Private MD News

Prescription drug epidemic among young people

Category: Drug Screening

A study conducted by the University of Colorado (UC), Denver revealed that pharmaceuticals like Vicodin, Valium and Oxycotin, which can detected in the body using a lab test, are being abused 40 percent more by adolescents today compared to past generations. Pharmaceuticals are the second most commonly used drug, next to marijuana according to UC Denver.

"Prescription drug use is the next big epidemic," said Richard Miech M.D., one of the authors of the study. "Everyone in this field has recognized that there is a big increase in the abuse of nonmedical analgesics but our study shows that it is accelerating among today's generation of adolescents."

The study, which was published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, was a compilation of data acquired from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which spanned from 1985 to 2009.

Subgroups of non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics were shown to be especially affected by the trend. One of the factors that Doctor Miech attributed to the increased abuse of prescription drugs was their availability: Between 1991 and 2007, the number of hydrocodone and oxycodone prescriptions rose from 40 million to nearly 180 million.

He also noted that children see their parents taking analgesics, or painkillers, and they grow up thinking that taking them is acceptable.