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SALT LAKE CITY -- A Centers for Disease Control report released this week says roughly 35,000 adults in Utah are illegally using prescription pain pills.
The lead author in the report, assistant University of Utah professor Christy Porucznik in the division of public health, says they found those illegally using the drugs are mostly abusing the pills prescribed to them by a doctor, or they're easily getting them by asking family and friends.
"Most people report that they are using prescription pain medications to relieve pain," said Porucznik. "Some people say that it's for fun or the feeling that it generates, but that's a smaller number."
The report says one of the problems occurs with doctors overprescribing.
- 97% obtained them from a friend or relative
- 85% got the drugs for free
- 10% stole them
- 4% purchased them
- 72% used for pain relief
- 15% used "for fun"
- 4% used for anxiety relief
"I think that doctors want to make sure their patients are comfortable and so they tend to write prescriptions for as many [pills] as insurance will pay for," Porucznik says. "Even if you may not actually need a whole month's supply it costs the same as a five-day supply. So there are incentives there for actual overprescribing."
Porucznik says it was shocking in their survey to find 72 percent said they have left over opioid medication.
"That's a lot of extra drugs lying around out there that you forget about once you don't need it anymore," said Porucznik. "If you save medication and take it again later, that's very dangerous behavior because it may not be the correct dose for you. You may not be in the same medical place that you were when it was prescribed."
The survey also found 97 percent of people who use medication not prescribed to them got it for free from friends or relatives simply by asking. Porucznik says too often people are willing to hand over their prescription medications to someone else because they think they're helping them out.
"If you are not a doctor, that is dangerous behavior and you might be contributing to something that might kill your friend or relative," she says.
Utah has recently been ranked among the top prescription drug abusing states in the country. Around 300 Utahns die from prescription drug abuse every year.
Porucznik says more education is needed for both doctors and patients about the deadly consequences of prescription pain medication abuse.
The state of Utah has been running a campaign to do just that, called Use Only as Directed.
E-mail: rjeppesen@ksl.com
