Prescription drugs are important to people's everyday lives for different health reasons. People who are legally using these drugs are using them to better themselves, but in Tulsa some people have been taking them for granted.
Oklahoma has been ranked the No. 5 state in prescription drug abuse and the city of Tulsa isn't helping with lowering that number.
Ages from around 35-54 years old hold the highest number of deaths. In 2010 there were 35.6 deaths per 100,000 people. Ages 21-34 was 20.7, 55 and over was 13.6, and people under the age of 21 was 1.8. The number is so high for middle aged people since most people get prescribed medication then.
Majority of the fatalities aren't because of the doctors prescribing the drugs, but because people are freely obtaining the drugs from a friend or relative.
Opioid is the most common drug that has led to overdose cases.
Darrell Weaver, Director of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous, says "We're not going to arrest our way out of this problem."
Tulsa, along with the entire state, are trying to figure out ways to get rid of this epidemic without putting peoples health at risk. Drug treatment facilities have become more common within the past couple of years.
No comments:
Post a Comment