I grew up in a household where drugs were regularly discussed. My dad was a pharmacist. A very good one. In fact he predicted thirty years ago the “war on drugs” would be a bust. “Government can’t solve this problem, only experts who deal with real people can,” he argued. “Let pharmacists regulate what a customer is using, and give them tools to send them to rehab so they can get help. Don’t trap a user and incarcerate them. Only the prisons and politicians will profit.”

Now trillions of tax dollars later, and with decades of data, it turns out my dad was right.

Addiction to drugs in our country is worse than ever. And prescription drug addiction has been steadily on the rise. One recent survey found one in four teenagers has abused doctor prescribed medications. That’s a quarter of America’s youth.

We’ve learned since his death that Prince was addicted to Percocet, a drug made up of Tylenol and Oxycodone. He took so much of it after a concert last Friday that he had to make an emergency landing just an hour from his home. His body was too relaxed, and his respiration had stopped, so he was given a “save shot” by doctors. Sadly, he did not remain in the hospital, and in the following days he made repeated trips to Walgreens. Percocet can kill pain, but it is also highly addictive.

According to the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention nearly 200,000 people have overdosed on Percocet since 1999. That’s a lot of death on one legal drug.

My dad was always very analytical when it came to drug abuse. In Prince’s case I can hear him concluding, “He had a ‘save shot’ and five days later he’s dead, so he was an addict and used again. He either was in so much pain he popped too many Percocet, OxyContin or Vicodin, or he purposely killed himself.”

We may never know, but considering Prince was found in an elevator, it appears he wanted to keep working and had simply taken too many pain killers.

Like Michael Jackson, we have lost a musical icon way too soon.

One this is certain: His death can be a wake up call to the thousands of people who have a prescription drug addiction. Get help now at 1-800-662-HELP.