It is estimated between 26 million and 36 million people across the planet abuse opioids, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Jim Marthaler of Faribault is a opiate addiction survivor and will be on our AM Minnesota program at 9:30AM today.

The consequences of the abuse have been devastating, with the number of unintentional overdose deaths from pain relievers more than quadrupling in the past decade.

Prescription opioids are one of three main broad categories of drugs that present abuse liability, according to the National Institutes of Health, the other two being stimulants and depressants.

There are probably as many reasons for the increase in abuse as their are medications available these days. Prescriptions for opioids escalated from 76 million in 1991 to nearly 207 million in 2013. The United States is by far the largest consumer in the world.

I think it will be interesting to hear from a survivor of the abuse and hope you will either listen at 9:30AM or go to our YouTube channel and watch the show.

 

 

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