There has been a rise in the number of deaths linked to prescription medication overdoses.

Sleeping pills and anti-anxiety drugs have become the nation’s “silent killers”, with the number of people dying from the prescription drugs more than doubling in a decade.

A report by the Penington Institute shows pharmaceutical opioids account for 45 per cent of all accidental drug-related deaths.

The institute’s chief executive John Ryan tells Alan Jones we need to treat it like a national crisis.

“If you look at what we did with the road toll, we did a brilliant job. We need community education, improved safety of roads, improved safety of cars. We reduced drink driving.

“We need to take that same approach with the overdose problem which is there’s no simple solution, but we’ve got to make a massive effort.”

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