100 million prescriptions for Vicodin

Last night, on his own network TV show, Dr. Phil said:

In fact, over half of the American population got a prescription for Vicodin last year. That is over 100 million people. As outrageous as it is true, most narcotics can now be obtained without a doctor's prescription.

The screen showed the text: "100 million Americans obtained prescriptions for Vicodin in 2004."

Half the American population would be more like 145M people. But never mind that. Maybe he is counting adults. I didn't believe that so many people got Vicodin prescriptions. Millions more are using the stuff nonmedically.

I just got a Vicodin prescription for my broken leg, but I thought that it was only prescribed for such extreme conditions. Vicodin is a DEA schedule III narcotic.