Teens Swapping Prescription Drugs

Columbia University’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse estimates that illegal use of prescription drugs by teenagers has increased more than 200 percent in that past 15 years.

It’s been in the news often enough to no longer be news – prescription drugs are quickly becoming the adolescent’s drug of choice. For some it’s even become a moneymaker. Leftover medication, or pills “borrowed” from the parents’ medicine cabinet can often be sold for several dollars each, making it a tempting business venture.

Newspapers across the country have, in recent months, featured numerous stories about teenagers who were arrested for selling prescription drugs. These young people now face the possibility not only of expensive monetary fines, but of imprisonment.

Those who don’t sell pills often swap them with friends, trading an opiate like Vicodin for a stimulant like Ritalin. While some do it for the “high,” others use them to increase concentration, to keep them awake so they can cram for a test, or to help them fall asleep.

More and more teenagers are drawn to prescription drugs because of a misconception that they’re safer than illegal drugs. Few teens are aware of the dangers inherent in taking medications that were prescribed for someone else. Because these drugs are regulated, they’re assumed to be less addictive, safer, and more acceptable than street drugs like heroin or cocaine.

One of the most unusual aspects of this new trend is that it isn’t limited to one “clique” or socio-economic class. Previous trends have typically been found in one specific group; cocaine use, for example is most prevalent among upper-middle-class teenagers. But prescription drug use crosses all lines: Athletes, artists, kids in the Honor Roll Society, and kids with failing grades are all using illegal medication. Not only is the wide-ranging appeal disturbing, but it makes prevention difficult because so many types of kids are using for so many different reasons.

Parents with teenagers need to exercise caution with regard to prescription medication. If possible, all medications should be kept in a medicine cabinet or other location that can be locked. If that isn’t possible, parents need to keep careful track of their medications so they’ll know if something begins disappearing too quickly.

If a child has been prescribed medication, like Ritalin for ADHD or a painkiller because of a recent injury or surgery, parents should administer the pills themselves. Don’t just give the bottle of Vicodin to your child and let him keep it with him. Give him what he needs for the day, and no more.

Preventative measures take some extra time and can be inconvenient, but the alternative is that your child runs the risk not only of over-medicating but sharing his medicine with his friends or, worse yet, selling it.

Labels: prescription-drug-abuse, teen-drug-abuse

posted by jgarcia @ 9:35 AM