Polydrug Abuse

This in no way reduces the possibility of prescription drug addiction due to any single psych drug by itself, either. Each of these, on its own, can lead to dependency or a prescription medication dependence, terrible side effects, withdrawal resulting in injury, and even death.

Alprazolam, best known by the trade name Xanax, was connected to 556 deaths in conjunction with other substances and only six deaths alone. But sudden death from prescription medication is the subject of news stories daily. The Florida study, an investigation of 168,900 deaths found in 2007 from the Florida Medical Examiners Commission, found that deaths from prescription drugs were three times the rate of deaths brought on by traditional illicit drugs such as heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine.

Do not forget that opioid painkillers, on their own, are responsible for countless times as many cases of prescription drug addiction than fatalities, and each prescription drug addiction is an expected funeral just waiting to happen.

By way of instance, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine caused 989 deaths, whereas legal painkillers like Vicodin and OxyContin caused 2,328, the report says. Even though the amount of individuals who perished with heroin in their own bodies climbed 14 percent to 110, deaths in the opioid painkiller oxycodone increased 36 percent to 1,253 — more than 10 times as many as alcoholism.

Prescription medications can be harmful to your health, and many are seriously addictive and may even kill you. However, a recent Florida study of drug-related deaths in Florida shows that much more people suddenly fall prey to deadly drug combinations — known as polydrug abuse — compared to individual drugs, and it may happen to recreational users in addition to those trapped by prescription drug dependence. The report reveals oxycodone implicated in 664 deaths in conjunction with other drugs and just 41 by itself. Propoxyphene, well-known as Darvon, was connected to 76 deaths in conjunction with other substances and just nine by itself.

Oxycodone is the heroin-like ingredient in the highly researched and much-abused painkiller OxyContin, responsible for literally thousands of cases of prescription drug addiction, death and injury throughout the country. Evidently, heroin and oxycodone are synonymous, and addicts are delighted to get their hands on each drug.