According to the Partnership for a Drug Free America, 20 percent of all teenagers have abuse prescription painkillers, stimulants or tranquilizers. Young people are turning to prescription medication because they wrongly think these substances are safer to abuse than are illicit drugs.

Writing in the Alternative Health Journal, AHJ editor Sylvia Anderson addressed the problems that can result from this misguided mindset:

Using prescriptive drugs for the wrong reasons can lead to very serious health risks especially if taken with other substances like alcohol, antihistamines, and ... depressants.

Moreover, there are many variations of the same medication and the abuser may not be aware of which one they have taken, how long it will remain in the body and the dangers of it interacting with other chemicals. ...

Taking prescriptive drugs in the wrong way can manifest into very dangerous consequences. For example, Ritalin seems harmless for children with ADHD but it is extremely harmful when snorted or injected.

Abusing painkillers to get high is like abusing heroin because both contain opiates. Since many pills look the same, the dosages manifest in varying effects from mild to lethal.

A teenager who is abusing prescription medication will try to hide the abuse. A change in behavior, change in friends, drop in grades or changes in mood could all indicate that a teen is abusing medication.

Labels: prescription drugs, abuse, signs

Posted By: Aspen/CRC