An International Crisis
Among Americans aged 12 and older who used illicit drugs for the first time, prescription painkillers are the second most commonly abused substance after marijuana.
In one year, about 10 million people in the US reported the nonmedical use of painkillers.
The number of opioid users nearly doubled over a decade to 62 million people worldwide.
In 2019, Europeans aged 15–64 who used opioids in the last year stood at 3.6 million.
Over the past five years, there has also been an increase in the number of drug overdose deaths in the European Union.
Opioid painkiller prescriptions increased by 34 percent in England, and a UK study found that more than 1 in 10 people given opioids for the first time became long-term opioid users within a year.
Doctors and rehabilitation specialists report that prescription painkiller addiction is one of the most difficult to overcome.
How much do you really know about painkillers?
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