Legal Drug Overdoses Kill More Than Illegal Drugs

Accidental overdoses that resulted in death in Maine have increased from 19 in 1997 to 126 in 2002, and 62 percent of those deaths were caused by legal, prescription drugs, a U.S. Senate Governmental Affairs Committee has learned.

"I am startled at how pervasive the problem is in Maine and the phenomenal increases in overdoses, to the point where deaths from legal drugs have exceeded deaths from illegal drugs," Maine Sen. Susan Collins, co-chair of the coommitte, told the Press-Herald. "People mistakenly view prescription drugs as less dangerous and less deadly and causing fewer problems than illegal drugs."

Maine officials and local police told the committee what is needed to fight what they called an epidemic is increased narcotics enforcement and a computer tracking system to keep drug abusers from scamming doctors and pharmacists.

They also said they need ways to track drug overdoses that do not violate privacy rights, so they can determine how drugs have been diverted and who is at risk. Officials said more education about addiction should be provided to health professionals.

More: Prescription Medications Often Abused | Drugs of Abuse