Prescription drugs are the second most common illegal drug used by teens, right behind marijuana. A new study from the University of Colorado in Denver shows that “adolescents are abusing prescription pain medications like vicodin, valium and oxycontin at a rate 40 percent higher than previous generations.”
- They found the increase includes both males, females, and people of all races.
- There is a 500% increase in people heading to rehab programs for drug abuse.
- More prescriptions for these drugs are being written. It went from about 40 million in 1991 to more than 180 million in 2007.
Because children and teens still have a developing brain, early drug use can cause more problems for them. It can lead to long-term abuse and many times results in death. Overdose deaths are higher than deaths due to cocaine and heroin combined. Researchers are calling it an epidemic and say intervention is necessary.
