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Our news & announcements offer up-to-date information important and relative for us to share with you. We update often, so check back frequently. Past news and announcements are available in this archive.
09/07/2007 - Teen Drug Abuse
Drug abuse among teens today is an escalating problem and may soon reach epidemic proportions. While today's 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. Teens are abusing painkillers and other prescription drugs are being abused at record levels. This up coming generation of teens has been given the name “Generation Rx.,” and for the first time, national studies show that today’s teens are more likely to have abused a prescription painkiller than any illicit drug.
A 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health showed that among all youths aged 12 to 17, almost a quarter had tried prescription drugs for recreational use at least once. In a 2005 survey by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, 19% of U.S. teenagers — roughly 4.5 million youths — reported having taken prescription painkillers such as Vicodin or OxyContin, or stimulants such as Ritalin or Adderall to get high.
The July 2007 issue of the Harvard Mental Health Letter reported on a survey that showed about one teenager in 10 uses prescription drugs for non-medical purposes. In a survey of more than 1,000 middle and high school students, researchers sought to find out how often drugs were diverted and how they were used. Up to 60% of students receiving legitimate prescriptions had been approached to divert their medications. About 1 in 10 traded medication. A smaller proportion sold it, and as many as 25% gave it to friends or family members.
Whether they're using street drugs or medications, teenage drug abusers often have trouble at school, at home, with friends, or with the law. The likelihood that a person will commit a crime or have an accident is higher when that person is abusing drugs - no matter whether those drugs are medications or street drugs.
The main reason for the increase is that they are so easily accessible. Teens are often getting caught raiding their parents' or grandparents' medicine cabinets in order to get high. The 2005 Partnership survey found that more than three in five teens are able to easily get prescription painkillers from their parents' medicine cabinets.
Many abuse prescription drugs thinking that they are safe, when in fact they can cause addiction and severe side effects. Like all drug abuse, using prescription drugs for the wrong reasons has serious risks for a person's health. Just a single dose of an opioid can lower a person's breathing rate and even kill when taken by the wrong person in the wrong circumstances. This risk is higher when opioids are taken with other substances like alcohol, antihistamines, and CNS depressants.
Probably the most common result of prescription drug abuse is addiction. People who abuse medications can become addicted just as easily as if they were taking street drugs. Given the addictive potential of this strong narcotic drug, Southern Nevada should be very concerned about these rates. One of the most significant contributors to the drug problem in the Las Vegas Valley is teenage drug abuse and the misuse of prescription-type drugs.