As a starting point I do agree that most people do not develop an addiction to their pain medication but from my experience and research findings it is not rare. I use a conservative 10 percent estimate but it is probably higher for people to have abuse or addiction problems with their pain medication.

We do know for example that addiction is present in anywhere from 10 to 15 percent of the general population (this includes alcohol as well as other drugs as cited in the NIDA research). As a starting point I want to refer you to our Research Page on our website by going to http://www.addiction-free.com/news-research.html.

As you will see in the first posting on that page there are identifiable risk indicators that will predict who will be more at risk for abuse or even addiction. The final posting on that page covers the research I was referring to in my Blog.

I hope this is helpful.

Dr. Stephen F. Grinstead
Senior Consultant/Trainer
Gorski-CENAPS Corporation Grinstead Consultation & Coaching Services
PO Box 340626 Sacramento, CA 95834-0626
Phone (916) 575-9961
Website: http://www.addiction-free.com Email: sgrinstead@cenaps.com or drgrinstead@yahoo.com
Blog: http://www.addiction-free.com/blog/ To read our latest Chronic Pain Solutions Newsletter please click here http://www.addiction-free.com/sept-2008-newsletter.html. To sign up for our free Chronic Pain Solutions Newsletter, please click here http://www.addiction-free.com/contact.html. and then input your name and email address. You will then receive an autoresponse email that you need to reply to in order to finalize enrollment.