Tackling Drug Abuse in Michigan

Michigan is one of six states chosen to participate in a program designed to reduce prescription drug abuse in the US. The announcement was made Tuesday by the National Governor’s Association. The Michigan Department of Community health will spearhead Michigan’s’s role in the year-long Policy Academy on Reducing Prescription Drug Abuse program to develop a statewide action plan. Prescription drug abuse is the fastest-growing drug problem in the United States – a pattern that has been mirrored in Michigan according to officials. During the ten-year period from 2003 to 2012, the state’s pharmaceutical drug overdose death rate increased by 136 percent.