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04-22-2005, 11:44 PM
Bad prescription for teens
Over-the-counter, prescription drugs abused
By Cathy Mong
Dayton Daily News
Generation X, move over for the pill-popping Generation Rx'ers.
According to the latest study by the national Partnership for a Drug-Free America, Rx'ers often raid the medicine cabinets and pill bottles of their parents and friends, dosing themselves with prescription drugs such as Vicodin and OxyContin, as well as over-the-counter cough and cold medicines.
The 17th annual national study on teen drug abuse, released Thursday, found that about one in five teens abused a prescription painkiller and one in 11 had abused over-the-counter products, especially those containing dextromethorphan.
"For the first time, our national study finds that today's teens are more likely to have abused a prescription painkiller to get high than they are to have experimented with a variety of drugs," Partnership Chairman Roy Bostock said. "In other words, Generation Rx has arrived."
Good news also was noted: Today's young people continue to be substantially less interested in tobacco and marijuana.
Locally, the numbers fit.
In January 2004, increased use in over-the-counter cough medications containing DXM was reported in the Dayton, Columbus and Youngstown areas, according to the Ohio Substance Abuse Monitoring Network. Wright State University and the University of Akron contract with the network, funded by the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services.
WSU's School of Medicine has conducted the Dayton Area Drug Survey since 1990, and last year's survey supported the Partnership's findings.
"If you look at opiates, use by (high school) seniors has quadrupled from 4 percent in 1991 to 16 percent in 2004. That's a dramatic increase," said Russel Falck, WSU assistant professor of community health and project director of health research. Those medicines would include pain relievers such as Vicodin and OxyContin.
Tranquilizers, such as Valium, are abused more, too, Falck said, with use in 2004 reported by 17 percent of those surveyed.
"These drugs are not routinely prescribed for this age group," he said, and if they are, say, for relief of pain after surgery, it is only for a short time. "Parents or other adults may be prescribed these medications and over a period of time they routinely accumulate in the family medicine cabinet."
Falck said young people are very knowledgeable about drugs and their effects, thanks in part to the Internet.
Particularly popular with area teens, like those surveyed nationally, are cough and cold medicines available over the counter, especially those containing DXM such as Coricidin Cough and Cold, Robitussin-DM.
"It does a lot of things," Falck said. "In higher doses, it has hallucinogenic effects," but can cause liver damage because of added ingredients such as aspirin or acetaminophen, among others.
"Doses necessary to get somebody high can produce other kinds of things, and put you in dire straits," Falck said.
In Centerville, police asked pharmacies to place Coricidin HBP over-the-counter cold medicine behind the counter, Rite Aid pharmacy technician Rhonda Browning said. "We've been doing that about eight months.
"Kids, especially college students, like it because it looks like candy," she said. "One is a little red pill that looks like Skittles. They call it 'skittling.' "
Browning said the desired effect is a hallucinatory experience.
She said she's also heard from middle school students "and they've told me there are places (on the Internet) that tell exactly how much to take to get the effect, by body weight."
Falck said young people mistakenly believe over-the-counter drugs are less harmful than drugs sold on the street.
"The message is, if it's in a package and sold in a pharmacy, not a white powder or herbacious material bought from someone they don't know, it must be safe," Falck said. "If you don't take it according to its recommended dosage, all bets are off."
Parents "should watch their medicine cabinets very closely, prescription and over-the counter alike," he said. "Make sure young people don't have access to them."
Find this article at:
http://www.daytondailynews.com/health/cont...2teendrugs.html (http://www.daytondailynews.com/health/content/localnews/daily/0422teendrugs.html)
Over-the-counter, prescription drugs abused
By Cathy Mong
Dayton Daily News
Generation X, move over for the pill-popping Generation Rx'ers.
According to the latest study by the national Partnership for a Drug-Free America, Rx'ers often raid the medicine cabinets and pill bottles of their parents and friends, dosing themselves with prescription drugs such as Vicodin and OxyContin, as well as over-the-counter cough and cold medicines.
The 17th annual national study on teen drug abuse, released Thursday, found that about one in five teens abused a prescription painkiller and one in 11 had abused over-the-counter products, especially those containing dextromethorphan.
"For the first time, our national study finds that today's teens are more likely to have abused a prescription painkiller to get high than they are to have experimented with a variety of drugs," Partnership Chairman Roy Bostock said. "In other words, Generation Rx has arrived."
Good news also was noted: Today's young people continue to be substantially less interested in tobacco and marijuana.
Locally, the numbers fit.
In January 2004, increased use in over-the-counter cough medications containing DXM was reported in the Dayton, Columbus and Youngstown areas, according to the Ohio Substance Abuse Monitoring Network. Wright State University and the University of Akron contract with the network, funded by the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services.
WSU's School of Medicine has conducted the Dayton Area Drug Survey since 1990, and last year's survey supported the Partnership's findings.
"If you look at opiates, use by (high school) seniors has quadrupled from 4 percent in 1991 to 16 percent in 2004. That's a dramatic increase," said Russel Falck, WSU assistant professor of community health and project director of health research. Those medicines would include pain relievers such as Vicodin and OxyContin.
Tranquilizers, such as Valium, are abused more, too, Falck said, with use in 2004 reported by 17 percent of those surveyed.
"These drugs are not routinely prescribed for this age group," he said, and if they are, say, for relief of pain after surgery, it is only for a short time. "Parents or other adults may be prescribed these medications and over a period of time they routinely accumulate in the family medicine cabinet."
Falck said young people are very knowledgeable about drugs and their effects, thanks in part to the Internet.
Particularly popular with area teens, like those surveyed nationally, are cough and cold medicines available over the counter, especially those containing DXM such as Coricidin Cough and Cold, Robitussin-DM.
"It does a lot of things," Falck said. "In higher doses, it has hallucinogenic effects," but can cause liver damage because of added ingredients such as aspirin or acetaminophen, among others.
"Doses necessary to get somebody high can produce other kinds of things, and put you in dire straits," Falck said.
In Centerville, police asked pharmacies to place Coricidin HBP over-the-counter cold medicine behind the counter, Rite Aid pharmacy technician Rhonda Browning said. "We've been doing that about eight months.
"Kids, especially college students, like it because it looks like candy," she said. "One is a little red pill that looks like Skittles. They call it 'skittling.' "
Browning said the desired effect is a hallucinatory experience.
She said she's also heard from middle school students "and they've told me there are places (on the Internet) that tell exactly how much to take to get the effect, by body weight."
Falck said young people mistakenly believe over-the-counter drugs are less harmful than drugs sold on the street.
"The message is, if it's in a package and sold in a pharmacy, not a white powder or herbacious material bought from someone they don't know, it must be safe," Falck said. "If you don't take it according to its recommended dosage, all bets are off."
Parents "should watch their medicine cabinets very closely, prescription and over-the counter alike," he said. "Make sure young people don't have access to them."
Find this article at:
http://www.daytondailynews.com/health/cont...2teendrugs.html (http://www.daytondailynews.com/health/content/localnews/daily/0422teendrugs.html)