What must be done to stop the rapidly rising rate of drug-related deaths?

What do Ohio, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah and Washington all have in common?

These are the states in which, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drug-related deaths have now taken over traffic fatalities in terms of numbers of lives lost. Cocaine and heroin continue to be killers, but most of the increase is attributed to prescription opiates such as methodone, OxyContin and Vicodin. This is not just a “young generation” problem. From 1999-2006, death rates for such medications climbed in every age group. With traffic fatalities declining (thankfully), down 6.5 percent from 1999-2006, one wonders how long it will be before drug-related deaths top traffic fatalities nationwide. The CDC reports 45,000 US deaths from traffic accidents in 2006, and 39,000 US deaths from drug-induced causes. The rate of drug-related deaths nearly doubled from 1999-2006.

Obviously it would be wonderful for traffic deaths to continue their decline. But what must be done to stop the rapidly rising rate of drug-related deaths?