Officials at the Defense Department hope to shed light on the disturbing new trend in substance abuse by members of the military services. According to the department’s annual Survey of Health Related Behaviors Among Active Duty Personnel, prescription drug abuse is increasing. In 2005, the survey indicated an increase in prescription drug use, inhalants and “designer drugs.”
The questions were changed a bit for the 2008 survey, but the increase did not change, and were eerily similar to a major civilian drug use survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
Gil Kerlikowske, the drug control policy director, has called prescription drug abuse “America’s fastest-growing drug problem.” Recently, Congress passed the Secure and Responsble Drug Disposal Act, a law designed to stop misuse of prescription drugs through more efficient and safer disposal of unused or expired prescriptions.
“Prescription drug abuse is America’s fastest-growing drug problem, and one largely fed by an unlikely source – Americans’ medicine cabinets,” said Kerlikowske.
“It’s a huge concern, it’s a national concern,” said Lynn Pahland at Military Health Affairs. “Any kind of drug use or health choice that leads to the impairment of a military person leads to the degradation of readiness.”
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