Maybe we just need to give hyperactive kids a bigger backyard to run around in. The drugs they are taking are starting to sound dangerous.
Drugs commonly prescribed for hyperactive children are increasingly being abused, causing a rising number of poison control calls, according to a study published in Pediatrics.
The study tracked calls to U.S. poison control centers from 1998 to 2005 among 13- to 19-year-olds and found that during the eight-year study period, calls by teens to poison control centers for all types of stimulant ADHD drug abuse rose by 76%.
“Calls related to teenaged victims of prescription ADHD medication abuse rose 76%, which is faster than calls for victims of substance abuse generally and teen substance abuse,” wrote researcher Jennifer Setlik, MD, of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and colleagues.
Stimulant medications, including Adderall and methylphenidate (Ritalin), have a high abuse potential. Due to the fact Adderall has a powerful effect of increasing blood pressure, it carries the same risk of sudden death, stroke, and heart attack in patients with pre-existing heart conditions, as does methylphenidate and other stimulants used to treat ADHD, as well as the same risk of seizures in patients with a history of seizures.
Often these drugs lead to other kinds of drug abuse, most usually of cocaine and methamphetamines.
The “cure” for ADHD can be a problem in itself – a problem requiring its own cure – drug treatment.
Narconon of Georgia warns parents to safeguard their medication and properly dispose of it when it is no longer needed or wanted.
Every day 2500 youngsters age 12 to 17 try a painkiller for the first time and prescription drugs are more abused by teens than any illicit street drug, except for marijuana. This is according to the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health conducted by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Operation Medicine Cabinet, a campaign sponsored by Narconon of Georgia and a local Sheriff’s department, provides individuals with a safe way to properly dispose of unused and potentially dangerous medication. Proper control and disposal of potentially dangerous medication is vital, due to the trend of prescription drug abuse with youth.
Kids think that taking prescription drugs and over the counter medication for their next high is safer than street drugs and they are easy to get according to a survey done by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA). This recent survey found that one in five teens can get prescription drugs within an hour and the most common source is their own home or friends.
This same survey found that two thirds of kids report that drugs are either used, kept or sold at their school.
These “friends” or classmates providing the drugs are not likely to report the truth about abusing prescription drugs. That truth is that abuse can lead to paranoia, addiction, seizures or even death.
Let’s help by getting the Xanax, Oxycontin, Adderall and over the counter medications locked up or thrown away properly when it is not being used correctly.
If the medicine cabinet has been open too long, and someone has already become addicted, then get them into drug treatment.
Here is a daily Narconon success story from a drug rehab student. It is being placed online with the hope that others will read it and know that there is a way out for them no matter the drug addiction. Whether a person is abusing cocaine, heroin, pot, methamphetamine or prescription drugs, there is hope and a way out.
“This morning when I got up and got to course, I realized that I have been feeling on top of the world.
I am a new person today and for the rest of my life. I can’t explain how wonderful I feel, but I feel like a superhero!
This course has really made me realize how much better I am treating myself and my body.”
Prescription Drugs Major Source of Healthcare Waste.
The marketing efforts of pharmaceutical companies, with a new pill or drug as the new answer to every life problem, has become one of the most expensive and devastating health care issue ever to face the country.
“While many drugs are needed to help people with health issues,” comments Mary Rieser, Executive Director for the Atlanta Recovery Center, “many drugs are simply re-packaged, re-named, and released to ‘address’ some other health issue. This marketing practice, while making billions for the drug companies, has severely impacted the health and well being of millions who are not educated on the dangers of abusing prescription drugs.”
An estimated 5.2 million people admit to using prescription medication for purposes other than prescribed during the previous month, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. The largest part of that number used painkillers for reasons other than to kill pain.
For example, narcotic painkillers are derived from opium. They can be made directly from the plant such as in the case of morphine or codeine, or they can be synthetically created in a lab, as with oxycodone or hydrocodone. They are all considered highly addictive no matter the fancy name or marketing gimmick behind them.
Lack of Proper Drug Intervention Caused Michael Jackson Death.
Prescription drug addiction is the illegal use of drug normally prescribed by a doctor. In some situation the drugs are obtained by “doctor shopping”, where a person goes from doctor to doctor trying to get as many prescriptions as possible.
In the case of Michael Jackson, a person with limitless resources and millions of adoring fans, it was even easier for him to obtain these prescriptions. Those close to Michael paint a picture which shows that Michael depended on others to feed his habit.
Recent reports show thatMichael Jackson had as many as 12 doctors he could go to fulfill his prescription drug addiction. Dr. Conrad Murray, the physician who administered the drugs that eventually killed Michael Jackson, should have discontinued administering the drugs hours before, but he didn’t. He is currently being investigated for manslaughter, but the question remains: had he stopped administering the drug propofol, an intravenously administered hypnotic agent whose use as a general anaesthetic normally is restricted to hospital settings, on top of tabs of Valium and injections of Lorazepam and Midazolam, would this have saved Michael Jackson’s life?
Narconon drug treatment students learn how to be in control of their drug addiction and their recovery, one success at a time. This success is from someone who abused methamphetamine for 14 years and is now clean.
“It has been three months clean for me and it really makes me feel wonderful to know, now I can even look forward to a year and then longer.
The longer I stay clean, the better I feel. I have not been clean this long in 14 years but who cares about the past?
One day I will be saying I have been clean for 14 years.”
It’s time to go back to school! And if we are to believe a recent CASA study, some kids are returning to school with a hangover.
A recent “back to school” survey finds that two thirds of teens who drink once a month get drunk when they do drink and are 18 times more likely to use marijuana and to associate with teens who abuse other illegal drugs.
The main factor in whether or not children drink is whether or not they have witnessed their parent getting drunk. The study was published as part of an ongoing project at the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA).
The study was conducted with 1,000 teens, age 12 to 17, and 472 parents of these teens. This is the 14th such study undertaken by CASA in order to bring growing awareness to parents and educators about the dangers of drug abuse and the effects that parents can have on their children’s decision to drink and take drugs.
The study also showed that parents who are careful not to drink in front of their children and are proactive in talking to their children can a have a large effect on what their children think about drugs and alcohol. What parents tell their children does matter.
Parents who are not clear about the dangers of alcohol and drug use or worse encourage their children to drink are doing their children harm. These children are far more likely to have alcohol problems later in life and are much more likely to do drugs.
Compared to teens who have never tried alcohol teens who abuse alcohol are:
18 times likelier to have tried marijuana;
4 times likelier to be able to get marijuana in an hour;
Almost 4 times likelier to know someone their age who abuses prescription drugs;
More that 3 times likelier to have friends who use marijuana; and
More than twice as likely to know someone their age who uses meth or ecstasy, or other drugs such as cocaine, heroin or LSD.
Alarming Percentage of Adolescents and Adults Share Dangerous Drugs.
A recent study published online by the Journal of Adolescent Health showed that 20 percent of 12 to 17 year-olds had given their prescription drugs to friends.
This includes potent addictive narcotic pain relievers such as OxyContin and Darvocet.
“According to these statistics, almost four million teens have taken prescription drugs with no medical or adult supervision“, comments Mary Rieser, Executive Director for the Atlanta Recovery Center Drug Rehab. “Also reported was the fact that almost one third of these reported adverse reactions to the drugs taken.”
Accidental Prescription Drug Overdoses Up Almost Double.
The Centers for Disease Control reveal an alarming trend in drug abuse, both in legal and illegal drugs: accidental drug overdose has become the number one cause of death for adults ages 35-54, and is now the second leading cause of death in America.
“In the last twenty years, accidental overdose deaths have risen sharply,” comments Mary Rieser, Executive Director of the Atlanta Recovery Center. “Many prescription drug painkillers are now being used at home, whereas in the past these were used primarily in hospitals. Without the proper medical supervision, it has been too easy for people to overmedicate themselves, become drug addicted, and die of an overdose.
“This also creates an unsafe environment for children as these medications are often within easy reach, sometimes forgotten. Would you keep a loaded gun or rat poison in the medicine cabinet? Of course not, yet having a heavy prescription drug within easy reach of teens or smaller children is just that: an accident waiting to happen.”
One school of thought to help curb this problem is that of harm reduction.
