Also contributing to the problem are pharmacy thefts, robberies and burglaries, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.

Additionally, there are prescription forgeries and Internet pharmacies that require little information before shipping drugs, the newspaper said.

"Unlike illicit drug use, which shows a continuing downward trend, prescription drug abuse ... has seen a continual rise through the 1990s and has remained stubbornly steady ... during recent years," Dr. Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, told a congressional hearing in March.

Local law enforcement officials say the illegal use of prescription drugs as street narcotics has surged.

"What we are seeing is that prescription drugs ... are quickly becoming the drug of choice and abuse," said police Lt. Dennis Vrooman of Murrieta, Calif.