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Friday, May 8th, 2015

Study: Pharmaceuticals Kill More Teens Than Illegal Substances In The US

Author:     Monica Thunder
Source:     reset.me
Publication Date:     March 26, 2015
 Link: Study: Pharmaceuticals Kill More Teens Than Illegal Substances In The US
Stephan:   People run around with their hair on fire over teens and illegal drugs. The real issue, which few in politics or religion want to talk about, is that the real killers are prescription medications. Here is a report and the data to make this point. It makes one wonder why we think it is o.k. to endlessly promote the use pharmaceuticals on television.
Credit: Sabphoto

Credit: Sabphoto

Combine the number of overdose deaths caused by heroin and cocaine, and you still haven’t matched the number of deaths caused by pharmaceutical prescription medications each year in the United States. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website, pharmaceutical abuse was responsible for about 23,000 deaths in 2013  — that’s more than half of the overdose deaths in the U.S. that year. (emphasis added)

Prescription drugs have a disproportionately large effect on teenagers. A recent study published in Journal of Public Policy and Marketing sheds light on this issue, which the CDC has labeled an “epidemic.”

Over 1,000 teenagers in 40 different regions around the U.S. participated in an online survey that questioned them about their use of alcohol, tobacco, legal drugs and illegal drugs. Participants were asked if they suffer from anxiety, if they have a desire to be “popular,” how often they participate in exciting activities, and whether they consider using drugs risky.

The authors of the study — Richard Netemeyer of University of Virginia, Scot Burton of University […]

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