...| Reasons and Prevention Strategies for Epidemic of Prescription Drug Abuse among Teens | Prescription Drug Epidemic Among Teens | Walden University | | Reasons and Prevention Strategies for Prescription Drug Abuse among Teens Overview Increasing abuse of prescription drugs among teens can be attributed to psychological, environmental, or behavioral conditions.Drug abuse in teens can be linked to other disorders or conditions which lead to drug abuse. Teens who abuse drugs are likely to become adults who abuse drugs. It is necessary to understand and address these underlying issues if successful prevention is to happen. First it is necessary to understand the magnitude of the problem 2.3 million Teens were abusing prescription drugs in 2003. (Controlled Prescription Drug Abuse at Epidemic Level, 2006) This is a very large number of teens abusing potentially addictive and deadly drugs. These numbers indicate a major problem with the potential to rapidly grow out of control if not addressed appropriately. In fact recent studies have found there has been an increase in prescription drug abuse among teens at an alarming rate. From 2005 to 2008 there was a 12% increase in prescription drug abuse among teens. (Elliot, Souder, Privette, &Richardson, 2008) This is a very large increase in a very short period of time. An increase such as this calls for further explanations on why this increase occurred so rapidly. Prevention methods need to be developed to avert...
Words: 2975 - Pages: 12
...Current Prescription Drug Abuse Crisis Pepper Iris Abstract Prescription drug abuse is a huge and growing problem in the United States. People who are subject are often the ones to develop these addictions. This can happen by being raised or living in a bad neighborhood where drug abuse is prevalent. People with mental illness are also much more likely to develop an addiction than people with normal brain tendencies. To prevent and decrease prescription drug abuse across the country, there are several things that can be done. Students can be better educated of the dangers of drug abuse, in detail, at an early age, then in a more serious way as they grow up and reach the older grades. Doctors can also be better educated in their colleges and medical schools through new programs that can be required to obtain a degree. Finally, the rehabilitation centers of America can use a total reform in both the program, and the priced. Prescription drug abuse is a serious problem in the United States. The rate at which abuse is growing is now higher than it has ever been. The issue is getting so bad, that some states, including Tennessee, have now labeled it as an epidemic. There are several factors that can contribute to prescription drug addiction, such as the environment the abuser is subjected to, as well as their psychological status. Doctors and pharmacists also contribute to the problem, although most of the time, unknowingly. There are several ways to decrease prescription drug...
Words: 1494 - Pages: 6
...Prescription Drug Abuse and Misuse Tactical Plan Key Health Communication Messages: Abuse and misuse of prescription drugs can be dangerous and deadly. Many people think prescription drugs are not as dangerous as other illegal drugs. This is false, prescription drugs are just as dangerous as any other illicit drug when misused and or abused. This can lead to addiction, overdoses and death. Mixing prescription medication with other drugs or alcohol can lead to permanent health problems, including organ and cardiovascular problems. It is illegal to share your prescription medication with someone or to have someone else’s prescription regardless of the reason. You can be convicted of illegal drug possession and or illegal drug distribution. The law is very clear on prescription medication. The only one that can use or carry the medication is the person it is prescribed to or their licensed medical caregiver. Prescription drug abuse and misuse negatively affects students grades and can jeopardize their futures. Abusing or misusing stimulants or other prescribed medication to help academically does not work. In fact it has proven to negatively affect grades as well as a danger to your health . Identify the signs of prescription drug abuse and misuse. Know where to seek help for yourself and others. If you or someone you know shows signs of prescription drug abuse or misuse seek help immediately before it gets worse. If you suspect someone has a problem...
Words: 630 - Pages: 3
...Tackling Top Teen Problem – Prescription Drugs Reaction Paper 1 By Jessica Lieurance Being the parent of an 8, 9, and 10 year old, I was in total shock reading this article. You can imagine the fear that struck my gut when I read kids are starting to abuse prescription drugs as early as the age of 12. How does a 12 year old get access to prescription drugs? Well, the answer to this question was less shocking but equally disturbing. This article was an eye opener and a learning lesson for me. Not only do we, as parents, have an obligation to be involved in our children’s lives, we also must gain awareness to the dangers that surround them outside of our homes. Everyone knows that illegal drugs are a threat to our children on a daily basis. We are all taught in elementary school to “just say no”. Kids are told all kinds of horror stories about drug deals gone wrong, chemicals added to the drug that were lethal, and the physical effect of the drugs. Not once in school do I remember being warned about prescription drugs. After all, who wants to confuse a child by telling them that the medicine a doctor gives them can be equally harmful as the drugs sold on the street? However, failure to inform our children of the dangers of abuse of prescription drugs leads children to trust that these drugs are not harmful to them. Doing so results in children believing illegal drugs are bad and can hurt you, but prescription pills are good and were made to “fix” you. Unfortunately, children...
Words: 950 - Pages: 4
...Prescription drug abuse has been a growing problem in society over the past few years. These drugs are so widely available, easy to get, and they have increased in popularity. The potential for abuse is very high with prescriptions narcotics and they have attracted a variety of age groups. Doctors will often prescribe these medications to individuals based on their claims they are in pain. While there are people who desperately need these drugs, a fraction of people who obtain them will either resale them, abuse them, or use them to get others addicted. While there has been legislation passed to fight this problem, it is just not enough. As long as a person has a valid prescription they can use the drugs as they see fit, while law enforcement officers are powerless to act. Not only has the use of prescription medication been a growing trend in society, but is has attracted a much younger age group. Observations by school officials and police officers have witnessed a growing number of school age children experimenting with prescription drugs. According to Robert DuPont, “an ongoing problem is the use of prescription drugs among younger people. Studies conducted in 2008 indicated that 4.7% of high school seniors used OxyContin, 9.7% have used Vicodin, 5.8% used sedatives, 6.2% used tranquilizers, and 2.4% have used Ritalin” (DuPont, 2010 pp. 128). Children can obtain these prescription drugs from their parents without their knowledge and develop a substance abuse problem. ...
Words: 1007 - Pages: 5
...for mood disorders are much alike the treatment plans for anxiety disorders. There are two main paths that can be taken, either with prescription medication or the therapeutic paths. There are three types of prescription medicines when it comes to mood disorders: mood stabilizers, antipsychotics, and antidepressants. The first step is for the doctor to determine the severity of the disorder. That will determine which medicine and the dosage. While this is done with all prescriptions, it is essential and different with mood disorders due to the fact that it is easy for one factor to upset the whole person. Also, this helps with determining which of the three types of medication to use. Thankfully research has expanded and “The...
Words: 997 - Pages: 4
...Cause of Social Vices At the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, the Ogun State Government warned residents against the use of hard drugs. Government said this was to reduce social vices associated with indiscriminate drug use. The government gave this warning through the Permanent Secretary in the State Ministry of Health, Dr. Tunde Olowonyo, during a public awareness campaign at Kuto Market, Abeokuta, in collaboration with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency. Olowonyo described drug abuse as the use of illicit drugs, abuse of prescription or use of drugs in an illicit manner. He warned that social problems and health danger that could result from drug abuse include violent behaviour, panic attacks, mood swings, heart attack and stroke. “It is necessary for people to abide by laws guiding drug intake, as its indiscriminate usage poses health dangers to humanity, constitutes serious threat to public health, the safety and well-being of humanity, particularly the young generation, and it undermines socio-economic and political stability and sustainable development,” the medical practitioner said. Olowonyo, who was represented by the Director, Pharmaceutical Services, Mrs. Modupe Olurin, disclosed that the government was working assiduously to create a healthy environment and ensure that residents avoid harmful lifestyle. Also, the Deputy Director, Pharmaceutical Services, Mr. Olayiwola Adewunmi, urged market women to always educate...
Words: 325 - Pages: 2
...Prescription drug abuse is severe today. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) says that more than 22,000 Americans who use Vicodin abuse it. When you're ready to get clean, you really should consider entering into prescription drug detox in luxury. You can't underestimate how important the proper detox environment is. Despite prescription drugs' legality, detoxification is just as dangerous as detoxifying from street drugs. Your likelihood of abusing prescription drugs again in the future also remains just as high. Understanding adults aren't alone in their prescription drug addiction is important. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) a rising number of teens are also abusing them today. They believe...
Words: 412 - Pages: 2
...that the problem of prescription drug addiction is at its worst today than ever before, causing countless cases of dependency and abuse at epidemic proportions, and gaining the reputation of being the "silent epidemic" in some major cities in America. Prescription drug addiction is also known as the "silent killer," and rightfully so, because it can take one innocent pill, or the wrong dosage, to place its user into a permanent sleep-an all-too familiar event known as fatally "overdosing." From suburban neighborhoods, to celebrity life, to the ghettos-prescription drug abuse seems to have no bounds in our society, affecting millions everyday. But how wide-spread is this kind of abuse, and how serious is it? In 2010 alone, it was reported that an estimated 7 million America citizens claimed to be abusing prescription medications. Granted, this is only a little less than 3% of the total US population, but the jolting fact comes from the amount of increasing deaths from prescription medication abuse. It's one thing for large populations to abuse drugs, true; but it's another thing to lose lives rapidly over such a short period of time. As stated earlier, the strength of prescription drugs can be so overwhelming that it may take one instance, or one miscalculating dose, to result in a deadly overdose. In other words,...
Words: 640 - Pages: 3
...Prescription drug abuse deserves renewed attention After watched the movie Shutter Island, it must be very easy catch such scenes that the lead hero who is acted by Leonardo DiCaprio always asks aspirins from doctors, either when he is seasickness or has a headache. Familiar scenes always emerge in lots of movies and TV plays. People all know that artistic creation is based on realities, and in fact, those scenes are not from scenarists’ imaginations. In the real world, typical cases of prescription drug abuse always manifest in three ways. Taking a prescription drug that is prescribed for others, taking medicine for reasons like feeling depressed, or overdosing than as prescribed. Abuse of prescription drugs could produce serious problems for people, especially worse in addiction. Because prescription medicine abuse is becoming a significant problem in the United States, the phenomenon has to be taken seriously. According to the survey of National Institute on Drug Abuse, the medicines which abused are broadly described as those targeting the central nervous system, including those used to treat psychiatric disorders. In 2010, approximately 7 million persons were current users of psychotherapeutic medicines taken not in medically (2.7 percent of the U.S. population). The situation must lead to awful outcome. Even if no one want to see the terrible result that not only people’s physical health be drowned in danger, people’ mental health and relationship are under threaten...
Words: 1101 - Pages: 5
...ER ICA’ S PR E S CR I P T ION DRUG A BUSE CR I SI S 2 011 Background Prescription drug abuse is the Nation’s fastest-growing drug problem. While there has been a marked decrease in the use of some illegal drugs like cocaine, data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) show that nearly one-third of people aged 12 and over who used drugs for the first time in 2009 began by using a prescription drug non-medically.1 The same survey found that over 70 percent of people who abused prescription pain relievers got them from friends or relatives, while approximately 5 percent got them from a drug dealer or from the Internet.2 Additionally, the latest Monitoring the Future study—the Nation’s largest survey of drug use among young people—showed that prescription drugs are the second most-abused category of drugs after marijuana.3 In our military, illicit drug use increased from 5 percent to 12 percent among active duty service members over a three-year period from 2005 to 2008, primarily attributed to prescription drug abuse.4 Although a number of classes of prescription drugs are currently being abused, this action plan primarily focuses on the growing and often deadly problem of prescription opioid abuse. The number of prescrip tions filled for opioid pain relievers—some of the most powerful medications available—has increased dramatically in recent years. From 1997 to 2007, the milligram per person use of prescription opioids in the U.S. increased from...
Words: 5145 - Pages: 21
...Presented to Gil Kerlikowske National Drug Control Policy Director White House Administration Presented by Ethan George Student of business management April 10, 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS Stimulating the Severity of Stimulants…………………………………………………………1 Memorandum…………………………………………………………………………………….3 Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………………...4 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………5 Purpose of the Report ………………………………………………………………………...…...5 What are Stimulants?.......................................................................................................................5 Stimulants and ADHD…………………………………………………………………………….5 The Problem and Causes……………………………………………………………………..….6 Chart 1…………………………………………………………………………………..…………6 Table 1…………………………………………………………………………………………….7 Chart 2……………………………………………………………………………………………..7 Nonmedical Use of Prescription Stimulants……………………………………………………8 Contrary Findings……………………………………………………………..…………………8 Table 2…………………………………………………………………………………………….9 The Danger of Prescription Stimulants……...…………………………………………………9 Short Term Side Effects……………………………………………………………………….…10 Continual Use Side Effects………………………………………………………………………10 Conclusion……….……………………………………………………………..………….........10 Works Cited……………………………………………………………………………………..11 Memorandum Executive Summary The purpose of this report is to provide insight to the problem of the rise in use of prescription stimulants in college students. The nonmedical...
Words: 1971 - Pages: 8
...Most of us respect prescription drugs, mainly used for the reason the doctor intended. Understanding problems, pitfalls and the magnitude prescription drug abuse and misuse has on today’s society. Medical society estimates the number as high as 40 million people (aged 12 and older); have used drugs for nonmedical reasons in their lifetime. Making nonmedical use of prescription drugs a defining drug dilemma of the new century. The management of chronic pain is an art and a science, according to the Center of Disease Control (CDC). Nevertheless, the opioid epidemic has received substantial publicity and policy makers are more aggressively trying to combat the problem. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the three classes of...
Words: 1252 - Pages: 6
...The Drug Abuse Epidemic and Today’s Teenagers Drug abuse among teenagers has been an issue since the 1980’s when programs such as D.A.R.E., (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), were implemented. Using the slogan “Just Say No”, the program trained school officials and police officers to teach techniques and children and adolescents effective ways to resist experimenting with all drugs, including tobacco and alcohol. While there has been some success, this epidemic has become a major problem in today’s society that is not getting better due to the availability of prescription and over the counter medications, continued funding cuts for athletics and other extra-curricular activities and the increase in teenagers being left unsupervised. The availability of prescription and over the counter medications has made abuse easier among teens. Many parents do not even realize the dangers that are in their own medicine cabinets. “In 2011, 22% of 12th graders indicated misuse of a prescription drug without medical supervision in their lifetime; and 15% over the past year.” During that same time, one in 12 high school seniors reported that in the past year they had obtained the prescription pain reliever Vicodin, and one in 20 high school seniors used OxyContin for non-medical uses. And 70% of those teens surveyed had stated they obtained them from family and friends. (“Prescription” 2011). “Enough prescription painkillers were prescribed in 2010 to medicate every American adult around-the-clock...
Words: 1035 - Pages: 5
...Prescription Drug Abuse Prescription drugs have become increasingly dangerous to young people in the United States. In fact, prescription drugs do not only appeal to adults anymore, but are quickly becoming the drug of choice among young people. According the CDC, after cannabis, prescription drugs are the most common drugs used by people 14 and older. Because of availability, effects, and lack of knowledge about what these drugs can do, prescription drugs are becoming a greater danger to you people than marijuana. Perhaps one reason why prescription drug use is becoming more popular among young people is because they are so easy to get. Many young people can get prescription drugs from his or her home. Some parents leave prescriptions in unlocked medicine cabinets, or leave leftover prescriptions lying around where kids can easily get them. Disposing of your old prescriptions responsibly can easily prevent this. There are many drug take-back programs available. Unfortunately, some kids may have parents who are addicts themselves, so his or her parents may end up sharing drugs with their kids. Of course, there are other ways for young people to obtain prescription drugs. Another way these prescription drugs can be obtained is if a doctor prescribes them. Many addicts engage in an act called “doctor shopping”. Doctor shopping is when a patient tries to get prescription drugs from multiple doctors without each doctor knowing. These people may sell or use the drugs,...
Words: 816 - Pages: 4
