Spring Break
Prescription Drug Abuse On Rise
Nicholas Carra
Issue date: 10/19/06 Section: News
However as the student's addiction progressed, they realized a change was necessary.
"I took them a lot, every few days or so," the student said, "and I realized one day I had to take so many to get high, and I said I really need to stop."
For a few days after quitting, the student said they felt "mildly depressed and anxious."
Having experienced the dependency of addiction, the student admitted that for a time the urge to abuse the medication still existed.
These symptoms are common of an addiction to pills prone to abuse on today's market.
Presently, frequently abused pills include opiates (pain relievers), central nervous system (CNS) depressants (sedatives), and stimulants, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Notable opiates such as oxycodone carry the risk of dependency and severe respiratory depression after prolonged use.
NIDA also reports that CNS depressants such as Valium can cause seizures after the reduction or discontinuance of using the drug. Stimulants like Ritalin have the potential to cause irregular heartbeats, cardiovascular failure and lethal seizures.
Dr. Janice Wilbur, head of UConn's substance abuse prevention HEART program, has noticed an increase in the number of students using painkillers in the last three to four years. Simply put, students are using more and more prescriptions "because they can," she said.
Wilbur also noted that the expensive nature of an addiction to oxycontin, (which is a synthetic heroin), could lead students to purchase the significantly cheaper alternative: heroin.
Wilbur cites a crackdown on alcohol in recent years as a possible explanation for the turn to prescriptions. This, coupled with the abundance of pills on campuses riddled with students who receive injuries due to sports provides for an environment supplied with the new age narcotics.
Robert McCarthy, Dean and Professor of the School of Pharmacy stressed the risks of prescription abuse.
"I took them a lot, every few days or so," the student said, "and I realized one day I had to take so many to get high, and I said I really need to stop."
For a few days after quitting, the student said they felt "mildly depressed and anxious."
Having experienced the dependency of addiction, the student admitted that for a time the urge to abuse the medication still existed.
These symptoms are common of an addiction to pills prone to abuse on today's market.
Presently, frequently abused pills include opiates (pain relievers), central nervous system (CNS) depressants (sedatives), and stimulants, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Notable opiates such as oxycodone carry the risk of dependency and severe respiratory depression after prolonged use.
NIDA also reports that CNS depressants such as Valium can cause seizures after the reduction or discontinuance of using the drug. Stimulants like Ritalin have the potential to cause irregular heartbeats, cardiovascular failure and lethal seizures.
Dr. Janice Wilbur, head of UConn's substance abuse prevention HEART program, has noticed an increase in the number of students using painkillers in the last three to four years. Simply put, students are using more and more prescriptions "because they can," she said.
Wilbur also noted that the expensive nature of an addiction to oxycontin, (which is a synthetic heroin), could lead students to purchase the significantly cheaper alternative: heroin.
Wilbur cites a crackdown on alcohol in recent years as a possible explanation for the turn to prescriptions. This, coupled with the abundance of pills on campuses riddled with students who receive injuries due to sports provides for an environment supplied with the new age narcotics.
Robert McCarthy, Dean and Professor of the School of Pharmacy stressed the risks of prescription abuse.
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Kris Franson
posted 7/03/08 @ 11:32 AM EST
It is really shoking that children even under 14 are taking such pills thoughtlessly. What happend to our new generation. All the Americans should tthink about that. (Continued…)
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