Effects of Prescription and OTC Drug Abuse
When taken properly and under a medical provider's supervision, prescription drugs can have many benefits. Unfortunately,
many teens are abusing these drugs to get high or for other effects. Teens say they are abusing prescription and OTC drugs because they are easy to
get and they think they are a safe way to get high.
Why should parents care about this?
REASON #1: More teens abuse prescription drugs than any illicit drug, except marijuana.1
Many young people wrongly believe
that prescription and OTC drugs are safe to abuse, when in fact they can be just as risky as street drugs, if taken improperly.
REASON #2: Prescription and OTC drugs are easily accessible.
The vast majority of teens who abuse prescription drugs get them from friends and relatives. In fact, more than half of teens who abuse prescription
painkillers say they get them from friends or relatives, for free.2 Prescription and OTC drugs are easy to get at home, at a grandparent's house, and
even at school.
The Internet can also supply teens with prescription or OTC drugs. There are hundreds of Web sites that illegally sell drugs
without a prescription. There are also many Web sites that teach teens which drugs to use to get high, how much to take, or how to mix drugs for certain
effects. Teens can then venture out to the local grocery or drugstore to buy cough and cold medications, and put the dangerous new information they've
learned online to use - risking significant health consequences.
Find out more about where teens get prescription and OTC drugs and
learn how to limit your teen's access to these drugs.
REASON #3: Many teens believe it is safe to abuse prescription and OTC drugs.
About half of teens do not see great risk in abusing prescription drugs, and one-third of teens believe there is nothing wrong with using prescription drugs
occasionally for non-medical reasons.3 Teens don't understand that when abused, prescription and OTC drugs can be just as dangerous as street drugs.
REASON #4: Abuse of prescription drugs can be dangerous, even fatal.
Abusing prescription drugs like painkillers, depressants, or stimulants, can have tragic consequences, from serious injury to death. These are powerful drugs
that can have unpredictable effects when abused. Teens often take prescription drugs with street drugs or alcohol, which only adds to the dangers, like
breathing problems, seizures, or heart failure.
REASON #5: Prescription drug abuse can limit your teen's potential.
Prescription and OTC drug abuse can ruin promising lives. Many of these drugs are addicting. Teens who first abuse prescription drugs before age 16 also have a
greater risk of drug dependence or abuse later in life.4 Abuse of these drugs can interfere with your teen's ability to learn and succeed in school.
Prescription drug abuse is also illegal and can have serious consequences.
Next: Why Teens Abuse Prescription and OTC Drugs
