Medication Abuse

Prescription for Widespread Rx Misuse Starts at Home by Daniel J. McCullough, M.D. 

Prescription medications are some of medicine's best therapies. They prevent and cure disease and relieve pain and suffering. Sadly, they're also at the root of one of today's biggest public health problems.

Prescription drugs are now the second most commonly abused category of drugs, behind only marijuana. Nearly 20 percent of people in the U.S. have used prescription medica­tions for non-medical reasons.

Abuse and misuse span the ages. Seniors are vulnerable because they develop more painful disabilities and take so many prescriptions. Among Americans 60 and older, more than 75 percent use two or more prescriptions, and 37 percent use five or more, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Abuse by young people is especially alarming: nearly 2 million youth, age 12-17, are abusing painkillers, steroids, stimu­lants and other prescriptions. In its first assessment of prescription drug abuse among high-school students in 2009, the CDC found that 1 in5 high-school students had taken a prescription drug without a doctor's prescription. 

And many times, they're getting these drugs from a common source that's right at their fingertips: the home medicine cabinet.

Because these drugs have a legitimate use, have a known dosage and are prescribed by a physician, teenagers think they're a safe way to get high. The abuse is so widespread that the Partnership for a Drug-Free America estimates that every day 2,500 teenagers, some as young as 12, use a prescription drug to get high for the first time.

For more information on prescription drug abuse and what you can do, go online to The Partnership for a Drug Free America at drugfree.org/notinmyhouse or the Massachusetts Medical Society at physicianfocus.org. For parents especially, they're worth a visit.

Here Are Some Basic Steps to Take to Reduce the Abuse

• Store medications safely, under lock and key, if necessary, so that they won't be susceptible to misuse or theft.

• Parents: Talk to your children about the misuse of prescription medication and the dangers it presents.

• If you care for an elderly person, take all steps to see that the patient understands how and when to take the medication.  Advise other family members or caretakers as well.

• Properly dispose of unused or out-of-date drugs.  Bring them to a community drug take-back or household hazard waste program or throw in the trash after crushing and mixing with an undesirable substance like coffee grounds and putting in a sealed container.  Do not flush down the toilet unless the label says it's okay to do so. 

Daniel J. McCullough, M.D., a family physician at Beverly Hospital, is a member of the board of directors of the American Society of Addiction Medicine and immediate past president of the Massachusetts Society for Addiction Medicine.  He is also a delegate from the Essex South District to the Massachusetts Medical Society.

Published in North Shore Life, Spring 2011