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A joint Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control held a hearing entitled “Generation Rx: The Abuse of Prescription and Over-the-Counter Drugs.” The Committee discussed drug abuse with a panel made up of experts including medical epidemiologist, Dr. Len Paulozzi, as well as Director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse Dr. Nora Volkow.

Chaired by Senator Joe Biden (D-DE), the experts’ testimonies at the hearing were appalling. The testimonies showed how opioids (such as Vicoden), central nervous system depressants (such as Xanax and Valium), and stimulants, were among the drugs most commonly abused by American’s today.

Paulozzi’s report concluded by noting the obvious- prescription drug overdoses are a serous health problem. Biden noted that prescribes should be taught to less carefree in dispensing pain medications, and other drugs that could leave patients susceptible to addiction. With the rate of drug overdoses and drug related fatalities growing at a startlingly high rate, Biden’s concern about the American drug dependency and problems with abuse is not difficult to realize.