In the Northeastern United States, one of the largest health problems is the abuse of prescription Opioids, such as the painkillers hydrocodone, oxycodone, morphine, codeine, and fentanyl. “Kids tell me it’s easy to get their hands on the stuff,” said Ms. Cutolo, one of the Health teachers here at Westhill, referring to prescription drugs. “And they think oh it’s prescription, it’s got to be safe.”
According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, “most adolescents who misuse prescription pain relievers are given them for free by a friend or relative,” making this sort of drug fairly accessible, and seemingly less dangerous. An ASAM report states that in 2014 467,000 adolescents aged between 12 and 17 years old were “current nonmedical users of a pain reliever,” with 168,000 having an addiction to such a drug.
And this isn’t to mention other sorts of completely legal drugs being misused, especially by teenagers: ADHD medicine, such as Ritalin and Adderall are frequently taken by students. “College kids are abusing ADHD drugs to cram for tests, they’re staying up for days on the stuff,” said Ms. Cutolo. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, in 2015 7.5% of seniors in American High schools had used Adderall without a doctor telling them to, as well as 2% having used Ritalin in the same fashion. These numbers have stayed largely the same for the past 4 years. The same study by the NIDA found that 18.3% of seniors had abused any sort of prescription drugs at some point in their lives. One of the biggest fears with the abuse of prescription drugs is that it feeds directly into the Opioid and Heroin crisis the Northeast is facing.
Anyone misusing any sort of drug, illicit or licit, should contact American Addiction Centers at 888-982- 7527.