{"id":5327,"date":"2012-01-13T07:29:01","date_gmt":"2012-01-13T12:29:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/?p=5327"},"modified":"2012-01-16T10:40:09","modified_gmt":"2012-01-16T15:40:09","slug":"morning-read-a-growing-prescription-drug-epidemic-in-north-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/2012\/01\/13\/morning-read-a-growing-prescription-drug-epidemic-in-north-country\/","title":{"rendered":"Morning Read: A growing prescription drug epidemic in North Country?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Newspapers across the region are reacting to New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s claim that prescription drug abuse has reached epidemic levels in the North Country region.\u00a0 This from Brian Kelly at the Watertown Daily Times.<\/a><\/p>\n

Mr. Schneiderman claims prescription drug abuse \u201chas reached epidemic proportions\u201d in the north country and across the state.<\/p>\n

In a prepared statement, the attorney general, citing statistics from the state Department of Health Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, said the opiate hydrocodone was the most commonly prescribed controlled drug in Jefferson, St. Lawrence and Franklin counties from 2008 to 2010, followed by another opiate, oxycodone.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, Chris Knight<\/a> reports that addiction drug abuse has sent rates of emergency admission to hospitals in Franklin County skyrocketing.<\/p>\n

In the North Country, the attorney general’s office said health care facilities have experienced a staggering increase in the percentage of non-crisis admissions for substance abuse involving prescription narcotics.<\/p>\n

In Franklin County, the number of people who sought such drug treatment for such patients more than quadrupled, from 34 to 127, from 2007 to 2010.<\/p>\n

The state Department of Health says the number of prescriptions given out in Franklin County for two of the most commonly abused narcotics, hydrocodone and oxycodone, increased 49 and 48 percent, respectively, from 2008 to 2010, according to the AG’s report.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In late December, Chris Knight profiled one woman who had fallen into the trap of prescription drug abuse.\u00a0\u00a0 The report aired on North Country Public Radio.<\/a><\/p>\n

“I’m very ashamed to say this, but it wasn’t as important for me to see my family and children as it was to get my next hook,” the woman, who was interviewed anonymously, said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So what do you think?\u00a0 Is this something that you’re seeing in your town, your neighborhood, your family?\u00a0 Comments welcome, but remember – be thoughtful, respectful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Newspapers across the region are reacting to New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s claim that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[4872,4803],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5327"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5327"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5328,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5327\/revisions\/5328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}