Prescription medication abuse is sweeping our nation, leaving destruction, death and suffering in its wake. Between 2001 and 2011, the number of prescription drug overdose deaths in the United States tripled. Rates of prescription medication abuse are still rising so dramatically that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now classifying it as an official epidemic. In 2010 alone, an estimated 8.76 million Americans abused pharmaceutical medications.

Unfortunately, many people believe that because a medication came from a pharmacy and was prescribed by a doctor, it is safe and less addictive than illegal drugs like cocaine. On the contrary, taking medicine for reasons or in dosages other than as prescribed constitutes abuse and can rapidly spiral into full-blown addiction. Some users ultimately die from overdoses, while others are forced to turn to illegal substances like heroin when their prescription supply runs out. In fact, studies have shown that the majority of heroin users are now young, white suburban-dwellers who turned to the drug after first using prescription oxycodone.