2009 Federal Government Survey - Prescription Drug Abuse #1 Problem in America

Prescription Drug Abuse

Despite the prevalence of prescription drug abuse, especially pain releivers such as Oxycontin and Vicodin, most organizations.. including federal mandated DOT drug testing do not monitor their use.

A recent Federal Survey* says prescription drug abuse by teens and young adults continues to be a serious problem in the United States.

Today, teenagers are not using as much marijuana, cocaine, crack, LSD, and ecstasy as the adolescents of the 1960’s. American kids have a new favorite way to get high; painkillers and other prescription drugs are being abused at record levels.

This group of young adults has been given the name “Generation Rx.”

For the first time, national studies show that today’s teens are more likely to have abused a prescription painkiller than any street drug.

Surveys shows, that kids as young as 12 years old are trying or using prescription drugs -- to get high or for "self-medicating." The pharmaceuticals are often more available to kids than street drugs because they are often found in their very own homes. Also, pills may regarded as safer because they are professionally manufactured in a lab.

The survey also shows that painkillers are the most common pharmaceutical abused by teens with stimulant abuse more common among older teens and college students than younger teens.

Many young adults think these drugs are safe because they have legitimate uses, but taking them without a prescription to get high or to “self-medicate” can be as dangerous – and as addictive – as using street any drug they find on the streets.

*The Monitoring the Future survey – now in it’s 33rd year – is a series of classroom surveys of eight, tenth and twelfth graders. It is conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan under a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the national Institutes of Health (NIH), and US Dept. of Health of Human Services (HHS).

The survey indicates a continuing high rate of prescription drug abuse among teens, with little change seen in the past six years. In fact, seven of the top 10 drugs abused were prescribed or purchased over the counter. The most common drugs used were Vicodin and Oxycontin.

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