Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2008

Where do teens get drugs now? From the home medicine cabinet

Are we winning the war on drugs?

John P. Walters, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, who was in the San Joaquin Valley last week, says the answer is yes and no.

Youth illicit drug use is down, and workplace drug testing results show adult drug use is down. So illegal drug use has decreased, and Walters is optimistic that trend may continue with a new era of cooperation between the United States and Mexico's president, Felipe Calderón.

But a new danger has emerged -- the growing abuse of prescription medications. There's no time to celebrate successes in fighting illegal drug use; prevention and education efforts -- at all levels -- need to address this new threat.

Prescription drug abuse is happening on two fronts -- youth get them, mostly for free, from their home medicine cabinets; adults go "doctor shopping" to get more than they should be taking by getting prescriptions from multiple sources.

Recent figures from the National Institute on Drug Abuse show that while marijuana use among teens has declined in the past few years, more teens abuse prescription drugs than any illicit drug except marijuana.

Teen abuse of prescription medications is serious because many teens (41 percent) mistakenly believe the abuse of medicines is less dangerous than abuse of illegal drugs.

In addition, some teens use prescription and over-the-counter drugs in combination with alcohol, which can lead to dangerous drug interactions or other medical consequences.

Parents must be aware of this drug risk in their own medicine cabinets. The prescription drugs most commonly abused by teens are painkillers, depressants or anti-anxiety drugs and stimulants. These medications should be closely monitored in homes with young people to reduce access. In addition, parents are in the best position to teach children the dangers.

Adults who are misusing prescription drugs are another part of the problem. Some patients fraudulently obtain prescriptions from multiple sources, allowing them to take higher dosages than is safe.

Another danger occurs when people, either intentionally or unintentionally, take multiple prescription drugs, which can result in deadly combinations. This is called combined drug intoxication, or CDI. The high-profile death of actor Heath Ledger in January was a case of CDI.

With progress in the fight against illegal drugs, now parents, medical providers, educators and law-enforcement agents must focus on the dangers of abusing prescription drugs.

Education efforts must teach people that, when abused, prescription medications can be just as deadly as street drugs.