There is something that is silently creeping into our society, which most of us are probably not aware of, Prescription drug abuse.
The Drug Enforcement Agency, are trying to open peoples eyes about this problem. And it seems it is wide spread throughout our community.
Here are a few startling facts you may not know about. There are close to 7 million Americans who are abusing prescription drugs, more than the number who are abusing cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, inhalers or ecstasy combined. That number was only 3.8 million back in 2000 which is a jaw dropping 80 percent increase in only 6 years.
Compared to marijuana and cocaine, prescription pain relievers are the new drug users drug of choice, and Opioid painkillers are now causing more drug overdose death’s than heroin and cocaine combined.
There is an admission that almost 1 in 10 high school seniors have abused powerful prescription painkillers. And an amazing 40 percent of teens and nearly the same number of parents who believe that abusing prescription painkillers is far safer than abusing street drugs.
Three-fourths of the overall problem of prescription drug abuse is represented with the misuse of painkillers, hydrocone being the most commonly diverted and abused controlled drug.
In Emergency Department visits twenty five percent of them are associated with the abuse of prescription drugs.
The methods of getting the drugs in question, are from doctor shopping, traditional drug dealing, stealing from pharmacies, and illicitly acquiring them from the Internet or from friends and relatives.
There is even abuse of cough medicine, where teens will take it for a high. If you look at the DARE.com website you will see the stories relating to the silent epidemic. You can even take a look at the five Moms campaign which outlines the quest to stop the abuse of cough medicine. The use of cough medicine back in 2008, was 3.6% of eighth graders, 5.3% of tenth graders and 5.5% of twelfth graders using the medicine to gain a high.
According to the pushing back website, one which hopes to push back and making the drug problem smaller, Teens abuse prescription drugs now more than any other illicit street drug except marijuana.
And the facts are scary, every day more than 2,000 teenagers try a painkiller for the very first time to get high.
So as you can see, this is a major problem, and one that seems to be increasing rapidly. One must question why?
The changing world we live in is one reason, but is it also now that we are looking to escape the reality that is this changing world?
I think for any parent the essential thing is to become aware of the problem and to be on the look out for any of the tell tale signs of abuse.
While also becoming knowledgeable about the best ways of containing any drugs that may be used in the household.
For any individual it is about having a better understanding of the affects of the drugs we use, and also about the relationship we have with our doctors and also honesty to ourselves.
If we don’t become aware and all try to do something about this problem it will get worse, the numbers show it already. And with youth having to face so many more issues regarding peer group pressure, body image, as well as the multitude of other problems than most of their parents ever did, it is no wonder they are looking for an easy escape.