Do The Math About Addiction Rates

Mark Twain once wrote that there are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics.

Perhaps there’s some truth in the author-humorist’s line because we’ve all heard enough statistics in our lifetimes to make a grown man cry!

It’s often difficult to get to the truth when someone throws a bunch of scholarly-sounding numbers at us, and proving statistical information is a lost cause unless you’re a researcher with nothing else to do.

The following statistics were taken from a web site for “The Waismann Method” and refers to this treatment center’s program of rapid detoxification from prescription painkilling opiate drugs. It cites information gained from the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse.

• Two million Americans use prescription painkillers each year
• In some areas of the country, addiction to painkillers has overtaken that