PRESCRIPTION
DRUG ABUSE RISES

Topics: Addiction; Desires; Drugs; Lawlessness; Pleasure; Teens; Temptation; Vices

References: Romans 6:16; 12:2; 13:13–14; Ephesians 5:18; 1 Peter 5:8; 2 Peter 2:19

In 2003, 6.3 million people were misusing prescription drugs, such as stimulants, painkillers, sedatives, and tranquilizers. That’s more than twice the number of people who use cocaine, according to the U.S. National Survey of Drug Use and Health.

A 2006 study reported in Drug and Alcohol Dependence found that large numbers of people are using the Internet to search for and trade advice on how to tamper with prescription drugs. Edward Cone, author of the study and a toxicologist at ConeChem Research in Maryland, explains: “Drug misusers are tampering with the drugs to get high, and you get high by getting the drug in faster or giving a bigger dose. All of these drugs are toxic or lethal at certain levels, so this is a very real health issue. In the U.S., the abuse of pharmaceutical drugs is reaching epidemic proportions.”

Abuse of prescription drugs by teens and young adults in particular is on the rise. Drug counselors are getting numerous reports of pill-popping get-togethers called “pharm parties” at which teens trade prescription drugs like baseball cards. According to a 2005 survey by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, 19 percent of U.S. teenagers—roughly 4.5 million—reported having taken prescription painkillers such as Vicodin or OxyContin, or stimulants such as Ritalin or Adderall, to get high.

In May 2006, the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported that overdoses of prescription and over-the-counter drugs accounted for about one-fourth of the 1.3 million drug-related emergency room admissions in 2004.

—Hazel Muir, “Abuse of Prescription Drugs Fueled by Online Recipes,” NewScientist.com (June 2006); Donna Leinwand, “Prescription Drugs Find Place in Teen Culture,” USA Today (June 12, 2006)