Hydrocodone is one of the most abused drugs in the United States. Thousands of overdoses a year are caused by prescription medications, Hydrocodone being one of them. The International Narcotics Control Board reported 99% of the worldwide supply in 2007 was consumed in the United States. Hydrocodone is a semi synthetic opioid derived from codeine, it is pretty much a pharmacists version of heroin. Its addictive traits are both physical and mental and is often abused.

On October 6th 2014, the DEA finalized its rule to reschedule hydrocodone products from Schedule III to Schedule II. This started when the DEA published the stricter regulatory sanctions on August 22, 2014. This was in an effort to help reduce the amount of opiate abuse in the US. Limiting how hydrocodone is dispensed and prescribed they hope to see a decline over the next year in addiction rates.What this means is pharmacies will no longer fill prescriptions for hydrocodone-containing medications that have been called in or faxed in. Pharmacies will not do refills for prescriptions of hydrocodone combination products. This will require people to get a brand new handwritten prescription for each 30-day supply of their pills.

This decision by the DEA will hopefully help reduce the amount of hydrocodone on the streets. One of the reasons we have seen such a rise in addiction rates over the past 10 years is due to the fact that these pills were being handed out like they were candy. Many doctors were writing prescriptions for far more pills than what was needed for the pain that the prescribed was going through.

This caused an influx of pills to be made and given out. Many people were “doctor shopping” and going to several different doctors so they could gather more prescriptions for the dangerous drug. With more prescriptions being written and more pills being dispensed they became a popular and easy to find drug for many people. Some of these people that were getting excessive numbers of these pills would turn around and sell them.

These pills came in like a hurricane across all of the United States. Many young people began experimenting with them and eventually became addicted. Some of these addictions lead to other drugs like heroin.

Many parents would be prescribed these pills in excess causing there to be pills left over afterwards. These pills were sometimes just left in the medicine cabinet and curious kids would try these pills.

We can only hope that this will help decrease the number of pills that are being sold on our streets. If you are currently struggling with drug addiction seek out help today. The withdrawal from hydrocodone is very painful do, one should seek out help in a medical detox to help alleviate these miserable symptoms. Call Recovery Society 1-866-527-5252 to help find the right detox and treatment center for yourself.