Troubled Teens Resources

Teen age drug abuse can often start innocently enough. A sports injury or any type of surgery can, unfortunately, provide the teen with their first taste for narcotics through no choice of their own. But if a severe injury necessitates a long period of opiates, it can leave it’s recipient an inadvertent addict.

“At 15, Jared Hess began using prescribed painkillers in his battle with chronic kidney stone problems, and by 18 he was addicted to Oxycontin, an opiate-based painkiller he was given for his illness.

The Owings Mills resident, now in his fourth year of recovery and working as an advocate for Faces and Voices of Recovery, spoke at a news conference earlier this month in Washington D.C. to announce the start of National Alcohol Drug and Alcohol Recovery Month.
[…]
Overall, an estimated 7 million Americans abused prescription drugs in 2006, the report revealed. That’s up 9.3 percent from an estimated 6.4 million in 2005.
[…]
Hess… was given Oxycontin during a month-long hospital stay and continued to use the painkillers against doctor’s orders after he was discharged. He went into recovery January 2003, seeking help at an in-patient facility. He said the recovery process never really stops.

“I think about recovery every day, primarily because it’s my job, but it’s always with you,” he said.”

(source)

Unfortunately many of these addicts are met with the same disapproval extended to those who have no medical excuse for their adventure into drugs. If you have a teen who requires a heavy pain med, consult with your physician on how to best avoid this type of tragedy.

Read more on prescription abuse at Teen Options.