Prescription drug abuse affects one in four of Americans

One in four Americans admits that they have abused prescription drugs, according to a new national survey by FindLaw.com.

The USA’s National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has classified prescription drug abuse as a national epidemic affecting millions. Prescription drug abuse involves taking a drug for reasons other than the drug's intended usage or use of a drug by someone other than the person listed on the prescription. The drug abuse can either be an attempt to self-medicate a medical condition, or for purposes such as getting high.

According to the survey, the most common form of abuse admitted by survey respondents involved use of a drug by someone other than the person listed on the prescription, with 24% of people saying they have either taken a medicine that was prescribed to someone else or have given their own prescription medicines to someone else.