(KAIR)--The abuse of prescription drugs has become an epidemic.
That word from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which says that while a decrease is noted in the use of some illegal drugs, such as cocaine, data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health indicates that nearly one-third of those aged 12 and over who used drugs for the first time in 2009 began by using a prescription drug for non-prescription purposes.
Kex-Rx pharmacist Joe Koechner says addiction to such narcotics has a physical explanation. He says there are chemical receptors in the human brain that start to feed on the drug. He says it's not unlike any other addiction where the body starts to crave the substance more and more.
Atchison County Attorney Jerry Kuckleman say that his office has recently seen many cases involving prescription medication. A number of those involve people using prescriptions intended for someone else. Kuckleman says the penalties for such cases vary, depending on the criminal history of the suspect. Someone with no criminal history is usually sent to a drug treatment program followed by eighteen months of probation.
Kuckleman says that simple possession of illegal prescription narcotics by a person with a criminal history can lead to a prison sentence of one to five years.
He sends the reminder that a prescription drug is only meant for the person it was prescribed for an and can't legally be given to anyone else, even if no money changes hands.
© Many Signals Communications
MOST VIEWED STORIES
Holton man killed in Jackson Co crash
Morrill pair arrested on drug, child endangerment charges
Falls City man sentenced to Federal Prison
Ground Broken for new Sac and Fox Trad'n Post
Jackson Co traffic stop leads to arrest
Local residents avoid injury in chain reaction crash
90 mph+ downburst winds blamed for Thursday damage
One held for past Atchison shooting
Inmate dies at Lansing Correctional Facility
Wamego man sentenced in second fentanyl-related death
Early Thursday storms leave damage, outages, locally
Stolen trailer, 4-wheeler, recovered in Atchison
Mayetta pair arrested on meth, child endangerment charges
Mound City Mayor Duane Nauman remembered
Horton City Clerk's resignation accepted Monday
Brown Co Planning Commission established
KS' LaTurner will not seek another term
LATEST STORIES
McLouth man injured in Monday wreck
Horton City Clerk's resignation accepted Monday
Atchison Co's Oswald named honorary bailiff for KS Court
Juveniles face charges following Atchison break-in
Richardson County accepted into managed call handling program
No injuries in early Sunday morning house fire in Falls City
Sabetha annual citywide cleanup Wednesday
Mayetta pair arrested on meth, child endangerment charges