Prescription Pill Abuse - Research Paper Example

Many teenagers hold the view that prescription medication abuse is safer than illicit drug intake. However, the fact is that prescription drugs can have severe short term as well as long term impacts on health if they are used improperly. Hence, it could be stated that the use and abuse of prescription pills has adverse effect on teenagers’ physical, mental, and social life. Prescription pill abuse may include taking a relative’s or a friend’s prescribed medicines to treat pain, get high, or to experiment with.

As per reports, Opioids like OxyContin and Vicodin, stimulants like Concerta and Adderall, and central nervous system depressants including Xanax and Valium are the most common abused prescription pills over the past few years. Over-the-counter drugs (drugs available without a prescription) abuse has also become a threatening issue nowadays. Among the teenagers aged between 12 and 17, it was reported that 7.7 percent of them abused prescription drugs during 2010 (“Prescription drug abuse”).

According to a study conducted by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, nearly one fifth of the teenagers have tried prescription painkillers ever in their life (cited in “Addictions: Generation Rx?..”). As The 2010 Monitoring the Future survey reports, prescription and over-the-counter pills were the most common drugs abused by 12th graders (NIDA). These surveys also point that prescription drug abuse may get intensified in future as no effective prevention mechanisms have been developed yet.

In addition, surveys and other study reports indicate that prescription drug abusing youth is more likely to get addicted to substance abuse. Evidently, medication has side effects and therefore, a physician considers all potential benefits and risk factors of a drug before making prescriptions. In addition to the side effects factors, a physician takes into account a drug’s form and dose and its potential for addiction or withdrawal.