Daryl Solomon / Getty Images
+Drugs | May 8, 2012

Recreational Use of Prescription Painkillers Linked to Other Drug Problems in Teens

By Maia Szalavitz

Nearly 1 in 4 high school seniors has ever taken a prescription opioid pain reliever either medically or recreationally, according to a new study. Nonmedical use of these drugs was associated with a higher risk of smoking, illegal drug use and binge drinking, but proper medical use was not.

+Drugs | April 27, 2012

Government Considers Overdose Antidote, Naloxone, to Fight Prescription Drug Misuse

By Maia Szalavitz
via Hospira

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has for the first time advocated considering the distribution of the naloxone, an overdose antidote, as a way to curb the rising toll of overdose deaths in America.

+Addiction | November 10, 2011

A Brief History of OD’ing in America

By John Cloud
prescriptiondrugs

The conviction of Dr. Conrad Murray in Michael Jackson’s death highlighted a worrying drug trend in the U.S. Less than a week before a jury found Murray guilty of involuntary manslaughter for improperly using an anesthetic to help Jackson sleep, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the number of overdose deaths from opioid [...]

+Addiction | November 2, 2011

Are Doctors Really to Blame for the Overdose Epidemic?

By Maia Szalavitz
Getty Images

Forty people die each day from what Dr. Thomas Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), calls an “epidemic” of prescription drug overdose. Frieden largely attributes the rise in overdose deaths, which have tripled since 1999, to overprescribing by doctors. But the reality is much more complicated.

+Addiction | August 2, 2011

Most Teens Taking Prescription Drugs Do It Right

By Maia Szalavitz
Dimitri Vervitsiotis / Getty Images

Most students taking prescription medications for pain, sleep, anxiety or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) do not misuse the drugs, a new study finds. And proper use of these medications was not associated with a higher risk of addiction or other drug problems.

+Addiction | April 20, 2011

U.S. Aims to Reduce Overdose Deaths, But Will the New Plan Work?

By Maia Szalavitz
MedicalRF.com/Corbis

The Obama administration announced on Tuesday a new initiative to reduce prescription painkiller misuse and overdose, a problem that has become the leading cause of accidental death in 17 states, surpassing car accidents — and killing more than 28,000 people annually.

+Body & Mind | January 7, 2011

Top Ten Legal Drugs Linked to Violence

By Maia Szalavitz
103197912

When people consider the connections between drugs and violence, what typically comes to mind are illegal drugs like crack cocaine. However, certain medications — most notably, some antidepressants like Prozac — have also been linked to increase risk for violent, even homicidal behavior.

+Numbers | January 6, 2011

1.2 million

Number of emergency room visits resulting from the abuse or misuse of prescription drugs in 2009, compared with 627,000 such visits in 2004, according to data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. For more, see TIME's coverage of prescription drug addiction. [via The New York Times]

+Numbers | December 29, 2010

25%

Percentage of U.S. children and teens who were taking at least one prescription medication regularly in 2009; 7% were taking two or more such drugs [via The Wall Street Journal]

+Drugs | November 3, 2010

Study: Rural Teens Are More Likely to Misuse Prescription Drugs

By Meredith Melnick
SW Productions/Getty Images

Contrary to what the pill-popping kids on Gossip Girl would have you believe, city-dwelling teenagers are actually significantly less likely than their rural counterparts to use prescription drugs such as painkillers and tranquilizers for non-medical reasons.