The prescription drug addiction is on the rise all over the world. According to the United Nations global drugs supervisory body, more people are getting addicted to legal narcotics than heroin, cocaine and ecstasy.

The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) said that several high-profile celebrity deaths such as Michael Jackson focused attention on prescription drug addiction.

The board stated that in United States, prescription drug addiction is now the second most important drug abuse issue next to cannabis. It also revealed that around 6.2 million people were addicted to prescription drugs in 2008.

The prescription drug abuse can be described as hidden problem as it is difficult to get data on pharmaceutical drug abuse. It is estimated that in Germany, about 1.4 to 1.9 million people were addicted to pharmaceutical drugs.

An estimated 1 to 3 percent of the population of Canada abuses prescription opioids. 10 to 18 percent Students from several European countries including France, Italy, Poland and Lithuania use un-prescribed sedatives or tranquilizers.

Apart from these countries, drugs are easily available in many countries without any prescription. Prescription drug addiction is growing at alarming rate. So, detecting and preventing this kind of drug abuse is very much necessary to protect the people.