Death from prescription drug overdose is on the rise in Michigan.
More Michiganders are dying from prescription drug abuse than from heroin and cocaine combined. In 2009, almost 460 Michiganders died of overdoses from one or more prescription drugs, up from nearly 410 deaths the year before. Data from 2010 is still being collected.
Larry Scott is with the Michigan Bureau of Substance Abuse and Addiction Services. He says there is one way to prevent the rise of prescription drug abuse.
“We need to be about educating the prescribers and also educating those that are receiving the prescriptions to act responsibly regarding the prescriptions and to be accountable for their actions and also be accountable for the disposal of those medications if you will when they are no longer using them.”
Left over prescription drugs can be thrown away after they have been mixed with coffee ground or cat litter in a sealable bag or container.
Emily Fox- Michigan Radio Newsroom
