Prescription Drug Abuse

District Schools Work Together Against Substance Abuse

Posted by Drug Free in Drug Addiction, Prescription Drug Abuse on May 16th, 2012

In 2010, the Illinois Youth Survey yielded alarming results that showed about 10% of 8th graders in Lake County have already encountered alcohol at the tender age of 10 or even younger. It was also uncovered that 6% of sophomores are lighting up pot at least twice in a month.

teen drug abuseThis is why the Stevenson High School community took the responsibility of holding the “Saving Our Children” symposium which tackled issues on the use of illicit drugs. Aside from their own parents and students, families from Libertyville and Vernon Hills High schools were also present during the event.

Elisabeth Nelson from the Lake County Health Department said that the data gathered in 2010 failed to include the use of OTC drugs among kids but promised to include the subject in this year’s survey. “We have seen a slight increase in prescription drug abuse in the past year’s data,” Nelson added. “Cough medicine is higher than pain killers.”

According to Nelson, it has been recorded that children who start with the abuse of pain killers, such as Oxycontin and Percocet, ultimately go up the ladder towards heroin addiction. She added that the best sources of these pain medications are the home medicine cabinets where parents and grandparents store their prescriptions without proper security.

While alcohol remains the top drug choice among kids in Lake County, other household substances like inhalants are easily misused especially by middle school students.

Thus, Stevenson High School student assistance program coordinator Stephanie Elsass makes it a point to solicit the support of nearby schools in hosting the symposium every year. For the past seven years, schools in their area have taken turns as panel of experts during the forum.

In a report from the Sun Times, Nelson reminded parents to monitor their children especially in the coming summer season and that the talk on drugs and alcohol should be done at the earliest time possible.

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Marijuana Use Among Teens Increases

Posted by Drug Free in Marijuana Use and Abuse, Prescription Drug Abuse on May 14th, 2012

While the use of cocaine and methamphetamine among teens may have stabilized in the last few years, pot use is on the rise. In a new study released by The Partnership at Drugfree.org, one in every ten kids is smoking marijuana at least 20 times within a month. Students between the 9th and 12th grades are also experimenting with prescription drugs.

smoking potThe situation elevated due to the fact that most parents think that weed is just weed, no cause for alarm. Yet Partnership President Steve Pasierb said that parents should not take the issue of marijuana for granted. “Parents are talking about cocaine and heroin, things that scare them. Parents are not talking about prescription drugs and marijuana. They can’t wink and nod. They need to be stressing the message that this behavior is unhealthy.”

The report showed that marijuana use has increased from only 19% in 2008 to about 27% in 2011. Teens who smoked pot at least 20 times in a month also climbed from 5% in 2008 to last year’s 9%. That’s about 1.5 million teens who regularly light up marijuana.

Previous researches made also had parallel results, like that of a recent survey made by a team from the University of Michigan. The initiative was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse that claimed marijuana use is again on the rise after a decline in the last decade.

Results of the study have linked the use of pot and other drugs. It was suggested that teens who regularly use marijuana were also twice more likely to take cocaine or ecstasy.

The study also tackled the issue of pain medications abuse, putting Vicodin and Oxycontin as the drug of choice among teens. It was also noted that ecstasy or cocaine use is highest among Hispanic teens (almost 50%). African American teens followed suit with almost 42% hooked on prescription medications while that of Caucasian teens reached 39%.

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Tennessee Implements Law to Control Prescription Drug Abuse

Posted by Drug Free in Prescription Drug Abuse on May 11th, 2012

Authorities, law makers and residents of Tennessee know that their state is under a prescription drug abuse epidemic. To address the current situation, a new act has been passed last April 25 that will hopefully put a stop to the growing problem.

The Tennessee Prescription Safety Act will require all prescribers and dispensers of drugs under schedule II, III, IV, or V of the Food and Drug Authority to register in a database.

prescription drug abuseTennessee health commissioner John Dreyzehner said that Tennessee has been battling prescription drug abuse and that they are doing their best to discourage people from getting hold of unwanted medications through the newly approved act.

The Tennessee Drug Diversion Task Force has previously ranked medications such as hydrocodone, alprazolam, and oxycodone as the top controlled substances that doctors instruct their patients to take for relief of any pain discomforts.

Commissioner Dreyzehner warned that although prescription painkillers are a big help to patients, the improper use and abuse of the said medications could lead to disastrous results. “It’s part of the human condition, really. Some of the same things that make us successful as a species … those are some of the same pathways that get stimulated when people abuse certain substances.”

In 2002, the Controlled Substances Database was initially used to identify prescriptions used by patients, and by 2013, all prescribers and dispensers will be ordered to use the database under the Tennessee Prescription Safety Act.

In a feature from the Daily Herald, exceptions to the rule are those under medication from surgery, prescriptions of less than 7 days, and those put in hospice care.

The new legislation will serve as a safety net against prescription drug abuse. It can be remembered that in 2010, drug overdose claimed 1059 lives in the state.

“(As a doctor,) I really want to know if you are already taking (certain medications), because I would not want to harm you inadvertently,” Dreyzehner said.

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More Babies Born Exhibiting Symptoms of Withdrawal

Posted by Drug Free in Prescription Drug Abuse on May 2nd, 2012

As one of the top ranking states in America with the highest rates of prescription drug abuse, Tennessee is paying the price by having more and more babies born with symptoms of withdrawal from prescription pain medications.

The East Tennessee Children’s Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit is proof of the condition as nearly half of the newborn babies are affected with prescription drugs withdrawal symptoms. Babies who are exposed to prescription medications while in the womb suffer from neonatal abstinence syndrome or NAS brought about by the mother’s abuse of painkillers.

Dr. John Buchheit, neonatal director at the Children’s Hospital, said that in the past 17 years that he has been in service at the facility, he is used to dealing with premature babies or babies born with respiratory distress. “But I had no idea that we would be seeing this issue, to this degree.”

In a report from the American Academy of Pediatrics, 55-94% of babies exposed to opioids while in the womb show signs of withdrawal as soon as they are born. This happens when a pregnant woman uses narcotics and passes it to her baby through the placenta. As the baby is born, his supply of drugs is cut off which leads him to the withdrawal stage.

Babies born in such condition often cry constantly and are easily agitated. They are also extra sensitive to light and sound and can suffer from seizures.

Prescription drug abuse has become an epidemic in the state of Tennessee with about 33% of pregnant women hooked on pain medications causing the number of babies born suffering from withdrawal symptoms to double from 2010 to 2011.

Department of Children’s Services Attorney Susan Kovac said state case workers are working on the double to accommodate the increasing number of babies affected with NAS. “We come and talk to the mom and try to find out, what’s the level of her abuse, what’s the level of her addiction, what can we do to get her clean so that she can be in a position to take care of her baby,” Kovac said.

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Government Launches New Approach to Prescription Drug Abuse

Posted by Drug Free in Prescription Drug Abuse on April 19th, 2012

Instead of throwing drug users to jail, the Obama Administration introduced a new approach to deal with prescription drug abuse.

prescription drug abuseAccording to the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Gil Kerlikowske, the government is looking at drug abuse in a new angle. Drug addiction is seen as a treatable disease which could hopefully make an impact in minimizing drug crimes and imprisonment, as well as re-arrests of addicts.

In the new strategy, the growing problem of prescription drug abuse is highlighted. Measures to control such type of drug abuse include educating the public about the dangers of prescription medicines’ misuse and keeping medications secured and at the minimum at home. It also orders law-enforcement agencies to be vigilant on so-called “pill mills.”

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine admits that controlling prescription drug abuse won’t be easy. People have the tendency to think that because doctors are somehow involved in the process, then prescribed medications must be safe. What the public doesn’t realize is that drug overdose has climbed the second spot when it came to accidental death causes in their state.

“Prescription drugs are killers,” he said. “But people don’t look at them that way.”

DeWine believes that education and proper information dissemination will change the people’s perspective on prescription drugs.

Yet for some concerned citizens, like public health nurse Lisa Roberts from the Portsmouth City Health Department, the new initiative still does not ensure that the public will be safe.

Roberts found it ironic that the Food and Drug Administration suspends the retail of some products in the market with side effects such as muscle twitching, but not products which kill thousands of people every year, like some opiate painkillers do when abused.

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More Children Die of Prescription Drugs Abuse than Accidents

Posted by Drug Free in Prescription Drug Abuse on April 18th, 2012

A new government report showed that there are fewer children and teens dying from accidents, yet more of them fatally succumb to prescription drug abuse.

prescription drug abuseThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) looked into the death certificates of children and teens aged 19 years old or younger from the year 2000 to 2009. This is how they were able to collect data and came out with their report.

According to the CDC, the death rates of kids 19 and below dropped by about 30% from 2000 to 2009. From 12,400 deaths in 2000, numbers went down to 9,100 in 2009.

Accidental death remained the most dominant factor for the untimely demise of most children and teens. CDC deputy director Ileana Arias added that on the average, fires, falls, and other accidents claim a child’s life every hour.

Development and initiatives made on traffic control was a key to the decline of children’s deaths due to crashes. Almost 50% of fatal accidents are attributed to vehicular collisions, yet today this rate was pulled down by 9 points at 41%; more than enough to dramatically make an impact on the decrease of youth dying.

Unfortunately, the CDC confirmed that more and more families are losing kids due to prescription drug overdoses. Data gathered showed that accidental poisoning as a cause of death among kids rose from 80% to 82.4% in 2009. The most affected group of teens by prescription drug overdoses are those within the 15 to 19 years old age bracket.

Kids nowadays have easy access to prescribed medications by just looking into their medicine cabinets at home. These substances are fast replacing marijuana as the top drug choice among kids.

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