According to the L.A. Times the prescription drug epidemic that has plagued the United States especially drugs like Oxycontin, Roxies, Vicodin and other Opioid drugs overdose deaths has now exceeded traffic fatalities in the U.S. These drugs are the most commonly abused pharmaceutical drug and the most prescribed drug in the United States.
The research indicates that 37,485 people died in 2009 due to overdose nationwide. The death toll has seemingly doubled over the past ten years with someone dying of overdose every 14 minutes.
The epidemic has not simply ravaged young people in fact, drug fatalities have more than doubled for teenagers and young adults from 2000 to 2008, while deaths exceeded tripling for individuals aged 50 to 69 years of age with the death toll highest for individuals in their 40’s.
