Doctor's Orders

“There’s a killer on the road
His brain is squirmin’ like a toad”
The Doors

The state of Utah enjoys one of the nation’s lowest alcohol-related highway fatality rates; in part due to aggressive enforcement of its’ drunken driver laws. Our governor and legislature repeatedly congratulate themselves on this good news. Billboards along all major highways announce the cost of driving “buzzed” (10K, minimum); and in the state-owned (only) liquor stores, there are signs warning customers that driving while intoxicated is a crime and is aggressively prosecuted in Utah. Aggressive enforcement, billboards, and posters are only part of the reason Utah has a low death by drunk rate.

The truth is, most Utah citizens do not drink at all. Sixty five to eighty five percent of the adults in this state are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints*, depending upon your source authority. Active, believing members do not use alcohol at all. Certainly, that is their choice; I am not denigrating that in the least. If you don’t drink, you will not cause a drunken driver accident.

Our (80% LDS) legislature in Utah is about to convene. Normally, the LDS Church does not take a publicly announced stand on issues coming to the session, but this year it has. The past few weeks have seen TV advertisements, interviews with news stations, and a you-tube clip, announcing that our liquor laws are fine just as they stand today; there is no need for legislative correction to them this year. Why? Well, one of the major concerns facing our legislature is the so-called Zion Curtain, a wall, of a designated height, behind which bartenders store, mix and pour alcoholic beverages. All new restaurants, bars, or clubs –including national chains- are required to have this wall installed. The dining and tourism industries have asked this regulation be rescinded. (The purpose of this wall is to keep children from becoming alcoholics because they watched drinks being prepared.)

There is a 7 -seven- ton elephant in the room, which the LDS Church, governor, and legislature will not address. I will address it. That issue is prescription drug abuse, and the deaths from that abuse.

Nationally, 2.7 percent of the population abuse prescription drugs. (2010, National Institute of Health) In Utah (and in Texas, and in New York State) those rates are 4.08-4.45%, or double that of the national average. (2010, NIH) Utah ranks 4th in the nation for prescription drug abuse. More Americans, and more Utahans, die each year from prescription drug abuse than from alcohol or illegal drug use.

So what? Well, in Utah, you are 4 times more likely to die of prescription drug overdose than in a traffic accident, including a drunken driver accident. Prescription drug overdose is the number 1 cause of injury deaths in Utah. The Number One cause; it is ahead of motor vehicle fatalities, ahead of falls, ahead of gun violence. (2010, Utah Department of Health)

Our youth are extremely susceptible to prescription drug abuse. The National Institute of Health reports (2010) that 1 in 12 high school seniors have abused Vicodin, and 1 in 20 have abused OxyCotin. Seventy percent had obtained the drugs from the family medicine cabinet, or from a friend. We are guilty of addicting our children to drugs.

Where is the outcry from our Governor, our legislature, and the LDS Church? They have been very silent about the prescription drug abuse issue, even though it causes more deaths than alcohol. Utah prides itself on being a “Family Values” state, and one of the concerns about alcohol abuse is how it affects the children. However, again, 70% of the high school seniors get their drugs from the family medicine cabinet. Why are the legislative and religious leaders of the state not addressing this easy access issue?

Why are they -the Governor, Legislature, LDS Church- silent about this issue? Here is one thought: alcohol is used, (or abused) by a minority of Utah’s residents, which the LDS Church refers to as Gentiles; those who are not members of the Church. Prescription drug abuse crosses all lines of demarcation, all lines of religion, politics, age, sex, or income. Writing legislation that inconveniences a minority is easy; you really don’t need their votes to be in office. Writing legislation, or enacting a PR campaign that makes the majority uncomfortable, is not good for the election.

What, then, do I propose? First, I ask our legislature to look at the leading cause of injury death in Utah. I ask them to put strong money into mental health clinics; to promote prescription drug abuse programs as strongly as they promote alcohol abuse programs. I propose that we, as a nation, remove the stigma that is attached to using professional help to address our inner conflicts and turmoil. We need our insurance companies to accept that good mental health is as important as good physical health. Americans need to accept that they, their spouse or child may need a therapist as much as they need a doctor.
Our religious leaders need to have resources they can use to refer members who need mental health assistance, much as they do now for those who need medical or financial assistance. As adults, we need to make sure that the medicine cabinet is monitored. We should know what medications are in there, and we should ask questions if they start to disappear. In fine, we need to be parents to our children.

Yes, alcohol kills needlessly. Prescription drug abuse is more widely spread in Utah then alcohol abuse and it kills more people in Utah than alcohol. Let’s act on prescription drug abuse, and stop focusing on additional alcohol regulation.

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* The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has requested, in any article mentioning the Church, that the first entry use the full name; following entries may use common abbreviations (LDS, Mormons, etc.)

Source: National Institute of Health http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/topics-in-brief/prescription-drug-abuse , Downloaded Jan 24, 2014

Source: ibid

Source: Utah Department of Health http://www.useonlyasdirected.org/articles/read/PRESCRIPTION_DRUGS_ARE_KILLING_MORE_THAN_PAIN , downloaded Jan 24, 2014