From 1995 to 2007, drug overdose deaths in New Hampshire jumped more than 400%; that year, overdose deaths surpassed deaths from traffic accidents. The majority of those deaths resulted from overdoses of methadone, typically mixed with other prescription medications. Methadone use is so rampant here that in 2005, New Hampshire was fourth in the country for the number of methadone overdose deaths per capita, according to the CDC. New Hampshire is the only New England state without a prescription monitoring program and one of only 11 states without one. In the other 39 states, monitoring programs help doctors determine whether people requesting narcotics, stimulants, and other medications are addicts or are legitimately in need. New Hampshire has no systematic methods by which people can dispose of unwanted medication; diminishing treatment resources; and very little money funding a fragmented system of prevention. This series looks at the personal toll abuse takes on addicts and their families, on doctors, police, and society at large. It also examines the politics and economics of the problem.
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