Table of ContentsIntroductionLiterature ReviewDiscussionConclusionIntroduction Drug abuse has always been a very significant problem, but in a recent trend, prescription drugs have affected many young people. In Grace Dammann and Esta Soler's review "Prescription Drug Abuse: A San Francisco Study", it is stated that "Prescription" refers to drugs that can only be obtained through a legal prescription, but the way from which they are obtained is illegal. . Prescription medications are typically barbiturates, sedatives, minor tranquilizers, and amphetamines. Addressing this issue is very important because not only are teenagers now the future generation, but also because prescription medications are specifically designed to help people suffering from an illness. A normal person who takes drugs will have many side effects and once he is addicted to it, he will have a huge probability of overdose. In Richard A. Friedman, MD's journal "The Changing Face of Teenage Drug Abuse — The Trend against Prescription Drugs" it is clearly stated that adolescents using illicit drugs like ecstasy and cocaine has decreased and even the he abuse of alcohol and tobacco is unprecedented. weak. But the use of prescription drugs has increased. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Literature Review As noted above in Richard A. Friedman, MD's review "The Changing Face of Adolescent Drug Abuse - The Trend Towards Prescription Drugs" this tells us that illicit drug use among 8th graders decreased by more than a third and that of 12th graders decreased by 10 percent. It's also great to know that alcohol and tobacco use are at an all-time low, but the sad part comes when we learn that prescription drug use among these teens has increased. Oxycodone, an opioid pain reliever, is one of the most commonly abused prescription medications. It is mentioned that about 5.5 percent of 12th graders have tried oxycodone, and trying it is the first step toward becoming addicted to something. The main reason why adolescents and teenagers are victims of prescription drug abuse is due to the fact that they are readily available off the street, they can be obtained from friends and relatives who are prescribed. Adolescents and adolescents who are also exposed (in the sense that their parents, friends or someone they know) to prescription drugs can be a step towards drug abuse. Besides oxycodone, stimulants are also very popular among adolescent drug addicts. Stimulants typically include medications prescribed for ADHD like Adderall (amphetamine) and Vvyvance. In the article “Medical and non-medical use of stimulants among adolescents: from sanctioned to unsanctioned use” by Christiane Poulin, she highlights some interesting observations. A self-assessment questionnaire was given to a random sample of students in grades 7, 9, 10 and 12. With a response rate of 99% (13,549) with an average age of 15.2 years. It was found that 5.3% of students reported using medical stimulants in the past 12 months, while 2.6% reported using them in the past 30 days. Of the 5.3% of students who used stimulants, 14.7% provided stimulants to someone else, 7.3% sold them, 4.3% had them stolen, and 3.0 % ofthey were forced to give them to someone else. From 1990 to 1995, three times as many prescriptions were administered to young people, with the largest increase being among high school students (311%). The increase in this number is concerning, as more prescription drugs will be dispensed, more drugs will circulate on the gray market, which will be more accessible to young people without a prescription. In the article “Medical and Nonmedical Use of Prescription Drugs Among High School Students”3 by Sean Esteban McCabe, Ph.D., MSW, Carol J. Boyd, Ph.D., MSN, and Amy Young, Ph.D An online survey was conducted among students in grades 7-12 to study the use of prescription drugs (opioids, stimulants, sleeping pills, and sedatives/anxiolytics) among prescribed and non-prescribed users in a metropolitan Detroit area. racially diverse. Their second goal was to study the abuse of these drugs. It was observed that 17.5% reported both prescription and non-prescription use, while 3.3% reported non-prescription use only. The non-prescribed medications most used by students were analgesics (17.7%), followed by sleeping pills (5.9%), seducers (3.5%) and stimulants (2.4%). Women (22.2%) used more non-prescribed medications than men (12.3%). The main reason why girls use more non-prescribed medicines is mainly due to their exposure to the medicines or not seeking treatment for their symptoms and taking the medicines from their friends or others. members of their family. It was also observed in the study that white 12th grade students (15.9%) were more likely to use non-prescribed opioid medications than African American students (3.5%). Another interesting observation can be seen in the article “Nonmedical Prescription Drug Use Among Adolescents.” by Jason A. Ford in which he states that students commonly take prescribed medications to improve intellectual performance, increase concentration and alertness, relieve pain, experiment, and get high. The main source of influence are friends and family members. Data collected for this study came from the 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), with 18,678 respondents aged 12 to 17 years old. Nonmedical prescription drugs were described by the NSDUH as “use without a doctor's prescription or use for the feeling or experience caused by the drug.” The average age of the sample is 14 years old. Approximately 9% of the sample responded to the use of non-prescribed medications, of which 7% used analgesics, 2% tranquilizers, 2% stimulants, and 1% sedatives. It was also observed that students who had a stronger bond with their parents were less likely to use drugs to respect their relationship. It is also worth noting that women are more likely to suffer from drug addiction (narcotic painkillers and tranquilizers) than men. There is also a direct link between low-income families and prescription drug abuse. Indeed, children from low-income families are less likely to have good insurance, which may encourage them to obtain drugs illegally as a last resort and later become addicted to them. In rural areas, illicit drugs are not easily available, which is why there have been cases where children have been abused by prescribed drugs, one of the prescribed drugs that has made a name for itself in the rural area is oxycodone, also called "heroin..