Political Quotes

“I am pleased to join Senator Feinstein in cosponsoring a resolution designating the month of October 2011 as National Medicine Abuse Awareness Month. The abuse of prescription drugs and cold medicine is currently the fastest growing drug abuse trend in the country. According to the most recent National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), more and more people are turning to using controlled substances without a doctor's prescription. The same survey shows that nearly one-third of all respondents who initiated drug use in the past year used prescription drugs. People between the ages of 12 and 25 are the most common group to abuse these drugs. More people are dying because of this abuse. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the unintentional deaths involving prescription narcotics increased 117 percent from the years 2001 to 2005. In my home State of Iowa, the Governor's Office of Drug Control Policy reports that at least 40 people died from an overdose of prescription painkillers in 2009. This represents a sharp increase in the last decade when only three people died from painkiller overdoses in 2000. Abuse of over-the-counter, OTC, cough and cold medicines is also alarming. While these common cold medicines are safe and effective if used properly, the abuse of these medicines can also be destructive.…”