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Prescription drug deaths on the rise in Spokane area
02.06.07|kxly.com

Abuse of illegal drugs like heroin and cocaine used to be the top reason for drug-related death but not anymore as deaths involving legal prescription drugs have soared in Washington.


According to the state health department prescription drug deaths are up 800-percent since 1994 and now exceed the number of deaths involving illicit drugs. While some overdoses are intentional pharmacists say many don't understand the strength of prescribed medication.


"It seems like just a waste that this would happen because he was such a good kid," Ken Zigler said of his son Tim, who died after taking a dose of methadone. A friend of Tim's gave it to him after he complained of a headache.


"You have no right to just give them out for recreation cause most people don't have a clue what this stuff can do to you," Ken Zigler said.

“It seems to escalate all the time,” Pharmacist John Amini said, adding that sharing drugs is illegal and every one of his customers are warned of the risks.


Despite the warnings he says people take more drugs than they should, more often than they should or give or sell their prescription drugs to people like Zigler, who don't know the dangers.


"Depending on the strength - they're time released - depending on dose and sensitivity of the person, it can be lethal," Amini said.


In fact a recent study by the Washington Department of Health found in 2004 legal prescription drugs killed 48 people in Spokane County, the highest death rate of any county in the state.


Zigler says the cure to this epidemic is education.


"I go everywhere and just tell them what methadone is doing to these kids because I can't just figure his death was for nothing,' he said.


This latest study looks at data through 2004 and the numbers continue to rise. In 2005 there were 52 accidental deaths in Spokane County involving methadone and that’s not counting accidental deaths involving other prescription drugs.


Many communities are now trying to form various groups to educate people about the dangers of prescription drugs.

 

Buzzby

It seems crazy to me that methadone is floating around in public circulation. I thought that it was distributed one dose at a time and that the recipient had to take it on the spot. Its only use is get opiate addicts off of street drugs and to either maintain or reduce their addictions. It kind of freaks me out that they're bringing it home and either selling it or leaving it where kids can pilfer it.

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dedbr

Methadone can be used the way you describe, Buzzby, and is used that way in some states.

Here in Ohio, though, it is used as an effective painkiller, and it's potency ranks right up there with high doses of other opiates. The reason that a overdose would be easy off of methadone is that it takes a longer period of time to get the full effects in your system.

There are narcotics just as strong if not stronger in the underground economy or "black market" right now. Old retired couple busted recently for sale of their prescriptions.........they were clearing over 17,000 a month selliing their scripts at a dollar a milligram......

That's a lot of money and of course makes the market huge. 17,000 is almost a years wages around here......


Some Where In Ded Land.......

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