[caption id="attachment_4254" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Side effects of Vicodin"]
[/caption]Carol Forsloff - According to experts, it isn't illicit drugs so much that is growing, although they remain a problem, it's the number of accessible prescription drugs now especially worrying experts, as the problem has become serious especially among teens.
“Ask teens explicitly about prescription
drug use with concrete questions like ‘Have you ever taken a pain pill
or other medication not prescribed for you?’” Hopkins Children’s Melissa
Long, M.D., told fellow pediatricians during a recent presentation at
the hospital.
Recreational drugs are now obtained from parents drug cabinets. John Hopkins Children's Center tells parents be especially careful about these. That's because it was found in 2009 that 2.6 million teens reported using prescription drugs. Many of these young people end up in emergency rooms.
As the use of prescription drugs increase, so are the illegal uses as well as well as teens abusing the ones prescribed. A 2010 study in Pediatrics
showed that the number of controlled medication prescriptions to
teenagers nearly doubled between 1994 and 2007.
What experts tell us is that nearly
70 percent of teens and adults who abuse prescription drugs said they
got them from relatives and friends, according to SAMHSA research. This signals the need to watch the medicine cabinet carefully.
“It’s important for pediatricians to ask parents what they have in their
medicine cabinets at home and alert them that any controlled substances
not stored and disposed of properly may inadvertently lead to misuse of
these medications,” Long says.
Experts believe
that another factor fueling the widespread abuse is teen perceptions of
controlled medications as the “safer drugs.”
“Cocaine and heroin might sound scary and dangerous and might seem like
big stuff, but a pain pill that mom takes and that was prescribed by her
doctor doesn’t carry the same dangerous connotations,” Long says.
These are the signs experts say to look for: constricted pupils, slurred speech, severe mood swings,
personality changes, irritability, excessive energy, loss of appetite,
and insomnia. Symptoms specific to painkillers include depression,
somnolence, confusion, constipation, slow breathing and low blood
pressure. Signs suggestive of tranquilizer/sedative abuse include
drowsiness, slurred speech, unsteady gait, confusion, involuntary rapid
eye movement. Stimulants usually lead to weight loss, irritability, high
blood pressure and heart rhythm disturbances, inability to sleep and
nervousness.
