Prescription Drugs

In the 147 narcotic treatment programs licensed by ADP, the number of people admitted for addiction to pain relievers increased by more than 80 percent from 2006 to 2009. The misuse and abuse of prescription drugs is the fastest growing drug problem in California. You can help prevent prescription drugs from being diverted to misuse by others by disposing of them properly.

Last September, for the first Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, more than 242,000 pounds —121 tons — of prescription drugs were collected at nearly 4,100 sites across the country.

If someone in your house is prescribed a prescription painkiller, keep it locked up and dispose of any extra pills when you no longer need them. The effort could prevent a tragedy in your own family. For more information on prescription drug abuse prevention and how you can help prevent prescription drug diversion and abuse in your community, visit the website for the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

What Are They?

Prescription drugs are medicines that are prescribed to a patient by a doctor to manage pain, treat or cure a health condition such as pain, mental disease, diabetes, cancer, or common infections. These drugs are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are shown to have medical benefits when prescribed and taken exactly as directed by a health provider. For people who are suffering, these drugs allow them to control their symptoms, cure or treat their diseases, control pain, or fight an infection. However, these medicines are only safe when taken exactly as directed by a doctor, healthcare provider, or as indicated on the packaging. This includes following directions on dosages, how often to take these drugs, and never taking any drug that is not prescribed for you.

Taking prescription drugs that are not prescribed to you - or taking them in any way other than directed by a doctor — is considered non-medical use or abuse and can be as dangerous as taking an illegal drug, such as cocaine or heroin. "Misuse" of a prescription drug is taking it to treat a medical condition but not as directed by a doctor or packaging; "abuse" is taking prescription drugs with the sole intention of getting high. When misused or abused, many prescription drugs can be as dangerous and as addictive as "street" drugs. In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of poisonings and even deaths associated with the abuse and misuse of prescription drugs, including prescription painkillers and anti-depressants.₆₁

In other words, even if a medication is prescribed to you, taking larger doses than prescribed, taking it more often than directed, or using it in a way that it is not intended, is abuse and can also lead to severe health consequences and addiction. Between 1995 and 2005, treatment admissions for dependence on prescription pain relievers such as oxycodone (OxyContin) and hydrocodone/acetaminophen (Vicodin) grew more than 300 percent.₆₂

Taking prescription drugs without a prescription, not taking them as directed, or mixing them with alcohol are all unsafe and potentially deadly. A 2008 study based on 224,355 U.S. death certificates for which people died from medication errors showed that there was a 3,196 percent increase between 1983 and 2004 in deaths at home from combining prescription drugs with alcohol and/or street drugs.₆₃

It's Illegal

Additionally, getting prescription drugs without a prescription, called "diversion" is illegal and may put you at risk for arrest and prosecution. Regardless of how you acquire a prescription medication, using these types of drugs without a valid prescription — written for you — is unsafe and illegal.

What’s the problem?

Teens are abusing some prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs to get high. This includes painkillers, such as those drugs prescribed after surgery; depressants, such as sleeping pills or anti-anxiety drugs; and stimulants, such as those drugs prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Teens are also abusing OTC drugs, such as cough and cold remedies.

Every day 2,500 youth age 12 to 17 abuse a pain reliever for the very first time. More teens abuse prescription drugs than any illicit drug except marijuana. In 2006, more than 2.1 million teens ages 12 to 17 reported abusing prescription drugs.1 Among 12- and 13-year-olds, prescription drugs are the drug of choice.₂

Because these drugs are so readily available, and many teens believe they are a safe way to get high, teens who wouldn't otherwise touch illicit drugs might abuse prescription drugs.

What are the dangers?

There are serious health risks related to abuse of prescription drugs. A single large dose of prescription or OTC painkillers or depressants can cause breathing difficulty that can lead to death. Stimulant abuse can lead to hostility or paranoia, or the potential for heart system failure or fatal seizures. Even in small doses, depressants and painkillers have subtle effects on motor skills, judgment, and ability to learn.

The abuse of OTC cough and cold remedies can cause blurred vision, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, coma, and even death. Many teens report mixing prescription drugs, OTC drugs, and alcohol. Using these drugs in combination can cause respiratory failure and death.

Prescription and OTC drug abuse is addictive. Between 1995 and 2005, treatment admissions for prescription painkillers increased more than 300 percent.₄

1. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA]. (2007). National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2006, Table 1.5A. 2. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA]. (2007). National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2006. Office of Applied Studies 4. Treatment Episode Data Set [TEDS]. (2006). Substance abuse treatment admissions by primary substance of abuse according to sex, age group, race and ethnicity, 2004. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

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