Research Bulletin

              Prescription drug abuse, accidental overdose on rise in Illinois
By Jessica Reichert, ICJIA Senior Research Analyst
Vol. 8, No. 1
June 2011
Research Bulletin
Deaths resulting from unintentional prescription drug overdose more than doubled across the United States between 1999 and 2005 (Paulozzi, 2007). Drug overdose is a leading cause of unintentional death, second only to motor vehicle deaths, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention call these unintentional drug overdose deaths a national epidemic (Baldwin, Franklin, Kerlikowske, Joiner, & Paulozzi, 2011).
In 2009, 1.2 million emergency room visits involving prescription drugs were recorded in the Chicago met­ropolitan area—a 98-percent increase since 2004—ac­cording to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA, 2010a). The rate of unintentional drug overdose in Illinois was 8.2 persons per 100,000 in 2007 (Baldwin et. al, 2011). In 2008, SAMHSA estimated that more than 500,000 Illinois citi­zens use prescription drugs illegally each year.
A 2010 SAMHSA study revealed a 400-percent increase in the nation’s substance abuse treatment admission rate for prescription pain relievers from 1998 to 2008 (SAMHSA, 2010b). Illinois treatment admissions for prescription drug abuse also are increasing.
Prescription drug overview
Depressants, opioids, and stimulants are the most com­monly abused prescription drugs. Valium and Xanax, depressants prescribed for anxiety and sleep disor­ders, are often used illegally for their calming effects. Opioids OxyContin and Vicodin are the most prevalent and are pain relievers that can create a euphoric effect in the user. Stimulants such as Adderall and Ritalin, prescribed for individuals with attention deficit hyper­active disorder, also are used illegally to increase alert­ness, attention, and energy.
Controlled substances
The federal Controlled Substances Act regulates manufacture, importation, possession, and distribution of certain drugs. The Act categorizes drugs into five “schedule” classifications. The schedules are ranked in descending order from highest potential for abuse to the lowest. Schedule I drugs have no currently accept­ed medical use and include street drugs such as heroin and LSD. Schedule II substances include morphine, cocaine, methadone, and methamphetamine. Anabolic
Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority
Pat Quinn, Governor
Peter M. Ellis, Chairman
Jack Cutrone, Executive Director
Research Bulletins are published periodically by the Il­linois Criminal Justice Information Authority. They focus on research conducted by or for the Authority on a topic of interest to Illinois criminal justice professionals and policy­makers.
This project was supported by Grant #08-DJ-BX-0034 awarded to the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Author­ity by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view in this document do not necessarily represent the official position
or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.
For more information about this or other publications from the Authority, please contact the Authority’s Criminal Justice Information Clearinghouse at 312-793-8550, or visit our website at www.icjia.state.il.us
Printed by authority of the State of Illinois, June 2011.