Prescription drug abuse boom stirs worries

[PatrickHenry]

Monterey County Herald | 03/01/2007 | Prescription drug abuse rampant, says U.N.

Prescription drug abuse rampant, says U.N.
By WILLIAM J. KOLE
Associated Press

VIENNA, Austria - Abuse of prescription drugs is about to exceed the use of illicit street narcotics worldwide, and the shift has spawned a lethal new trade -- counterfeit painkillers, sedatives and other medicines potent enough to kill -- a global watchdog warned Wednesday.

Already, prescription drug abuse has outstripped traditional illegal drugs such as heroin, cocaine and Ecstasy in parts of Europe, Africa and South Asia, the U.N.-affiliated International Narcotics Control Board said in its annual report for 2006.

In the United States alone, the abuse of painkillers, stimulants, tranquilizers and other prescription medications has gone beyond "practically all illicit drugs with the exception of cannabis," with users increasingly turning to them first, the Vienna-based group said.

And unregulated markets in many countries make it easy for traffickers to peddle a wide variety of counterfeit drugs through courier services, ordinary mail and the Internet.

"Gains over the past years in international drug control may be seriously undermined by this ominous development if it remains unchecked," INCB President Philip O. Emafo said.

Discount medications that seem to be authentic often turn out to be cheap but powerful knockoffs concocted from recipes posted on the Web, Emafo added.

"Instead of healing, they can take lives," he said, characterizing the danger as "real and sizable."

Up to 50 percent of all drugs taken in developing countries are believed to be counterfeit, the board said, citing estimates from the World Health Organization.

Buprenorphine, an analgesic, is now the main injection drug in most of India, and it is also trafficked and abused in tablet form in France, where the INCB estimates 20-25 percent of the drug sold commercially as Subutex is being diverted to the black market.

The number of Americans abusing prescription drugs nearly doubled from 7.8 million in 1992 to 15.1 million in 2003, the INCB said. Among their prescription drugs of choice: the painkillers oxycodone, sold under the trade name OxyContin, and hydrocodone, sold as Vicodin and used by 7.4 percent of college students in 2005.

Although the number of U.S. high school and college students abusing illicit drugs declined in 2006 for a fourth consecutive year, "the high and increasing level of abuse of prescription drugs by both adolescents and adults is a serious cause for concern," it said.

The group singled out Scandinavia, where demand for flunitrazepam -- a sedative sold as Rohypnol -- increasingly is being met by unauthorized production; and North America, where widespread abuse of prescription drugs, including the narcotic fentanyl -- 80 times more potent than heroin -- has been blamed for a spike in deaths.

"The very high potency of some of the synthetic narcotic drugs available as prescription drugs presents, in fact, a higher overdose risk than the abuse of illicit drugs," Emafo said.

Exact figures were unavailable, he said, because few countries "are aware to what extent drugs are being diverted and abused" and are not tracking the trend. Nations should pay closer attention and share data on counterfeit drug seizures, the group urged.

Underscoring how illicit drug use in general remains entrenched worldwide:

Cultivation of opium poppy in Afghanistan, which drives a third of that country's economy, hit a record high last year, the INCB said, echoing other assessments by the U.S. government and the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. "The drug control situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating," the report said, criticizing a proposal to legalize cultivation as "simplistic, not feasible and based on the wrong premise."

Iran has emerged as the world's No. 1 abuser of opiates, and 2.8 percent of the population now uses illicit cocaine and heroin, most of it from neighboring Afghanistan. Emafo said the Iranian government "is aware of the problem... (and) is taking appropriate action to protect the health of its citizens."

Bolivia plans to introduce a new drug-control policy that would broaden the marketing and use of coca leaves -- a step the INCB warned could violate international drug conventions. The South American country's mission to the U.N. in Vienna angrily lodged a protest Wednesday, insisting Bolivia has a right to commercially produce coca for legal products such as flavoring.

The INCB defended its opposition to so-called "safe injection rooms," where addicts are given clean needles. In Germany and other European nations, such centers have been credited for helping to curb the spread of AIDS.

"We do not believe in injection rooms," Emafo told reporters. "That cannot be treatment... this is not healthful."

PatrickHenry Reviewed by PatrickHenry on 03-01-2007. Prescription drug abuse boom stirs worries Monterey County Herald | 03/01/2007 | Prescription drug abuse rampant, says U.N. Prescription drug abuse rampant, says U.N. By WILLIAM J. KOLE Associated Press VIENNA, Austria - Abuse of prescription drugs is about to exceed the use of illicit street narcotics worldwide, and the shift has spawned a lethal new trade -- counterfeit painkillers, sedatives and other medicines potent enough to kill -- a global watchdog warned Wednesday. Already, prescription drug abuse has outstripped Rating: 5

[WakingDream]

Oxycontin, percocet and adderal are widely used in my high school. Bah pills suck.

[DryGuy420]

North America, where widespread abuse of prescription drugs, including the narcotic fentanyl -- 80 times more potent than heroin -- has been blamed for a spike in deaths.

That shit is MEAN,some guy gave me a patch w/that shit on it. I looked it up online before i used it and thats the shit. I used it for 2 days straight,then took it off for the night,the next day i go to put it back on and the glue had dried up,so my dumbass licks my finger and starts rubbing the glue. That didnt work so i run it under the sink to wet the glue,that worked but i got about to my couch when i was dizzy and sweaty i knew then what i had done so i ripped the patch off and it was right about then i blacked out and hit the floor. I wont mess with that again.

Though i was reading that some people cut the patches up and suck on them. Mabey im like sensitive to the shit or something.......... All i know is,is that shit is MEAN.

[pwnydanzasmokesdank]

That shit is MEAN,some guy gave me a patch w/that shit on it. I looked it up online before i used it and thats the shit. I used it for 2 days straight,then took it off for the night,the next day i go to put it back on and the glue had dried up,so my dumbass licks my finger and starts rubbing the glue. That didnt work so i run it under the sink to wet the glue,that worked but i got about to my couch when i was dizzy and sweaty i knew then what i had done so i ripped the patch off and it was right about then i blacked out and hit the floor. I wont mess with that again.

Though i was reading that some people cut the patches up and suck on them. Mabey im like sensitive to the shit or something.......... All i know is,is that shit is MEAN.

yeah dude i got ahold of 7 of those 100mg fentanyl patches and im 100% positive i couldnt have worn it without dying and im pretty into downers. i traded them to a junkie at a festival for 4gs of pure molly though and that was the shit! but seriously ive been off probation over 2 months now and havent touched pills or drugs since :jointsmile:

edit: hell no you aint sensitive that shits for people who have such a huge morphine tolerance they cant take enough throughout the day. i bet if you swallowed a spoonful of the gel you'd stop breathing and die, at least i think i would.