Current drug abuse reviews
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In the the past two decades the medical use of prescription opioids (POs), in particular oxycodone, increased up to 14-fold in the U. S. and Canada. The high consumption of these pain relievers also led to non-medical use and abuse of these substances which in turn resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of PO related fatalities and opioid dependent subjects. ⋯ The paper highlights and discusses the differences between Europe versus U. S. and Canada in an attempt to assess the risk of a PO abuse and overdose epidemic in Europe. It is concluded that the risk in Europe seems to be rather limited but vigilance is needed.