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IN FOCUS: ARTICLE |
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The Problem with Pill Popping
by Elisa Klein, 08.19.05
"Your body doesn't know the difference between a prescription drug and a drug that you buy off the street." |
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Joey, age 20, ran into problems with painkillers when he was in high school. "I started taking pain pills after I hurt myself playing hockey," he explains. "But even after my injury healed, I still wanted the pills. When my doctor wouldn't prescribe them for me anymore, I would steal them from other people's medicine cabinets, or buy them off the street. I never knew what I was taking exactly or what it would do to my body."
Samantha, age 15, wound up in a juvenile detention center for selling her medication for Attention Deficit Disorder to a classmate. "I didn't think of myself as a 'drug dealer,' but that's exactly what I was," she says. "I sold someone else my prescription — a prescription that I needed — so that she could get high."
Generation Rx?
Millions of people rely on prescription drugs for pain relief, treatment of emotional problems or mental illness, and other serious medical conditions. In fact, it's likely that you know someone who is battling an illness and relies on medication to cope. For these people, medications prescribed by their health care provider are essential.
But a recent study conducted by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America reports that teens are misusing and abusing prescription drugs at an alarmingly high rate. The study reports that teens are more likely to use prescription drugs — such as Oxycontin, Ritalin, and Vicodin — to get high than they are to use street drugs like cocaine, Ecstasy, and LSD. In fact, one in five teenagers has used prescription painkillers recreationally.
Easy Access
What could account for the shift from street drugs to prescription pills? According to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, teens say that prescription drugs are simply easier to get. Many teens abuse pills that they find in their own medicine cabinets, or at their friends' homes.
Many teens may also be scared away by street drugs, but believe that prescription drugs are harmless since they're prescribed by a health care provider. But medications can be dangerous if they're not used as directed, by the person they're prescribed for. Health care providers have to consider many factors — including medical history, other medications being taken, allergies, and body weight — in order to determine if a medication will be safe for a patient.
Hooked
Some prescription drugs can be highly addictive. Many prescription painkillers are very chemically similar to heroin. And as you probably have learned in health class, heroin is very addictive, and withdrawing from it is not fun.
"Your body doesn't know the difference between a prescription drug and a drug that you buy off the street," explains Erin Stevenson, a social worker who specializes in drug abuse treatment. "Any time you take medications without medical supervision, you run the risk of becoming addicted to the substance. When you are addicted to a drug — any drug — your body continues to need more and more of the drug to achieve a high. This can happen with prescription medications just as easily as it can with cocaine."
The Bottom Line
Prescription drugs can be a lifesaver for people who need them and use them correctly. But taking a drug that isn't prescribed for you can be very dangerous, and it's illegal. So is giving or selling your prescription drugs to other people.
If you think that you or a friend has a problem with prescription drug abuse, talk to a trusted adult — like a parent, teacher, or counselor — or call the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information at 1-800-662-HELP or the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence at 1-800-622-2255. |
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