People need Zen

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500,000 Australians

The Fatal Cocktail

The Real Drug Problem?

Pill poppers ... painkillers including Xanax, Valium and Zoloft are being widely used in Australia / James Croucher

Australians addicted to prescription medication, including Xanax, Valium and Zoloft

The Sunday Telegraph

July 12, 2009 12:01am

THE abuse and misuse of prescription drugs is not restricted to Michael Jackson and the Hollywood set, The Sunday Telegraph reports.

More than half a million Australians are addicted to painkillers, and drugs in the fatal cocktail taken by Jackson - including Xanax, Valium and Zoloft - are being widely used in Australia.

Dr Alex Wodak, of St Vincent's Hospital in New South Wales, said a growing proportion of people were misusing those drugs.

"We're worried that if consumption keeps rising, we'll begin to see the same kind of problems they saw in the United States, with overdose deaths from this group of drugs outnumbering heroin-overdose deaths in the year 2000," Dr Wodak said.

Link:

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25765503-36398,00.html