With more than 35 percent of American adults receiving prescriptions 38 percent of all adults using painkillers in 2015 — including adults who obtained the drugs for misuse — more American adults that year used prescription painkillers than cigarettes, smokeless tobacco or cigars combined, according to The Washington Post.
The figures come from a recent report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which showed 31 percent of American adults used tobacco products in 2015.
The report acknowledges that most painkiller utilization is not categorized as misuse, which the SAMHSA defines as any use of the painkillers in a manner not directed by a physician, according to the report. However, the fact that the rate of painkiller use has superseded tobacco use shows how ubiquitous the drugs have become. A 2008 study cited by The Washington Post estimates Americans consume about 80 percent of the global opioid supply and 99 percent of the global hydrocodone supply.
Prescription opioid painkillers, which can be highly addictive, accounted for nearly 19,000 American deaths in 2014, according to numbers from the CDC, The Washington Post reported.