A police report indicates that Leslie Carter suffered a drug overdose although nothing has been confirmed yet.
Authorities reportedly found at least three drugs – Olanzapine, Cyclobenzaprine and Xanax – near Carter who died in upstate New York on Tuesday. She was 25.
The prescription medications listed in the police report treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and anxiety. An official cause of death is still pending a completion of toxicology.
Ginger Carter, her stepmother, told police that Leslie had suffered “a long history of mental illness and was on medication for her depression” and that she had seemed particularly distressed the morning of her death.
Nick and Aaron Carter’s sister was an aspiring singer whose song “Like Wow!” appeared on the Shrek soundtrack and appeared on the “House of Carters” reality television show.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has labeled this emerging form of drug abuse a “national epidemic.” Prescription drugs are the cause of more deaths by overdose than “street drugs” such as cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine.
A recent CDC study found that in 2009, more Americans died from prescription drugs than motor vehicle accidents.
The 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that about seven million people regularly use prescription drugs for non-medical purposes.
Prescription medications for pain and anxiety are particularly potent and highly addictive, and they can be lethal if combined with alcohol or other narcotics. A recent government report said painkiller deaths more than tripled in the past decade.
What is extremely troubling is that the abuse is particularly prevalent among teenagers. The CDC reports that one in five high school students school has taken a prescription drug without a doctor’s prescription.
What is more disturbing is that many teens are getting these drugs from friends and family; an important discussion for parents to have with their teenagers.
Sources: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6101a3.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecreationalSafety/pdf/poison-issue-brief.pdf