Prescription drug abuse affected nearly 7 million Americans in 2007, and problems ranging from poorly trained prescribers to easy access to medications among young people are making it difficult to stem the tide, Reuters reported July 30.

Non-medical use of prescription drugs is up 80 percent since 2000, and overdose deaths from prescription medication are now the leading cause of accidental death among adults ages 45 to 54. But among physicians, parents and other segments of society, there often seems to be a laissez-faire attitude about the dangers associated with pain medications and other prescription drugs.

"There's very low social disapproval," said Stephen Pasierb, president and chief executive of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. "In fact, there are parents who [are] almost relieved that their kid is using Vicodin and not smoking marijuana."

Authorities are attempting to institute several measures to block access to prescription medications, which many youths report are readily available via the family medicine cabinet. A program run by the University of Maine is allowing elderly consumers to mail unused prescription drugs to the state in postage-paid envelopes so that the unneeded medications don't end up getting misused by someone else.

Meanwhile, the number of Americans receiving substance use treatment related to pain medication jumped by 321 percent from 1995 to 2005. Some authorities believe the most productive outreach efforts should target physicians. Len Paulozzi, an epidemiologist with the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, recently told members of Congress that physicians have not received sufficient training in the pharmacology of potentially dangerous opioid painkillers.