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More Information About Prescription (Rx) Abuse

Substance abuse professionals point to teens looking to medicine cabinets to get high as a disturbing form of substance abuse. One in 10 teens reports having abused an over-the-counter medicine to get high and twice as many teens, or one in five teens, report having abused a prescription drug to get high.

Prescription medicines are critical to treating legitimate health problems and are safe and effective when taken under a healthcare professional’s care for medical reasons and at the right dose. When used for medical reasons, painkillers (opiates or opioids)—which are the most-abused prescription drug class—are meant to be used only for a short time. Other painkillers are prescribed by a doctor for people with long-term conditions like arthritis or back pain. Since opiates affect the brain and spinal cord, continued abuse can leave you hooked.

Another category of prescription drugs that is often abused is stimulants. Prescription stimulants are used for ADHD and severe obesity. Stimulants increase brain activity, raise blood pressure, and increase heart rate and breathing rate. Stimulants generally work well for people for whom they are prescribed who take them in the right dosage. But when stimulants are abused, the side effects can be extremely unpleasant. People can become addicted to them, and they take higher and higher doses. They may feel very angry or suspicious of other people. There are also physical dangers. The stimulant abuser might experience a severely high body temperature, irregularities in heartbeat, and possibly a heart attack or seizure. Withdrawing from addiction to stimulants is like diving into a deep, black pool of depression.

Sedatives and tranquilizers are prescribed for people who are nervous, anxious, or can’t sleep. They work for people who need them because they slow down the brain’s activity. People who abuse sedatives and tranquilizers become dependent on them, take higher and higher doses, and may experience poor memory and judgment, lack of coordination, and even ideas about suicide. Suddenly stopping these drugs is a shock to the brain that can cause seizures. Combining sedatives and tranquilizers with painkillers can cause breathing and heartbeat to slow down to a dangerously low point, and can even result in death.

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