Teen abuse of prescription drugs grows
FROM: USA TODAY / ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Teen smoking and drinking continued to drop, but teenage abuse of prescription drugs has become "an entrenched behavior" that many parents fail to recognize, a survey released Tuesday showed.
For a third straight year, the Partnership for a Drug-Free America study showed that about 1 in 5 teens have tried prescription drug painkillers such as Vicodin or OxyContin to get high — about 4.5 million teens. It also indicated that many teens feel experimenting with prescription drugs is safer than illegal highs.
Forty percent said prescription medicines were "much safer" than illegal drugs, while 31% said there was "nothing wrong" with using prescription drugs "once in a while." The study further found that 29% of teens believe prescription pain relievers are non-addictive.
"It's really a case now of accepting the fact that it's here," Partnership President and CEO Steve Pasierb said. "Clearly, this is a true problem in American society."
Although this was the group's 18th annual survey, it marked only the third year of compiling figures on the abuse of legal drugs. In 2003, the study found 20% of teens had tried the prescription drugs Vicodin, OxyContin and Tylox. Over the next two years, the numbers remained fairly consistent.
Pasierb said it was a good sign that the prescription drug numbers had not increased, but warned parents that the source of drugs is now the family medicine cabinet more than any dealer. The study found 62% of teens said prescription pain relievers are easy to find at home. And 52% say prescription pain relievers are "available everywhere."
"That's why we're putting a lot of our attending on educating parents," Pasierb said. "They don't have a frame of reference in a lot of cases. This kind of behavior (prescription drug abuse) didn't exist when they were teens."
A study by the University of Michigan, released in December, also indicated that American teens were smoking less and using prescription drugs more. It found 1 in 10 high school seniors had experimented with prescription painkillers.
The Partnership survey put teen smoking at 22%, down from 23% last year and 42% in 1998. The number of teens drinking in the past 30 days was down from 33% last year to 31%; in 1998, the figure was 42%.
The 2005 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study surveyed more than 7,300 teens in grades 7 through 12, the largest ongoing analysis of teen drug-related attitudes toward drugs in the country. Its margin of error was plus or minus 1.5 percentage points.
The non-profit Partnership for a Drug-Free America was launched in 1987.
>>ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE
NEW YORK (AP) — Teen smoking and drinking continued to drop, but teenage abuse of prescription drugs has become "an entrenched behavior" that many parents fail to recognize, a survey released Tuesday showed. For a third straight year, the Partnership for a Drug-Free America study showed that about 1 in 5 teens have tried prescription drug painkillers such as Vicodin or OxyContin to get high — about 4.5 million teens. It also indicated that many teens feel experimenting with prescription drugs is safer than illegal highs.
Forty percent said prescription medicines were "much safer" than illegal drugs, while 31% said there was "nothing wrong" with using prescription drugs "once in a while." The study further found that 29% of teens believe prescription pain relievers are non-addictive.
"It's really a case now of accepting the fact that it's here," Partnership President and CEO Steve Pasierb said. "Clearly, this is a true problem in American society."
Although this was the group's 18th annual survey, it marked only the third year of compiling figures on the abuse of legal drugs. In 2003, the study found 20% of teens had tried the prescription drugs Vicodin, OxyContin and Tylox. Over the next two years, the numbers remained fairly consistent.
Pasierb said it was a good sign that the prescription drug numbers had not increased, but warned parents that the source of drugs is now the family medicine cabinet more than any dealer. The study found 62% of teens said prescription pain relievers are easy to find at home. And 52% say prescription pain relievers are "available everywhere."
"That's why we're putting a lot of our attending on educating parents," Pasierb said. "They don't have a frame of reference in a lot of cases. This kind of behavior (prescription drug abuse) didn't exist when they were teens."
A study by the University of Michigan, released in December, also indicated that American teens were smoking less and using prescription drugs more. It found 1 in 10 high school seniors had experimented with prescription painkillers.
The Partnership survey put teen smoking at 22%, down from 23% last year and 42% in 1998. The number of teens drinking in the past 30 days was down from 33% last year to 31%; in 1998, the figure was 42%.
The 2005 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study surveyed more than 7,300 teens in grades 7 through 12, the largest ongoing analysis of teen drug-related attitudes toward drugs in the country. Its margin of error was plus or minus 1.5 percentage points.
The non-profit Partnership for a Drug-Free America was launched in 1987.
>>ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, May 17, 2006 at 11:19 a.m..
You can skip to the end and leave a response.
» Post a Comment