Painkiller abuse increase noted in report

After a while the reaction to news of exploding growth in prescription painkiller abuse becomes, "So what else is new?"
This time the Archives of Internal Medicine is reporting significant increases in opioid abuse during the 2002 through 2010 time span. Report details describe a 74 per cent increase in the number of people taking these meds chronically (on more than 200 days per year) for nonmedical purposes. A prominent spike in the abuse was amongst males between 18 and 49. The researchers cited parallels between that trend and increases in deaths, admissions and other problems connected to hydrocodone, oxycodone and the like. A story on the study is carried in medpagetoday.com <click here>