When prescription drugs are taken the right way, they are safe and there is little chance of addiction. Drug abuse is the use of illicit drugs or the abuse of prescription or over-the-counter drugs for purposes other than those for which they are indicated or in a manner or in quantities other than directed. However, prescription drugs can be dangerous if they are abused (for example, taking too much or taking them when they're not needed). Some of the most commonly abused prescription drugs are painkillers and anti-anxiety drugs.
You have a problem if you keep craving and using a drug even if it's causing trouble for you. The trouble may be with your health, with money, with work or school, or with your relationships with family or friends. Your friends and family may be aware you're having a problem before you realize it, because they see changes in your behavior.
About 1 in 3 Americans has used marijuana at least once and approximately 10% of the population uses it on a regular basis. Next to tobacco, and alcohol in some areas, marijuana is the most popular substance chosen by young people for regular use.
Signs of Drug Abuse:
*Trouble paying attention
*Being more forgetful than usual
*Missing work or school
*Being more moody than usual
*Trouble sleeping
*Paranoia (feeling that people are "out to get you")
*No interest in things you used to enjoy
A prescription drug is a licensed medicine that is regulated by legislation to require a prescription before it can be obtained. The term is used to distinguish it from over-the-counter drugs which can be obtained without a prescription. Different jurisdictions have different definitions of what constitutes a prescription drug. As a general rule, over the counter drugs are used to treat conditions not necessarily requiring a doctor's care and will have been proven to meet higher safety standards for self-medication by patients. Often a lower dosage of a drug will be approved for OTC use, while higher dosages will remain the province of a doctor's prescription; a notable case is ibuprofen, which has been widely available as an OTC pain killer since the mid-1980s but is still available in doses up to four times the OTC dose for use in cases of severe orthopedic pain.
In the United States, the term "prescription drug" is most commonly used, but they are also called legend drugs or Rx-only drugs, after the requirements of Federal and state laws that all such drugs bear a "legend" prohibiting sale without a prescription; though more complex legends have been used, on most original drug packaging today the legend simply says "Rx only". In the United Kingdom, they are referred to as Prescription Only Medicine or POM.
Howover,recently a study Shown that 23.2 percent decline in Illicit drug use over five-year period.The 2006 Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey of eighth, 10th and 12th graders indicates that their past-month use of illicit drugs has dropped 23.2 percent since 2001 (from 19.4 percent in 2001 to 14.9 percent in 2006). By contrast, abuse of prescription opioids remains at unacceptably high levels. The study is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The survey showed that past-month marijuana use for all three grades combined declined significantly from 2005 to 2006. Further, since 2001, past-month use of marijuana for all three grades combined decreased by almost 25 percent (from 16.6 percent in 2001 to 12.5 percent in 2006). There was also good news about teen smoking as well as alcohol consumption. Cigarette smoking is at an all-time low for all three grades, and past-month alcohol use continued to trend downward.
However, of significant concern is the finding that past-year use of Vicodin remained high among all three grades, with nearly one in ten high school seniors using it in the past year. Despite a drop from 2005-2006 in past-year abuse of OxyContin among 12th graders (from 5.5 percent to 4.3 percent), there has been no such decline among the eighth and 10th grade students, and the rate of use among the youngest students has increased significantly since it was included in the survey in 2002. There is also concern about non-medical use of over-the-counter drugs. In the first national survey on non-medical use of cold or cough medicine, the data show that 4.2 percent of eighth-graders, 5.3 percent of 10th graders, and 6.9 percent of 12th graders reported taking cold or cough medicines with dextromethorphan (DXM) during the past year to get high. Dextromethorphan is a cough suppressant found in many over-the-counter cough and cold remedies, and is generally safe when taken in recommended doses but in large amounts can cause dangerous side effects.
"We should all take pride in seeing a drop in the percentage of teenagers who abuse drugs,a key goal in the President's National Drug Control Strategy," said HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt. "But we must not ease up, as there is more to be done. We must seize the opportunity to build on this success by renewing our commitment to help young people avoid drug use, or to stop using drugs if they have started.''
"The survey results indicate that the messages we are sending to students about addiction and drug abuse are having an overall positive effect," said NIH Director Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni. "But the rise in prescription drug abuse among the younger grades and the intentional abuse of over-the-counter medications are very disturbing. These findings point to the continuing need to educate our young people about the potential for harm when drugs are taken without a physician's supervision."
"Past-year use of marijuana has fallen by 36 percent among eighth graders, 28 percent among 10th graders, and 18 percent among 12th graders since the peak abuse years in the 1990s," says NIDA Director Dr. Nora D. Volkow. "This is great news. However, past-year use of OxyContin has almost doubled among eighth graders since 2002, and Vicodin abuse remains stubbornly high among 12th graders. We know that the job is not yet done."
Other findings from the survey show that between 2005 and 2006:
Past-year and past-month methamphetamine use decreased among 10th graders, with past-year falling from 2.9 percent to 1.8 percent, and past-month decreasing from 1.1 percent to 0.7%;
There was an increase in perceived harmfulness among 12th graders of heroin,ice, sedatives/barbiturates, and steroids;
There was a decrease in perceived harmfulness and disapproval of MDMA (or ecstasy) among eighth graders; and
Use of inhalants leveled off in 2006.
"There has been a substance abuse sea change among American teens," said John P. Walters, director of National Drug Control Policy. "They are getting the message that dangerous drugs damage their lives and limit their futures. We know that if people don't start using drugs during their teen years, they are very unlikely to go on to develop drug problems later in life. That’s why this sharp decline in teen drug use is such important news: It means that there will be less addiction, less suffering, less crime, lower health costs, and higher achievement for this upcoming generation of Americans."
Since 1975, the MTF survey has measured drug, alcohol, and cigarette use and related attitudes among adolescent students nationwide. Survey participants report their drug use behaviors across three time periods: lifetime, past-year, and past-month. Overall, 48,460 students from 410 public and private schools in the eighth, 10th, and 12th grades participated in this year's survey. The survey has been conducted since its inception by Investigators at the University of Michigan.
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