More teenagers are smoking marijuana even as they are cutting down on smoking cigarettes, binge drinking, and using methamphetamine, according to a new study from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Because of the national debate on whether to legalize marijuana for medical uses, more teenagers believe it is safe. Many of today's teenagers also believe that prescription drugs, Ecstasy and LSD are safe to use, which means more teens will experiment with these in the future.

• Only 44.8 percent of today's eighth-graders believe that smoking marijuana poses "a great risk" compared to 48 percent last year.
• Over 20 percent of high school seniors said they had smoked marijuana in the past month.

"When the perception of the danger goes down, in the following years you will see an increasing use," said Nora Volkow, director of the NIDA. She noted that prescription drugs like OxyContin and Vicodin are very addictive and can act as gateways to heroin, which is cheaper.

The survey found that the use of prescription narcotics rose among this year's 10th graders:

• 8 percent said they had used Vicodin in the past 12 months, compared to 6.7 percent last year.
  
• For OxyContin, those figures were 3.6 last year and 5.1 percent this year.
  
• About 44 percent said they had taken at least one alcoholic drink in the past month, which shows little change from last year.
  
• Recreational use of Ritalin, a drug prescribed for Attention Deficit Disorder, is slightly down.

This studywas performed by researchers from the University of Michigan, who collected data on 47,097 students.

Labels: marijuana, prescription_drug_abuse

A study that was published in the Journal of Adolescent Health found that one in five teenagers has exchanged (loaned or borrowed) prescription drugs with friends.

Dr. Richard Goldsworthy interviewed 592 children ages 12 to 17 about their use of prescription drugs. The researchers found that 32 percent of teens do not tell their doctors when they have taken a borrowed medication.

Among the many dangers of teen prescription pill abuse is that the borrowed drugs can interact with one another or with alcohol or have side effects that the users are neither aware of nor prepared for.

Labels: prescription_drug_abuse, teens

Law enforcement officials in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, are have seen enough cases of teenage prescription drug abuse to consider it a major threat. The fight against prescription drug abuse, however, is aimed at not at the teens themselves, but at their parents. A June 21 article by Daniel Victor of the Patriot News provides details:

"We're seeing more and more prescribed drug abuse among young people, and part of it is the accessibility," said Dennis McMaster, police chief at the East Pennsboro Police Department. "They're stealing it from mom and dad, grandma and grandpa." ...

Some teenagers tend to think the drugs are safer than street drugs because they've been prescribed to someone, said [Lt. Gary Seefeldt of the Lower Paxton Police Department]. But experts say they carry just as much risk.

"They sometimes carry the veneer of safety, but when kids are abusing them and using them recreationally, these are highly addicting medications," [Elizabeth Planet, who manages Columbia University's annual teen survey] said. "They're not safe when used not as prescribed."

A recent media campaign by the White House helped increase awareness of prescription drug dangers among parents from forty to eighty percent.

A 2008 survey by Columbia University found that teenagers feel prescription drugs are easier to get than beer. It also found that 65 percent of prescription drugs that teens abuse came from parents or parents of friends.

Labels: parental_involvement, police, prescription_drug_abuse, teenagers

Current statistics tell us that about one in five teenagers intentionally abuse prescription drugs. While parents and teachers may be aware of the problem of teen prescription drug abuse, they may not realize that it is so prevalent. What has caused such a dramatic increase in this type of drug abuse? An Oregon newspaper cited three causes for the rise in prescription medication abuse among teens and adolescents: availability, access, and awareness.

Availability: There are many prescription and over-the-counter drugs that have potential for abuse. They are being used more frequently and are readily available. Access: The drugs are easy to get ... Awareness: The visibility of these drugs has increased through television advertisements. (Source: Statesman Journal)

There is also a general attitude among teenagers that prescription drugs are less risky than illicit street drugs because they come from a doctor. Parents, teachers and other adults need to help raise awareness about the dangers of prescription drugs, and parents need to make sure that their medications are locked up and inaccessible.

Labels: adolescent, prescription_drug_abuse, teenagers

Over the past few years, West Virginia has experienced one of the highest increases in the rate of drug overdose deaths of any state. Between 1999 and 2004, West Virginia's rate of unintentional poisoning more than quintupled, increasing by an astounding 550 percent. A new study of these deaths has found that most of these fatalities were the result of non-medical/recreational use of prescription drugs. The most commonly identified type of drug in these cases was prescription pain killers.

Beginning in 1997, experts in pain management began encouraging wider use of opioid pain medications for the management of chronic pain problems. The experts also recommended that patients who were prescribed opioid pain medications be carefully evaluated and counseled. In the past 10 years, however, per capita sales of pain relievers in the United States have increased drastically. Notably, emergency room visits and deaths because of pain killer overdoses have also significantly increased.

The West Virginia study was conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. (Source: sciencedaily.com)

Labels: overdose, pain-killers, prescription_drug_abuse

The National Institute of Drug Abuse estimates that teenagers and young adults are the largest groups currently using prescription medication for recreational purposes. In NIDA's most recent survey on teens and drugs, 36 percent of high school seniors admitted to having used drugs at least once in the previous 12 months.

"Many adults.... may not realize that it could be poor judgment to leave those medications accessible around the home. For example, a teen's mother just returned home after having surgery. That teen knows her mother is taking a pain reliever called OxyContin. When no one is looking, the teen gets into the bottle and gets a couple of pills. No one is the wiser."

Pain relievers, stimulants, sedatives and tranquilizers are the most commonly misused and abused prescription drugs. Parents need to keep prescription medications locked up, and should observe their teens for common indicators of a drug or alcohol problem. Source: The Purell Register


Learn everything you want to know (and some things you might not want to know) about prescription drug abuse at http://www.teenoverthecounterdrugabuse.com.

Drug Rehab information

Labels: addictions, medications, prescription_drug_abuse

Amy Smith felt relief and hope when her son Ryan was diagnosed as bipolar. She was elated to have found out what was wrong and begin finding ways to help him. Then, just three days later, her relief turned to despair when Ryan died of a drug overdose.

"Smith believes that chemical addictions develop more from prescription and over-the-counter drugs than the illegal stuff the pusher is dispensing on the street corner."

Ryan died, not from cocaine or heroin, but from a lethal mix of a narcotic painkiller and prescription pills used for treating panic disorder. Smith hopes that her son's tragic story will once again bring into the spotlight the often-talked-about, but also often-ignored dangers of prescription drug abuse. Source: Gainesville Times

Not sure what's going on with your teenager? The Aspen Institute for Behavioral Assessment can help. The Institute provides comprehensive tests to arrive at an accurate diagnosis and treatment program.

Labels: bi-polar, overdose, prescription_drug_abuse

From 1995 to 2005, the number of drug-treatment patients who sought help for prescription drug abuse increased by over 300 percent. This is one of the statistics that has prompted the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy to initiate a $14 million campaign to raise awareness and educate parents about teenage prescription-drug abuse.

"The campaign began with television ads during this year's Super Bowl, and it will continue with broadcast, print, and online advertising, as well as community outreach and online research for parents."

In the latest study by Partnership for a Drug Free America, one in five teens admitted to abusing prescription painkillers, and one in five also admitted to abusing prescription stimulants and tranquilizers. Prescription drugs are more commonly abused by teenagers than cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine combined. Read more at DailyIowan.com.

Labels: awareness, prescription_drug_abuse, treatment_programs

This year's Monitoring the Future survey has found that drug use among adolescents is continuing to decline. Reported use of some drugs declined significantly.

"Annual prevalence for the three grades combined [8th, 10th, and 12th] did fall significantly this year for both Ritalin and methamphetamine. Ritalin is a prescription amphetamine drug used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Its use outside of medical supervision was first measured in the study in 2001; it has been falling since then, with total declines of between 25 percent and 42 percent at each grade level."

Though use of many drugs has decreased, some - unfortunately - have increased. Over-the-counter cold medication and ecstasy both increased, though neither increase was significant. Monitoring the Future is an annual study sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and conducted by the University of Michigan.

Labels: addictions, drug_use, prescription_drug_abuse