WASHINGTON - One in 10 Americans admit to taking a prescription drug they have not been prescribed, and a quarter of those people have used them just to get high, according to an ongoing Reuters/Ipsos poll. 

While about six in ten Americans who used another person’s prescriptions did so for pain relief, a fifth took them to sleep, or to manage stress and anxiety, the poll showed.

Prescription drug misuse has reached epidemic levels and it is now the second most abused category of drugs in the United States, after marijuana, according to a survey conducted for the U.S. government.

Pharmacies in the United States dispensed more than 4 billion prescriptions in 2012, according to IMS Health, a healthcare research firm.

The poll indicated it is not difficult to get hold of such drugs, even without a prescription. About two thirds of those who used other people’s prescribed drugs were given them by a family member, friend or acquaintance, the poll showed. Only about 14 percent were either taken without permission or purchased.

For some, using other people’s prescription drugs is a way to save on healthcare costs. People with no health insurance sometimes use pain medication prescribed to friends or relatives.