.
