Teen Prescription
...them. Teens are especially tempted by the excitement or escape that drugs seem to offer. While U.S. teenagers’ use of marijuana is declining, their abuse of prescription drugs is holding steady or in some cases increasing, according to a report released Wednesday by White House drug czar John Walters (msnbc, 2007, par. 1). “The drug dealer is us,” said Walters (msnbc, 2007, par. 2). Prescription medication abuse by teens and young adults is a serious problem in the United States. “Today teenagers are not using as much cocaine, crack, LSD, and ecstasy as the teenagers of the 1960’s. Kids have found other ways and means to get high; painkillers and other prescription drugs are being abused at record levels. This upcoming generation of teens has been given the name ‘Generation Rx’” (Teen Drug Abuse, 2005, par. 1). Teens can easily raid through their parent’s or grandparent’s medicine cabinet to find the drugs they need to get high (Teen Drug Abuse, 2005, par. 2). Another way teenagers obtain these drugs are from the internet (msnbc, 2007, par. 2). For the first time, national studies show that today’s teens are more likely to have abused a prescription painkiller than any illicit drug (Teen Drug Abuse, 2005, par. 2). Teens are turning away from street drugs and using prescription drugs to get high (Office of National Drug Control Policy, 2007, pp. 1). Plus, new users of prescription drugs have caught up with new users of marijuana (Office of National Drug Control Policy, 2007, pp. 1).
Prescription drugs are medicines that are given to a patient by a doctor to treat a specific health condition (Freevibe.com, 2008, pp. 1 par. 1). “Prescription drugs make complex surgeries possible, relieve pain for millions of people, and enable individuals with certain medical conditions, like diabetes, to control their symptoms” (Freevibe.com, 2008, pp. 1 par. 1) . Most...
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