Description
Every 7 minutes in our country, a person dies from prescription drug overdose, while a child is also born approximately every 30 minutes dependent (not addicted!) upon opioids. However, those staggering numbers do not even include one of (if not the) most dangerous, yet socially-accepted substances known to mankind: alcohol (ethyl alcohol). Year after year, alcohol-related deaths easily surmount drug overdose deaths, and considering the incredible numbers involved in drug overdose deaths, clearly alcohol is having a huge impact on our society. As the “poster child” for the subjectivity of laws regarding substances of abuse, in shifting from being legal, to the age of prohibition, and then back again, alcohol truly begs one to ponder our overall “war on drugs.” This discussion is also part of the overall Substances of Abuse Specialty Pharmacist (SASP) certificate training program. So please join us for a “glass half full” approach to reviewing just how to drastically help our patients either with alcohol use disorder, or perhaps even when merely occasionally utilizing alcohol amongst other medications or substances of abuse.