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Getting High with Medicines
Prepared by HISI Satff
BARRIOZONA
January 14, 2007
Forget about street drugs like marijuana, cocaine, or LSD: the trend among teens seeking to get high is taking
prescription drugs. Of course, many teens still stick to the old traditional drugs, but many others have found prescription
and over the counter medications easier to obtain and with the same punch effect
Teens who are intentionally abusing prescription and OTC (over the counter) drugs, to get high are also finding out that
controlled and legal drugs can be just as addictive as illegal drugs like marijuana, cocaine, and LSD.
The trick many young people are falling into is the false impression they have about prescription or OTC drugs as safe
drugs. Of course, when taken properly, prescription and OTC drugs can be taken safely, but teens who are purposely
abusing them to get high, are not following the dosage recommended.
This translates into dangerous scenarios in which a teen does not take a couple of pills or tablets, or tablespoon or two of
cough syrup to get better. Teens are gulping down amounts that can go from a few pills to dozens or more a day! Some
are deliberately abusing legal drugs by drinking up to 3-5 bottles of cough syrup a day, or making risky cocktails using
alcohol.
Thus, teens may become drug addicts in what may seems to them safe by not taking prescription drugs without a doctor’s
approval and supervision, but abusing them to rather unsafe, even deadly levels. Kids are abusing painkillers, sedatives,
stimulants. A common stimulant is Ritalin®, a drug used for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). According to
the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), almost half (48%) of all emergency
department visits resulting from overdoses from an ingredient found in many cough syrups, dextromethorphan (DXM),
were patients 12-20 years-old.
Teens who are involved in this new way of getting high fail to realize that, when used and abused outside of doctor’s
directions, prescription drugs can deliver a very hard - sometimes fatal - blow. Young people are being deceived by the
fact that these drugs are not branded as “illegal,” but their components are as addictive as those of street, illegal drugs;
abusing them can lead to similar health effects, including paranoia, seizures, and cardiac arrest.
Across the nation, a growing number of teens are getting involved in the trend known as Pharming, which consists in
getting together and getting high by “partying” with prescription and OTC drugs. Kids are “pharming,” by grabbing a
handful of prescription drugs and swallowing some or all of them, often with alcohol.
Not surprisingly, young people have access to this type of drugs in the family’s medicine cabinet, but some are ordering
them online from illegal pharmacies, using them and sharing them with friends at school.
Copyright © 2007 Hispanic Institute of Social Issues
Grassroots Journalism
www.barriozona.com
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Teens are taking prescription pain relievers and over-the-counter (OTC) cough and cold medicines just
to get high.