One Ohio county develops task force to combat prescription drug use

Ohio is one of the many states throughout the U.S. suffering from opiate addiction stemming from prescription painkiller use. Medication such as Oxycontin, Vicodin, and Percocet are being used recreationally by teens and young adults.

Officials from Delaware County said that in 2010 there were enough painkillers prescribed to give each resident, including children, 47 doses, the Columbus Local News reports.

The county recently formed an Opiate Task Force to help combat the increasing amount of prescription painkillers throughout the state. Officials added that they are worried that these drugs could lead individuals to begin taking street drugs such a heroin, which contains opiates found in many painkillers.

"Realizing how highly addictive it was and seeing the impact on [criminals] and their families and on the community, that was the impetus to bring everybody together last year," Everett Krueger, Delaware County Common Pleas Judge, told the news source.

According to the the National Institute on Drug Abuse, nearly 7 percent of students in 10th grade used the prescription drug Vicodin in 2008. Furthermore, approximately 10 percent of high school seniors used the medication recreationally.