Teen Prescription
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These days, drugs can be found anywhere, and it seems like everyone is either doing them or has done them. Teens are especially tempted by the excitement or escape that drugs seem to offer. While U.S. teenagers’ use of marijuana is declining, their abuse of prescription drugs is holding steady or in some cases increasing, according to a report released Wednesday by White House drug czar John Walters (msnbc, 2007, par. 1). “The drug dealer is us,” said Walters (msnbc, 2007, par. 2). Prescription medication abuse by teens and young adults is a serious problem in the United States. “Today teenagers are not using as much cocaine, crack, LSD, and ecstasy as the teenagers of the 1960’s. Kids have found other ways and means to get high; painkillers and other prescription drugs are being abused at record levels. This upcoming generation of teens has been given the name вЂ?Generation RxвЂ™Ð²Ð‚Ñœ (Teen Drug Abuse, 2005, par. 1). Teens can easily raid through their parent’s or grandparent’s medicine cabinet to find the drugs they need to get high (Teen Drug Abuse, 2005, par. 2). Another way teenagers obtain these drugs are from the internet (msnbc, 2007, par. 2). For the first time, national studies show that today’s teens are more likely to have abused a prescription painkiller than any illicit drug (Teen Drug Abuse, 2005, par. 2). Teens are turning away from street drugs and using prescription drugs to get high (Office of National Drug Control Policy, 2007, pp. 1). Plus, new users of prescription drugs have caught up with new users of marijuana (Office of National Drug Control Policy, 2007, pp. 1).
Prescription drugs are medicines that are given to a patient by a doctor to treat a specific health condition (Freevibe.com, 2008, pp. 1 par. 1). “Prescription drugs make complex surgeries possible, relieve pain for millions of people, and enable individuals with certain medical conditions, like diabetes, to control their symptoms” (Freevibe.com, 2008, pp. 1 par. 1) . Most people think of prescription drugs as helpful and a way to cure an illness or take away a muscle pain. Prescription drugs are not harmful if they are used properly and only under a doctor’s supervision. But once a prescription drug is used improperly, such as, taking a prescription drug without doctors orders, then the drug can become harmful. “Taking prescription drugs without a doctor’s approval and supervision can be a dangerous, even deadly, decision” (Freevibe.com, 2008, pp. 1 par. 1). Using a prescription drug without a doctor’s approval is referred to as non-medical use, which could lead to serious health problems (Freevibe.com, 2008, pp. 1 par. 2). Data from the 2007 Office of National Drug Control Policy show that next to marijuana, the most common illegal drugs teens are using to get high are non-medical use of prescription drugs (Office of National Drug Control Policy, 2007, pp. 1).
One product that is being abused by teenagers that doesn’t even require a prescription by the doctor is over-the-counter (OTC) cough and cold remedies. Over-the-counter cough and cold remedies can be easily bought by teens at local pharmacies, supermarkets, and convenient stores. The ingredient that is most wanted by the teens in over half of the over-the-counter cough and cold remedies is dextromethorphan, or DXM (Freevibe.com, 2008, pp. 2 par. 1). Dextromethorphan is a cough suppressant found in many over-the-counter cough and cold remedies (Office of National Drug Control Policy, 2007, pp. 8). When dextromethorphan is taken in excessive doses it causes psychoactive effects that are extremely dangerous (Freevibe.com, 2008, pp. 2 par. 1). Some of the short and long term effects include insomnia, delusions, and brain damage (Freevibe.com, 2008, pp. 2 par. 1). One teen in TEEN magazine described her over-the-counter abuse of drugs by stating, “I started peeing blood…I felt sick…My body felt weak.”
Prescription drugs can be both misused and abused. According to freevibe.com, these two words have different meanings. A person with a valid drug prescription can misuse it if he or she doesn’t follow the directions properly (Freevibe.com, 2008, pp. 1 par. 3). For example, if the doctor and the prescription say to take two pills every six hours, and the user takes four pills every six hours instead, he or she is then misusing the prescription drug. Some people believe that if more of a drug is taken in a certain amount of time then the effect of the drug will occur faster (Freevibe.com, 2008, pp. 1 par. 3). Abuse on the other hand has a different meaning. “Abuse means that a person, with or without a prescription, intentionally takes a prescription drug to get high or for some reason other than what the drug is intended to treat” (Freevibe.com, 2008, pp. 1 par. 4). “The difference between misuse and abuse is the person’s intention — is he or she using it inappropriately out of ignorance (mis-use) or is he or she intentionally using it for a non-medical purpose (abuse)?” (Freevibe.com, 2008, pp. 1 par. 4).
“Teens are getting the message about the harms of marijuana and are changing their behavior for the better,” said drug czar John Walters. “However, youth abuse of prescription drugs remains a troubling concern. With prescription drug abuse, were confronting a different kind of drug threat — one that lurks not in dark alleys, but in medicine cabinets within our homes. Parents have been vital to reducing teen use of street drugs, and now they must engage to prevent the abuse of prescription drugs” (Curley, 2007, par. 3). “For the first time, there are just as many new abusers (12 and older) of prescription drugs as there are for marijuana” (Office of National Drug Control Policy, 2007, pp. 2). Teenagers may get involved with prescription drugs for many different reasons (Teen Drug Abuse, 2005, par. 3). “The experimental stage can be very dangerous, because kids often don’t see the link between their actions today the consequences of their actions tomorrow” (Teen Drug Abuse, 2005, par. 3). Some things that drive teenagers to use prescription drugs are stress, to stay awake, or physical appearance. Teens admit to abusing prescription medicine for reasons other than getting high, including to relieve pain or anxiety, to sleep better, to experiment, to help with concentration or to increase alertness (Office of National Drug Control Policy, 2007, pp. 3). Teens point mostly to personal or family—related stress as a reason for misuse or