Study Sees Prescription Drug abuse at Colleges.

[Stuart G]

Source: Reuters, Yahoo News

Study sees prescription drug abuse at colleges


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - About a fifth of U.S. college students are taking painkilling pills and other prescription drugs to get high, a study published on Monday showed.
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And students who take prescription drugs for non-medical reasons are at least five times more likely to meet the definition of having a drug abuse problem than students not misusing them, the researchers reported in the journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
The findings by researchers at the University of Michigan were based on a survey of 3,639 U.S. college students whose average age was just under 20.
"It's very easy to get addicted," Carol Boyd of the University of Michigan's Substance Abuse Research Center, who helped conduct the study, said in a telephone interview.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080303/hl_nm/drugs_college_usa_dc_1;_ylt=AuQe5Tge7D2YzsK6Xylk3QgE1vAI

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080303/hl_nm/drugs_college_usa_dc_1;_ylt=AuQe5Tge7D2YzsK6Xylk3QgE1vAI

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Great...a new generation of drug addicts in the making.... and 3639 is quite a sample for study like this.. pretty accurate.

[NC_Nurse]

1. My son says a lot of students are selling their ADHD meds.

They are so prevalent now. A guy in my daughter's class OD'd on Clonazepam,
a prescription sedative - I think he drank with it too.

So sad. I think RX abuse is up throughout the country, in all age groups.

[sepulveda]

10. absolutely

i investigated dozens of these cases at just two high schools in a period of two years.

generally speaking, this is prevalent in higher income neighborhoods.

there's a # of reasons for this

also, a lot kids would take their dad's viagra and stack it with ecstacy.

teenage boys are horny enough. imagine a teenage boy on ecstacy and viagra... and a double latte!

[bemildred]

2. It's like going to drug camp.

Is the war on drugs a big success or what?

[heidler1]

3. This might effect the prevalence of mass homicide.

I'm convinced that they should be on the no gun purchase list.

[chusmeria]

4. What the hell are you talking about?

I seriously doubt most of these kids are playing with guns while they're abusing pills

[rockedthevoteinMA]

9. no, but when they can't get the pills and they're jonesing....

what's not to stop them from getting a gun and holding up the nearest drug store? Happens all the time - that's why the drugstores all have the signs "no oxycontin on premise" to try and prevent the robberies.

[liberal_rxstudent]

12. Hmmm...

First, I for one am not concerned that this has any effect on mass homicide and is not a gun control issue. Secondly, those who are abusing prescription drugs are not out in the open with their habit. No, this is something that is going on right under the radar. All american (if you will) kids, from "good upbringings".If parents and other adults would talk to their kids openly about topics like drug abuse (be it illicit, schedule, or otc drugs), then our kids wouldn't be as oblivious as to the actual dangers that accompany ANY drug use. Also, many people falsely perceive rx drugs to be safer than illegal drugs. Let's educate- just because it has legitimate medical use does not mean that it is not dangerous. Look at cocaine...schedule 2 (legit med. use) whereas marijuana is considered schedule 1 (i.e. no legit medical use in the US). :think:

[flashl]

5. We lined kids up to take their ADD meds from elem to HS and surprised about college usage? nt

[leftchick]

8. exactly

this was all so predictable.

[Megahurtz]

6. I guess all of those TV ads are working.

[Dr.Phool]

7. Breaking news......Alcohol found in bars......

Film at 11:00.

[nebula]

11. It's no accident

These drugs are designed to be addicting, and widely abused.
for the benefit of drug company profits.

[liberal_rxstudent]

13. Do you guys know

how detrimental it is for someone to be ARRESTED (not even convicted) for drug charges...in so many cases from my own experience, kids are more likely to hop into mom and dad's meds and experiment. Understand..drug experimentation has been like a rite of passage for many young adults. The drugs available are more versatile (different indications) and easily accessed today. Let's do our jobs and educate parents and children on what they should know. There will always be that curiousity in adolescents and young adults...what will happen if I take this? What if I take it with this? Bob says that it was great! Coming from me, my mom did a damn good job of educating me and my five siblings. Hey- I'm a grad student who wants to teach people about drugs for a living. The war on drugs is one that targets the poor and underprivileged...it cannot be won.

[frebrd]

14. How many hundreds of thousands

of dollars' worth of "studying" did it take for them to figure that one out?

:shrug:

[Dark]

15. So people taking drugs are more likely to be addicts than kids not taking drugs?

And this is news?