Drug Abuse Tennessee: Prescription Drug Abuse in America

In isolated parts of Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia poverty is on the rise and along with the growing rate of poverty, drug dealing and drug abuse is also on the rise. As if illegal drug trafficking in these parts wasn’t enough, the Appalachian regions’ prescription drug abuse rates are going through the roof.

Prescription drugs such as hydrocodone, oxycodone, xanax and valium are abused on a daily basis. Lately, the Appalachian governments have become more firm about prescription deals which has led to addicts and traffickers migrating to more tolerant states such as Florida and Georgia to get purchase more drugs.

So many resources have gone into stopping dissemination and taking legal action against drug crimes that there is not a lot of time and money left over for creating recovery programs… the only lasting answer to drug addiction. Only 5% of the people in this area who needs drug rehabilitation are able to get it. This leaves hundreds of thousands anguishing through substance abuse with no help available.

In these three states, 648,000 people are abusing prescription painkillers each year. Along with one of the highest rates of abuse in the country, the rate of abuse is also increasing faster than anywhere else in the country. These prescription substances are highly addictive and when their stock runs out, many people buy drugs off the street to avoid withdrawal.

In some areas of this region, drug overdoses resulting in death are higher than that of traffic fatalities. The chief drugs related to these overdoses are prescription painkillers. In Virginia, deaths from a drug overdose increased 550 percent over a ten year period and in Kentucky, 164 percent. A connection has been discovered that the more rural the town, the quicker and steeper the rise of overdoses from drugs such as painkillers and sedatives.

What happens to people who live in these parts is that they get stuck in a brutal cycle of addiction, stints in jail, visits to the hospital and attempts at sobriety. In order to make a change in this area, widespread drug rehabilitation and education must happen.

ET Children's Hospital seeing more babies born exposed to prescription drugs

Filed under: Drug Abuse Tennessee

While prescription drug abuse is a problem in nearly every neighborhood in America, it is particularly epidemic in Tennessee, which ranks among the top states in the overuse of prescription pain medications. A recent Tennessee health department survey …
Read more on WBIR-TV

Blocking three overprescribers is tiny drop in the drug abuse battle

Filed under: Drug Abuse Tennessee

Can't Tennessee do more to stop prescription drug abuse? Shouldn't it do more? It was reported last week that three of the top 10 prescribers of antipsychotic and pain medications to patients on TennCare have been blocked by that program from filling …
Read more on The Tennessean

Alexander treats prescription drug abuse

Filed under: Drug Abuse Tennessee

Robert Casey, D-Pa., have secured inclusion of their bi-partisan proposal to combat prescription drug abuse. The proposal will be attached to legislation reauthorizing the Food and Drug Administration. "Tennessee ranks second in the nation for …
Read more on Knoxville News Sentinel (blog)