Indications and trends arising across schools nationwide point to prescription substances as our greatest youth drug threat. Vicodin, Oxycontin, Percocet and a slew of other opiate pills have become increasingly dangerous to our youth for their accessibility and strong habit-forming characteristics. Recent painkiller abuse by kids is way up, a study finds—meaning that the time is now to become informed and active in stopping this devastating epidemic.
Painkillers More Enticing to Some Teens Than Street Drugs
Even just for the mere fact of the accessibility of prescription painkillers in the home medicine cabinet, prescription opiates have quickly become one of the most powerful chemical dependency threat in the United States. Pills like OxyCodone, Hydrocodone, Valium, etc., are an easier score for teens to get high off of without having to deal with daunting street dealers. Rather, it is quite easy to swipe a few pills from a family member or to buy some off someone at school.
Further, misconceptions about the safety of prescription drugs and their apparent “safety” as mere medicines, makes teens more likely to abuse such pharmaceuticals excessively and dangerous.
Pharmaceuticals Highly Dangerous
Many prescription drugs can cause fatal or life-threatening adverse reactions when mixed with alcohol or other drugs. The average teen who likes to party might have several drinks, smoke some marijuana and also pop pills. This is extremely dangerous, especially because opiate drugs influence the cardiovascular (heart pumping/breathing) system so heavily.
If the body becomes too overwhelmed by the presence of an opiate drug (especially when in combination with other foreign chemicals in the body), dangerous reactions may manifest themselves:
-Decreased heart rate
-Dizziness
-Slowed/shallow breathing
-Anxiety
-Dropped body temperature
In extreme cases, an overdose of an opiate prescription drug can stop breathing altogether, resulting in death.
Statistics For Parents
Prescription painkiller abuse amongst teens today is a shocking 40% higher than previously analyzed generations. Your children and teens are at a very high risk of being exposed to or abusing unprescribed medications in American schools unless you take action to educate and prevent them from doing so.
Marijuana continues to be the number one most commonly abused illicit drug in the United States among both teens and adults, but painkiller abuse by kids is way up, a study finds. In fact, prescription drugs like Adderall, Valium, Vicodin, etc., come in a close second behind marijuana as the most commonly abused illegal substance in the country.
Availability and overprescribing of these drugs has contributed largely to this epidemic. For example, in 1991 there were about 40 million prescriptions written for opiate products. In 2007 that number had increased to a shocking 180 million—this is an increase of more than four times.
Parents are advised to responsibly store and/or dispose of old medications that are no longer needed. By doing so, you can actively keep these substances out of the wrong hands. This type of prevention should be supplemented also with education on the matter. Do not leave your children or teens to figure it out on their own. Such a curious venture could actually cost them their lives.
Educate your children on the dangers of these drugs and make sure that their school has an effective drug education and prevention program that is ongoing. Parents who use education as their primary tool have children who are 40% less likely to use drugs in the first place.
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Source: http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2012/10/17/painkiller-abuse-by-kids-way-up-study-finds