Drug Abuse in Teens | Review of Opioid Addiction Broadcast
Drug Abuse In Teens
This is a summary of a broadcast on drug abuse in teens. The original broadcast is at the PCSS-B website. It covers the topic of drug abuse (including Oxycontin) in teens with Rx medications. It also covers drug abuse in teens and the current treatment with the drug Suboxone.
I thought the broadcast on drug abuse in teens very educational. It is focused towards physicians who Rx Suboxone (buprenorphine), but it is straight forward enough for anyone to understand most of it. The broadcast is about 40 minutes long. With the introduction, main part, and Q&A it will take about to an hour to watch.
Drug Abuse in Teens | Broadcast Highlights
The lecture on drug abuse in teens reviews the current problems with prescription narcotics (Oxycontin included) in children and teens and also covers the use of suboxone (buprenorphine) in children and young adults. Here are the essential points:
Doctors are being encouraged to treat better more types of pain, including chronic pain. They have been told they have not been prescribing enough of these pain pills. Now there are too many narcotics showing up on the street.
Children and teens use Rx opioids for several reasons. They have the idea because these medications are prescribed by an MD, they are not going to hurt them. Since they observe older individuals using Rx narcotics, they have the idea they are safe to experiment with. Finally, they have the idea that since one doesn’t have to obtain the drug from an illegal source that they are not really “dangerous” and they will get into less problems using these medications. There seems to be less stigma using Rx pills compared to illicit drugs. All these together increase the risk of drug abuse in teens.
Fact: 1 million people were addicted to opiate drugs in the year 2000. In 2006, the national survey on drug use said this number had increased to 2.4 million.
Opioids rank third as the most abused drug.
We consume 4/5 of the world narcotics in the USA, but only have a fraction of the people. Almost all of the hydrocodone in the world is consumed here.
Fact: Drug abuse in teens: 1 in 8 teens has tried narcotics before finishing high school. 1/2 of the new narcotic users in 2001 were under age 18. 60% of young adults indicate Rx meds are easy to get from their family and friends. Half of young adults say narcotics are easy to buy from the Web or easy to pilfer from others close to them.
In 2003, the cost of narcotic addiction was 100 billion dollars
Narcotic associated hospitalizations for 18-25 year old’s increased 100% from 1993 to 2002.
Teens can afford the cost of the habit of Rx pills initially, but soon cost inflates and they can no longer afford it. They are forced to deal, steal, or get off the drug with the accompanying withdrawal symptoms. They soon begin using heroin because it is more pure and less expensive and this increases the drug abuse in teens.
Suboxone is approved for ages 16 and above. It has been used in much younger children.
Drug Abuse in Teens | Summary
The abuse of narcotic pain medications in children and teens continues to increase every year. There are many reasons for this. Teens see Rx pills as more safe and having less of a bad reputation than other medications of abuse. They don’t see how drug abuse in teens will happen to them. They don’t see how fast the costs and the problems begin increasing until they are in over their head. Many teens may want of these drugs but not want to go to a methadone clinic. In this case, they can try Suboxone detox or maintenance treatment.
More Oxycontin Drug Dependence Resources:
If you are trying to find narcotic drug addiction treatment, use our addiction treatment directory to seek out help around you. If you want data on methadone medication, you can find more about a methadone maintenance center here
