--- title: "Psych News Alert: Nonmedical Use of Prescription Painkillers Continues to Rise" description: Interventions to address nonmedical use of prescription pain relievers should focus on men and individuals aged 18 to 49, according to Chris... image: https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/pills_64481398-Jun-24-2025-07-20-17-1606-PM.jpg --- 6/27/12 12:00 AM # Nonmedical Use of Prescription Painkillers Continues to Rise ![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [ Psychiatric News Alert ](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) Share: [facebook-f icon ](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/06/nonmedical-use-of-prescription.html) [linkedin-in icon ](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/06/nonmedical-use-of-prescription.html) [Twitter icon ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/06/nonmedical-use-of-prescription.html) [pinterest-p icon ](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/06/nonmedical-use-of-prescription.html) [envelope icon ](mailto:?body=https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/06/nonmedical-use-of-prescription.html) [![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/pills_64481398-Jun-24-2025-07-20-19-3188-PM.jpg?width=200&height=133&name=pills_64481398-Jun-24-2025-07-20-19-3188-PM.jpg)](https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/pills_64481398-Jun-24-2025-07-20-18-1665-PM.jpg) Interventions to address nonmedical use of prescription pain relievers should focus on men and individuals aged 18 to 49, according to Christopher Jones, Pharm.D., a health scientist with the Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Jones recently analyzed the combined data of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) for years 2002 to 2003 and 2009 to 2010 to improve detection of differences among specific subpopulations and published his findings online June 25 in the *Archives of Internal Medicine*. The NSDUH defines past-year nonmedical use  (PYNMU) of prescription pain relievers as use in the prior 12 months without a prescription or simply to experience the feeling it causes. Jones' analysis found that some of the largest increases in PYNMU were among male survey respondents and people aged 26 to 49. An encouraging finding was the decrease in PYNMU among those aged 12 to 17. "Coupled with continued increases in opioid pain reliever morbidity and mortality, these findings underscore the need for concerted public-health and public-safety action to prevent nonmedical use of these drugs," said Jones. A treatment for addiction to prescription painkillers that shows promise is the drug Suboxone, a buprenorphine-naloxone combination. Read more about it in *Psychiatric News* [here](http://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/newsarticle.aspx?articleid=481208). (Image: Jirsak/Shutterstock.com) [opioid pain relievers](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/opioid-pain-relievers), [nsduh](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/nsduh), [prescription painkiller abuse](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/prescription-painkiller-abuse) ## Related posts [![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Prescription-Keyboard_98575970-Jun-24-2025-07-14-17-8631-PM.jpg?height=200&name=Prescription-Keyboard_98575970-Jun-24-2025-07-14-17-8631-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/06/prescription-monitoring-programs.html) [psychiatry](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/psychiatry), [prescription drug abuse](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/prescription-drug-abuse), [prescription drug monitoring](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/prescription-drug-monitoring) ## [Prescription Monitoring Programs Expanding](https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/06/prescription-monitoring-programs.html) ![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 6/6/12 12:00 AM [ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/06/prescription-monitoring-programs.html) [![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/pr110311_fig2-Jun-24-2025-06-06-48-2984-PM.jpg?height=200&name=pr110311_fig2-Jun-24-2025-06-06-48-2984-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2011/11/medication-take-back-day-nets-over-188.html) [prescription drug abuse](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/prescription-drug-abuse) ## [Medication Take-Back Day Nets Over 188 Tons](https://alert.psychnews.org/2011/11/medication-take-back-day-nets-over-188.html) ![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 11/30/11 12:00 AM [ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2011/11/medication-take-back-day-nets-over-188.html) [![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/crowd_iStock-468855932-Jun-24-2025-04-42-11-0787-PM.jpg?height=200&name=crowd_iStock-468855932-Jun-24-2025-04-42-11-0787-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2018/12/benzodiazepine-use-may-be-higher-among.html) [anxiety](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/anxiety), [insomnia](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/insomnia), [Psychiatric Services in Advance](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/psychiatric-services-in-advance), [benzodiazepines](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/benzodiazepines), [misuse](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/misuse), [prescription](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/prescription), [Donovan Maust](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/donovan-maust), [insurance coverage](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/insurance-coverage) ## [Benzodiazepine Use May Be Higher Among U.S. Adults Than Previously Estimated](https://alert.psychnews.org/2018/12/benzodiazepine-use-may-be-higher-among.html) ![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 12/18/18 12:00 AM Over 30 million U.S. adults took benzodiazepines in the past year, including 5.3 million who... [ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2018/12/benzodiazepine-use-may-be-higher-among.html) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Psychiatric News Alert", "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert" }, "dateModified" : "2025-06-24T19:25:04.795Z", "datePublished" : "2012-06-27T04:00:00.000Z", "headline" : "Psych News Alert: Nonmedical Use of Prescription Painkillers Continues to Rise", "image" : [ "https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/pills_64481398-Jun-24-2025-07-20-17-1606-PM.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/06/nonmedical-use-of-prescription.html", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/PN-Blue-Box.jpg" } } } ```