The findings of the 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health were released yesterday at the annual Recovery Month press conference by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). While the overall change in the category "current use of any illicit drug" was not statistically significant, the number of young adults abusing prescription drugs did increase dramatically. The total estimated number of Americans dependent on drugs still remains in the range of more than 20 million, though it is clearly below the overall amount when those that are dependent upon their prescribed medications, which is not included in this survey of more than 65,000 people ages 12 and older. The survey also doesn't include prison populations, which would increase the total numbers of drug users as well. With the disturbing increase in non-medical abuse of prescription drugs among young adults having increased by 15 percent from 2002 to 2003 to more than 6 million individuals, it is clear that these legal drugs can be just as damaging as the illegal ones. The largest category of prescription drugs that are abused are painkillers. This includes drugs such as Vicodin, Lortab, Lorcet, Percocet, Oxycontin (which increased by nearly 50%), Percodan and Hydrocodone to name a few. There were also well over a million people abusing methadone as well. Next to painkillers, prescription tranquilizers, stimulants and sedatives made up the bulk of the remaining categories. This survey doesn't include, however, the millions of Americans taking medically prescribed anti-anxiety drugs, anti-psychotics or antidepressants, which can also make a person become dependent and are under review for adverse side effects such as suicidal ideation.
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