CANBERRA, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- The number of Australians dying from prescription drug abuse has risen 168 percent in a decade, a government report has found.
The report, released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) on Tuesday, revealed that cannabis was the only substance being used more than pharmaceuticals in Australia.
The AIHW found that between 2006 and 2016, the number of deaths where either benzodiazepines or opiods were present rose 168 percent and 127 percent respectively.
The rise means that Australians are now more likely to die as a result of abusing prescription drugs than illicit substances such as cocaine or heroin.
Opioids include pain medications such as morphine and codeine while benzodiazepines such as Valium were most often prescribed to treat sleep issues and stress.
Overall, almost one million Australians aged 14 or older abused or misused prescription medications in 2016, the report found, 28 percent of who did so daily or weekly.
"The rate of dispensed prescriptions for opioid analgesics has been climbing, from 36,900 dispensed prescriptions per 100,000 population in 2010-11 to 45,600 in 2014-15," the report said.
"This amounted to a 24 percent rise, which was largely driven by a 60 percent rise in the rate of prescriptions for oxycodone (and oxycodone/naloxone), from 9,800 per 100,000 people in 2010-11 to 15,500 in 2014-15.
"Harms associated with the non-medical use of these pharmaceuticals continue to rise, with data suggesting there have been significant increases in overdoses and deaths."
The rise of prescription drugs in Australia is in-line with trends internationally, the report found, with 62 people dying every day in the U.S. as a result of prescription opioid misuse.
"The level of addiction to pharmaceuticals in the U.S., and subsequent rise in overdoses, provides insight into the potential harms Australia could experience if safeguards preventing their non-medical use are not strengthened," the report said.
