The rate of accidental overdoses involving fentanyl-laced street drugs has increased significantly in recent years due in large part to illegally mass-produced counterfeit pills becoming more readily available and less expensive to buy on the black market. Counterfeit pills containing fentanyl are intentionally manufactured to look identical to many commonly prescribed medications and have exploded […]
Tag: Prescription Drug Abuse
Child Opioid Overdoses Have Nearly Doubled Since 2004
A study published this month in the journal Pediatrics highlighted a disturbing trend of increasing child opioid hospitalizations. According to the study, child hospitalizations due to opioid overdoses nearly doubled between 2004 and 2015, the majority of which were for children ages 12 to 17. One-third of the opioid hospitalizations were for children under the […]
Full Surrender
Adam Tucker’s story of addiction starts in the quiet lake community of Frederick, Maryland, just an hour west of Baltimore. Born in Washington D.C. to two loving parents, Adam describes his upbringing as relatively peaceful and enjoyable. “I never experienced any trauma; there was never any abuse,” he says. “I was a pretty privileged kid […]
How Does Prescription Drug Abuse Lead to Heroin Addiction?
The rise in prescription drug abuse has created an unexpected trend, a rise in the use of the opioid drug heroin. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), 1 in 15 people who abuse prescription pain relievers will try heroin within ten years.1