According to TBI special agent Tommy Farmer, there are drugs that are more dangerous than cocaine or heroin, and more often than not, they sit right in your medicine cabinet.
In a speech to the Civitan Club on Friday, Agt.
Farmer said that in 2011 alone, over 41,000 people died in the U.S. alone from prescription drug overdoses, far more than overdosed on more commonly feared illicit drugs.
And the problem is growing. For 12 consecutive years, the number of prescription overdoses has increased in the U.S. as has total consumption of opioids and other drugs.
Total deaths have even grown to the point that they surpass deaths by firearms, suicides, and even car crashes.
But Agt. Farmer believes the issue still isn’t getting the attention it needs since the conversation revolves more around drugs like cocaine and heroin.
He said, “We have to keep our eye on the ball. The real gorilla in the corner is prescription drugs.”
Part of the problem is simply that over time the number of addicts has increased, driving the overall need for drugs.
He said, “We’ve never before had an addiction base like the one we do now.”
But comprehensive solutions are needed because, as he said, “If there’s anything we’ve learned over the last decade it’s that we’re not going to arrest our way out of this drug problem.”
Serious change in the prescription drug industry may be particularly difficult in this country simply because Americans consume already consume a daunting and disproportionate amount of the world’s prescription drug supply.
American consumption of Hydrocodone alone accounts for 99.3% of the worldwide consumption. Americans use over 79,000 kg of hydrocodone every year and the next largest national consumer is the United Kingdom which uses only 200 kg.
Tennessee has a particularly dangerous prescription drug situation and ranks as one of the states which abuse drugs most. In fact, in 2010, enough Hydrocone was prescribed in Tennessee to give everyone over the age of 12 a total of 51 pills.
Agt. Farmer said that Americans are the most heavily medicated population on the planet, but as far as prescriptions are concerned, that may be more dangerous than useful.
He said that after a certain point, we have to ask, “Are we really that sick?”