Abuse of prescription painkiller have reached "epidemic" levels in the US, a government report says.
Overdoses of pain relievers cause more deaths than heroin and cocaine combined, the report has found.
It says sales and prescriptions of the drugs rose sharply in recent years and this was linked to the rise in overdoses.
Narcotic painkillers are prescribed to relieve chronic pain but the drugs can be "highly addictive", the report says.
The report, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said fatalities caused by narcotic pain relievers have more than tripled in the last 10 years - equivalent to 40 deaths a day.
Last year, a national survey on drug use and health showed that one in 20 Americans over the age of 12 said they had used painkillers for non-medical reasons.
Named as the fastest growing drug problem facing the US, narcotic painkillers are increasingly used recreationally - for the high they cause.
read more here
Pain killer killer
Pain killer killer
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Pain killer killer
Color me, surprised! 
Your collective inability to acknowledge this obvious truth makes you all look like fools.
yrs,
rubato
Re: Pain killer killer
The pill problem here is huge. I very happily seized a beloved car from a defendant who was selling oxycodone tablets out at the Rez. I don't like having to prosecute marijuana cases, but find it very satisfying to prosecute pill dealers.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan
~ Carl Sagan