Teenagers and Prescription Drug Abuse
The constant stream of pharmaceutical commercials aimed at adults do little to help a parent teach a troubled teen that medication isn’t the first or best answer for solving problems. In a culture and society that emphasizes instant gratification, teaching an at-risk teenager that restraint and discipline are virtues becomes an increasingly uphill battle. A specific problem with prescription pills is the veneer of safety that they offer. A drug abusing teenager is likely to think he is safer taking a pharmaceutical than he is with a street drug.
Just as a parent has to accept the reality of malicious strangers and predatory sex offenders as given threats in their at-risk teen’s everyday life, parents need to be aware of a constant underlying theme in film, in advertising and in music is to “get high” or “feel better”. A combination of peer pressure and society’s unfortunate obsession with the quick fix can cause a teen to conclude that self-medicating is a normal and acceptable way of dealing with upset and pain.
Relevant Tags:cough syrups, drug abusing, household drugs, instant gratification, intentional abuse, oxycontin, partnership for a drug free america, pharmaceutical, prescription drug abuse, prescription pills, teenager, teenage drug abuse, vicodin“According to the most comprehensive study on U.S. teenage drug abuse, the intentional abuse of legal medicines continues to be a “pernicious problem”.
“Overall prescription drug abuse has become a more important part of the nation’s drug problem,” said Dr. Lloyd Johnston, who runs the ongoing University of Michigan study.
Last December, the survey found that 9 percent of 16- to 18-year-olds intentionally abused prescription narcotics such as Vicodin in 2006.
“The use of Oxycontin has doubled among 8th graders (12- to 14-year-olds) since 2002,” Johnston said.
Other common household drugs popularly misused included dextromethorphan, found in cough syrups.
The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, a not-for-profit lobby group sponsoring the briefings, said parents are part of the problem.
“The problem in general is the parents’ attitudes (were) as bad as the kids on this subject,” said Steve Pasierb, chief executive of the Partnership.
“The parents think they know all about drugs so they say, ‘At least it’s not heroin’,” he added.
“Kids like it because it’s hot and it’s new, they believe it’s safe and there’s relative ease of access.”
And taking tablets from home medicine cabinets is cheaper than buying drugs from street drug dealers.
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“Kids see prescription drugs differently,” said Dr. Herbert Kleber, a former U.S. drug policy adviser to the White House. “They’re more pure and have a guaranteed potency.”Kleber said most of the kids get information online on what drugs to take. “There are numerous Web sites they can go to learn the pros and cons,” he said.”
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