A study conducted by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAA) and published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry finds that rates of opioid use without a prescription and opioid use disorders have doubled in the last ten years.

Researchers from NIAA analyzed data from the NIAA’s National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions-III. This survey looks at alcohol and drug use across the United States, as well as mental health conditions. It was found that between the years 2012 and 2013, 10 million Americans, or 4.1 percent of the adult population, used opioids, such as Vicodin and Oxycontin, without a prescription .

The number of people with an opioid use disorder also increases to 2.1 million adults, or 0.9 percent of the populations. Other increases include drug poisoning deaths and emergency department visits relating to opioid use. The abuse was found to be greatest among men with an income of less than seventy thousand dollars per year. Furthermore, there was a link found between substance use disorders and mental health disorders.

Studies like this by the NIAA are crucial to having up to date information on opioid abuse and addiction so it can be used to treat those with this disease.