PRESCRIPTION DRUG ABUSE
Abuse of prescription drugs (“pharming,” to the trendy crowd) has been classified as an area of concern by both the U.S. Department of Health and the Drug Enforcement Agency. Consider:
- Over 1.7 million people were dependent on pain relievers in 2007, second only to marijuana.
- Over 16 million Americans have taken a prescription drug for nonmedical use at least once.
- 2.7% of 8th graders, 7.2% of 10th graders, and 9.6% of 12th graders had abused Vicodin in 2006.
Diversion to nonmedical use of pain relievers like Oxycontin and Vicodin, muscle relaxants like Valium, and anxiety medications like Xanax has become big business—illegal business. Addiction to prescription drugs is no longer just the unlucky fate of people who accidentally become hooked after an injury or emotional trauma. Increasingly, three classes of prescription drugs have grown popular on the party circuit: opiates, stimulants, and depressants.
Opiates like Oxycontin or central nervous system depressants like Valium have a euphoric effect which is tremendously enhanced when the pills are crushed and the powder injected or sniffed. The intense “rush” obtained by abusers is addictive over time, as the drug chemically alters the way the brain functions. Abusers develop a chemical and emotional dependency that is very difficult to break without professional medical attention.
Stimulants like Ritalin are popular among high school and college students under pressure to get good grades. When taken in high doses, such drugs can lead to compulsive use, dangerously high body temperatures, paranoia, and irregular heartbeat.
Prescription drug abuse is noted as an area of concern in nearly every state. Note from the chart below that prescription drugs comprise over 40% of substances first-time drug abusers tried in 2007. Cocaine, which is the “illicit drug” that many people associate with hard-core drug abuse, makes up a tiny fraction of the overall drug problem by comparison.
2007 National Study on Drug Use and Health
U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Prescription drug abuse cuts across age lines and social classes. Over 17 percent of people age 60 or over abused prescription drugs, knowingly or not, in 2006. Elderly people are at special risk of accidental dependence, but young people are exposed to “Xanie-popping” and other thrill-seeking activities at raves, clubs, gyms, and other places where teens hang out. For them, abuse of prescription drugs is a deadly game of Russian roulette, for alcohol also flows freely at such parties, which enhances the natural effects of these narcotics. Severe depressive effects on cardiac and respiratory systems can be fatal.
Treatment for prescription drug abuse should be sought as soon as a problem is suspected. The longer the abuse continues, the greater the tolerance the user develops to the drug, and the more of it must be ingested in order to achieve the desired high. Risk of overdose grows greater over time, and the emotional dependency deepens. In many cases, withdrawal symptoms are severe and must be managed via medication, which can only be administered by qualified personnel. Any prescription drug addiction should be treated under medical supervision, through an experienced drug treatment center.
