Facts About Prescription Drug Abuse

Prescription drug abuse is becoming a major problem next only to marijuana abuse. One of the main reasons for the growth of prescription drug abuse is the easy availability of the medications over the counter from a drug store, from a doctor or through online pharmaceuticals. It is becoming easier mainly to youngsters to access narcotic medications like tranquilizers and stimulants, in which the abuse is rapidly growing. Some of the facts about prescription drug abuse are as follows-• A considerable number of people are abusing prescription drugs. According to National Institute of Drug Abuse, an estimated 48 million people (20%) who are aged 12 and above of US population have used prescription drugs for non-medical purposes or reasons.• According to SAMSHA, non-medical use of prescription-type drugs among young adults increased from 5.4 percent in 2002 to 6.4 percent in 2006. This was primarily due to an increase in the rate of pain relievers’ usage, which was 4.1 percent in 2002 and 4.9 percent in 2006.• Non-medical use of tranquilizers also increased over the 5-year period, from 1.6 in 2002 to 2.0 percent in 2006.• Teenagers and youngsters are the main sections involved in prescription drug abuse. It is found that, 15.4 percent of high school seniors reported non-medical use of at least one prescription medication within the last year (2006).• NIDA states that OxyContin use in the last year was reported by 1.8 percent of 8th-graders, 3.9 percent of 10th-graders, and 5.2 percent of 12th- graders.• Vicodin use in 2006 was reported by 2.7 percent of 8th-graders, 7.2 percent of 10th-graders, and 9.6 percent of 12th-graders, remaining stable at relatively high levels for each grade.• Friends or relatives are becoming the first reason and an easy source for the prescription drug abuse. Among persons aged 12 or older who used pain relievers non-medical reasons in the past 12 months (2006), 55.7 percent reported that the source of the drug most recently they used, was from a friend or relative for free.• Doctors are also an easy source to obtain narcotic medications. 19.1 percent of the prescription drug abusers reported they got the drug from just one doctor.The above facts clearly state that, youngsters are clearly becoming vulnerable to prescription drug abuse. All the sections of the society should take serious steps to stop prescription drug abuse from doing further damage to the community.

Every day across America, nearly a million American kids age 12 to 17 abuse a pain reliever for the very first time just to get high. If you do the math, that’s nearly a million kids a year risking their lives — or at the very least, risking a life interrupted or ruined by prescription drug addiction. Teenagers are abusing more prescription and over-the-counter drugs than all illegal and illicit drugs except marijuana, according to federal statistics. In 2006, more than 2.1 million teens ages 12 to 17 reported abusing prescription drugs. And kids as young as 12 and 13 told researchers that prescription drugs are their “drug of choice.” The drugs that lead to prescription drug addiction for thousands of these young people are powerful narcotic painkillers like OxyContin, Vicodin and Percocet. These are the heroin-in-a-pill type drugs that can cause breathing collapse and coma, that have led to tens of thousands of cases of prescription drug addiction across the country. OxyContins were responsible in part for the death of actor Heath Ledger, and literally thousands of other “just plain folks” across the country in recent years. Anti-anxiety drugs and depressants, especially the benzodiazepine drugs — Xanax is a popular brand, as are Valium, Librium and many others — are particularly dangerous. They rapidly create dependencies that can lead to prescription drug addiction — some people are hooked after just a day or two on Xanax — and they are really difficult to get off of safely. And benzos can cause death when mixed with other drugs or alcohol. Stimulants are another type of drug that kids are abusing to get a buzz, particularly the kinds prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Adderall and Ritalin are two of the most abused, and these, because of their side effects, are basically cocaine-in-a-pill. Kids are trading and selling their ADHD prescription drugs with other kids, and stupidly risking their friends’ lives. Speed drugs can cause seriously abnormal heart rhythms, seizures and death. Meanwhile, a recent University of Texas study showed conclusively that methylphenidate, the active ingredient in Ritalin, causes chromosomal damage — the organized structures of DNA in our cells. No one has a clue yet what damage that will do long-term, but messing with someone’s DNA can’t be harmless. But while that research continues, millions of parents keep feeding these drugs to children. It’s time for a reassessment. Teens are also abusing over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, such as cough and cold remedies, which contain dextromethorphan and other drugs which are, like those prescription drugs, extremely deadly when combined with other drugs or with alcohol. OTC drugs can cause blurred vision, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, coma, and even death. And they’re a stepping stone to prescription drug addiction, too. Thousands of kids wind up in hospital emergency wards every year fighting for their lives because they overdosed on prescription or OTC drugs mixed with alcohol — all for fun! These drugs are readily available from home medicine cabinets or from friends, and even from on-line pharmacies. A lot of kids still think they’re a safer way to get high than street drugs, and many of them who wouldn’t touch cocaine or heroin don’t realize they are abusing almost identical drugs, and risking prescription drug addiction or death. What’s needed is for parents to start talking to their kids, and to clearly spell out all the very real dangers of prescription and OTC drugs. And they need to show strong disapproval of drug experimentation and abuse, and create and enforce anti-drug rules. Parents need to be firm, but they need their kids to understand that rules are to protect them — kids should be healthy, not in the morgue with a tag on their toe or in medical drug detox recovering from addiction.

Prescription drug abuse is becoming a major problem next only to marijuana abuse. One of the main reasons for the growth of prescription drug abuse is the easy availability of the medications over the counter from a drug store, from a doctor or through online pharmaceuticals.

Prescription drug abuse is becoming a major problem next only to marijuana abuse. One of the main reasons for the growth of prescription drug abuse is the easy availability of the medications over the counter from a drug store, from a doctor or through online pharmaceuticals. It is becoming easier mainly to youngsters to access narcotic medications like tranquilizers and stimulants, in which the abuse is rapidly growing. Some of the facts about prescription drug abuse are as follows-%26bull;    A considerable number of people are abusing prescription drugs. According to National Institute of Drug Abuse, an estimated 48 million people (20%) who are aged 12 and above of US population have used prescription drugs for non-medical purposes or reasons.%26bull;    According to SAMSHA, non-medical use of prescription-type drugs among young adults increased from 5.4 percent in 2002 to 6.4 percent in 2006. This was primarily due to an increase in the rate of pain relievers%26rsquo; usage, which was 4.1 percent in 2002 and 4.9 percent in 2006.%26bull;    Non-medical use of tranquilizers also increased over the 5-year period, from 1.6 in 2002 to 2.0 percent in 2006.%26bull;    Teenagers and youngsters are the main sections involved in prescription drug abuse. It is found that, 15.4 percent of high school seniors reported non-medical use of at least one prescription medication within the last year (2006).

%26bull;    NIDA states that OxyContin use in the last year was reported by 1.8 percent of 8th-graders, 3.9 percent of 10th-graders, and 5.2 percent of 12th- graders.%26bull;    Vicodin use in 2006 was reported by 2.7 percent of 8th-graders, 7.2 percent of 10th-graders, and 9.6 percent of 12th-graders, remaining stable at relatively high levels for each grade.%26bull;    Friends or relatives are becoming the first reason and an easy source for the prescription drug abuse. Among persons aged 12 or older who used pain relievers non-medical reasons in the past 12 months (2006), 55.7 percent reported that the source of the drug most recently they used, was from a friend or relative for free.%26bull;    Doctors are also an easy source to obtain narcotic medications. 19.1 percent of the prescription drug abusers reported they got the drug from just one doctor.The above facts clearly state that, youngsters are clearly becoming vulnerable to prescription drug abuse. All the sections of the society should take serious steps to stop prescription drug abuse from doing further damage to the community.

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Facts About Prescription Drug Abuse

Prescription drug abuse is becoming a major problem next only to marijuana abuse. One of the main reasons for the growth of prescription drug abuse is the easy availability of the medications over the counter from a drug store, from a doctor or through online pharmaceuticals. It is becoming easier mainly to youngsters to access narcotic medications like tranquilizers and stimulants, in which the abuse is rapidly growing. Some of the facts about prescription drug abuse are as follows-• A considerable number of people are abusing prescription drugs. According to National Institute of Drug Abuse, an estimated 48 million people (20%) who are aged 12 and above of US population have used prescription drugs for non-medical purposes or reasons.• According to SAMSHA, non-medical use of prescription-type drugs among young adults increased from 5.4 percent in 2002 to 6.4 percent in 2006. This was primarily due to an increase in the rate of pain relievers’ usage, which was 4.1 percent in 2002 and 4.9 percent in 2006.• Non-medical use of tranquilizers also increased over the 5-year period, from 1.6 in 2002 to 2.0 percent in 2006.• Teenagers and youngsters are the main sections involved in prescription drug abuse. It is found that, 15.4 percent of high school seniors reported non-medical use of at least one prescription medication within the last year (2006).• NIDA states that OxyContin use in the last year was reported by 1.8 percent of 8th-graders, 3.9 percent of 10th-graders, and 5.2 percent of 12th- graders.• Vicodin use in 2006 was reported by 2.7 percent of 8th-graders, 7.2 percent of 10th-graders, and 9.6 percent of 12th-graders, remaining stable at relatively high levels for each grade.• Friends or relatives are becoming the first reason and an easy source for the prescription drug abuse. Among persons aged 12 or older who used pain relievers non-medical reasons in the past 12 months (2006), 55.7 percent reported that the source of the drug most recently they used, was from a friend or relative for free.• Doctors are also an easy source to obtain narcotic medications. 19.1 percent of the prescription drug abusers reported they got the drug from just one doctor.The above facts clearly state that, youngsters are clearly becoming vulnerable to prescription drug abuse. All the sections of the society should take serious steps to stop prescription drug abuse from doing further damage to the community.