A ten year old chart from the DEA tells the tale of Oxycontin addiction statistics and Oxycontin use in the United States. It expresses 1000's of doses by strength of Oxycontin. The trend is undeniably upward.
Now, ten years later, has the situation improved? The top number in that chart on Oxycontin addiction statistics, for the entire US has been matched in three months from one pharmacy in Florida. Another Florida pharmacy was charged in March with illegal dispensing of 250,000 doses.
The problem is so bad that recent Florida legislation was enacted to limit the quantities of Oxycontin that pharmacies could buy. This is one state.
Other Oxycontin addiction statistics support the exploding upward trend in Oxycontin use:
- SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that 2.4 million persons aged 12 and older initiated nonmedical use of prescription pain relievers (analgesics) such as OxyContin® in 2004.
- Of the past year new users of nonmedical pain relievers, 73.8% had used another illicit drug prior to using pain relievers nonmedically.
- In 2004, about 615,000 persons began using OxyContin® nonmedically. Nearly all (99.1%) of the persons who first used OxyContin® nonmedically in the past year had used another illicit drug prior to using OxyContin® nonmedically.
- Nationally, ER visits for drug overdoses are split -- half from "traditional" street drugs, and half from prescription drugs, including Oxycontin.
- The estimated number of emergency department (ED) visits involving nonmedical use of narcotic pain relievers rose from 144,644 in 2004 to 305,885 in 2008, an increase of 111 percent. ED visits involving oxycodone products, hydrocodone products, and methadone—the three most frequently listed narcotic pain relievers in each year—increased 152, 123, and 73 percent, respectively, between 2004 and 2008.
More information on Oxycontin addiction statistics can be found at the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Applied Studies website.
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