Prescription Drug Abuse Among Active Duty Troops

Hopefully these soon to be veterans are getting this documented in medical records or the VA will flatly deny their claims.

That is perhaps one of the saddest things about such stats, they are important, but the individually affected veterans virtually never get the proper medical documentation, because it is common knowledge and therefore assumed.

Well common knowledge will not get you the disability rating that they deserve,so get medical documentation.

Full Article at: U.S. troops admit abusing prescription drugs
By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — "About one in four soldiers admit abusing prescription drugs, most of them pain relievers, in a one-year period, according to a Pentagon health survey released Wednesday.

The study, which surveyed more than 28,500 U.S. troops last year, showed that about 20% of Marines had also abused prescription drugs, mostly painkillers, in that same period."

"The survey showed that pain relievers were the most abused drug in the military, used illicitly at a rate triple that of marijuana or amphetamines, the next most widely abused drugs.

About 15% of soldiers said they had abused prescription drugs in the 30 days before they were questioned for the survey. About 10% of Marines said the same thing."

"USA TODAY reported last year that narcotic pain-relief prescriptions for injured or wounded U.S. troops jumped from 30,000 a month to 50,000 since the Iraq war began."

"Other survey findings include:

•The percentage of troops showing signs of post-traumatic stress disorder increased during the war years. In a 2005 survey, 7% of the servicemembers described symptoms suggesting PTSD. That increased to 11% in the 2008 study.

The largest increases were within the Army and Marine Corps, the two service branches doing most of the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. The rate of soldiers who described problems suggestive of PTSD increased from 9% in 2005 to 13% in 2008, and from 8% to 15% among Marines, the survey results show.

•Nearly 60% of Marines admit engaging in binge drinking. The rate of heavy alcohol use — defined as five or more drinks per occasion once a week — among all servicemembers ages 18 to 35 remained higher than in the civilian population.

•Servicemembers admitting that they had thoughts of suicide during the year prior to being surveyed doubled from 1% in 2005 to 2% in 2008."