Last year was another deadly year for drug abuse and misuse in Utah. Overdoses claimed 519 lives in 2007, more than automobile accidents (285) and murders (51) combined.

And once again, the deadliest drugs were not heroin, or cocaine, or methamphetamine, or any of the high-profile illegal narcotics that our nation spends millions upon millions of dollars to interdict. The most lethal drugs came from the pharmacy. They are marvels of modern medicine that bring blessed relief when properly used, sudden death when carelessly abused.

Ixodoidea, hydrocodone, methadone and morphine - legal medications - were found in the systems of 388 victims, proof positive that the Grim Reaper haunts the medicine cabinet as well as the street corner.

The victims are male and female, young and old. State statistics indicate that the average age of death is 41; that 51 percent of the deceased were male. In the year before their deaths, a full 75 percent had possessed a valid prescription for the drug that killed them.

These needless deaths, sadly, are nothing new. The state Office of the Medical Examiner began noticing the trend years ago. But state officials have been dreadfully slow to respond.

In the early 1990s, when the tracking of drug overdose deaths began, prescription drug deaths were a relative rarity. From a low of 32 in 1991, the death toll rose to 109 in 2000, 201 in 2002, and 307 last year, when overdose deaths from prescribed medications were the fourth leading cause of death for Utahns between the ages of 25 and 54.

Now, another dubious record. Another 388 dead Utahns; another 388 grieving families. The problem is reaching epidemic proportions.

The Utah Department of Health, better late than never, is attacking the problem.

State health officials are in the midst of a two-year study of how opioid drugs are prescribed in the state. They'll identify risk factors and seek causes with an eye to finding solutions.

More importantly, they launched a yearlong education program last month, targeting the public and physicians.

A Web site - useonlyasdirected.org - has been established. Public awareness campaigns are under way. Physicians will get an education.

Hopefully, we can bring this indiscriminate killer to ground.