GROWING ABUSE OF RX DRUGS REPORTED

Government And Industry Say Misuse Of Prescription Drugs Is A 'Dangerous
New Trend'

WASHINGTON -- Four million Americans are abusing prescription drugs,
including sleep-deprived people who become addicted to sedatives and family
members who sell spare pills on the street, the government says.

Pharmaceuticals designed to relieve pain, calm stress or bring on sleep
provide great benefit for millions, but when the drugs are used for
nonmedical reasons they can lead to addiction and damaged health, said Alan
Leshner, head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Leshner announced Tuesday that the institute and seven organizations
representing the elderly, pharmacies, drug manufacturers and patients are
starting a campaign to combat what he called "a dangerous new drug abuse
trend" -- the nonmedical use of prescriptions.

The experts said that many patients taking sedatives, stimulants,
tranquilizers, pain killers or opioids begin to use the pills
inappropriately and can slip into an addiction cycle that dominates their
lives and damages their health.

"Nobody starts out to be addicted," Leshner said.

"While prescription drugs can relieve a variety of medical problems and
improve the lives of millions of American, they can be dangerous, addicting
and even deadly when used nonmedically," he said.

The experts said that patients with chronic pain often keep supplies of
drugs in their homes for legitimate use and in some cases the drugs are
stolen by family members for sale on the street.

Morphine is often used in large doses by patients with terminal cancer or
other conditions and stolen packages of the drug are in high demand on the
street.

Some people recovering from surgery use pain relievers far longer than
needed and eventually become addicted. Poor sleepers take sedatives and may
mix it with alcohol or other drugs. Eventually, they need more and more of
the drug to achieve the same effect.

Patients habituated to the drugs may "doctor shop" to find physicians who
will prescribe the pills, and some addicts will establish accounts at
different pharmacies to disguise the number of pills they are actually using.

The agency said that about 17 percent of Americans age 60 and older are
affected by prescription drug abuse. Leshner said that is because this age
group uses about three times more of the drugs than do young people.

Women, said Leshner, are two to three times as likely to be diagnosed as
needing drugs, such as sedatives, and are about two times as likely to
become addicted.