Story Created:
Sep 21, 2009 at 3:20 PM CST
Story Updated:
Sep 21, 2009 at 5:17 PM CST
State officials continue to fight a growing problem in Oklahoma. The number of people abusing prescription pain killers is on the rise. About 87,000 people in Oklahoma are using prescription drugs for non-medical use. More people are becoming addicted to pain killers because of the accessibility. The number of prescription drug deaths in the state has climbed 73% in the last 6 years.
Mark Woodward with the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics said, "You see the same type of situation and problems in a family that has an alcoholic or a street drug addict, but they may delay getting treatment longer because they think this is a prescription I can handle it, I know what I'm doing. yet they miss work, they lie."
The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics says they use a Prescription Drug Monitoring Program to watch a patients history, and make sure they aren't getting them from a number of doctors.
