New drugs of choice, are in medicine cabinet - USA

By ADAM NICHOLS
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

They're Generation Rx.
Today's teenagers are more likely to pop prescription pills to get high than snort cocaine or drop acid, experts say.

A survey of 7,300 American teens shows the nation has had success in tackling illegal drug use. But it also reveals a new trend of kids raiding their parents' medicine cabinets for chemical kicks.

"It's a new category of substance abuse that we see emerging, and it is frighteningly large," said Thomas Hedrick, director of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America.

The organization's 17th annual survey found more teens had abused a prescription drug such as Vicodin, OxyContin or Ritalin in 2004 than Ecstasy, cocaine or LSD. Marijuana remained the drug of choice, although researchers found a decline in the number of teens trying it: 37% in 2004 compared with 42% in 1998.

"We have had success in changing attitudes to the use of illicit drugs, but kids see prescription or over-the-counter drugs as less dangerous," Hedrick said.

"And there's an ease of access. Kids have told us they find it very easy to take them from their parents' medicine cabinets, or from cabinets in their friends' homes. Parents have to be aware of that."

Mica, a 16-year-old student from East Harlem, said the findings ring true.

"I've used them, and I would say most of my friends have," she said yesterday. "They're really easy to get and, because doctors give them out, they're not considered as dangerous as Ecstasy or cocaine."

Val, 18, of Montville, N.J., said at a Partnership news conference in Manhattan that he quit abusing prescription medicines seven months ago.

"It was tough to stop because they are really addictive," he said.

"I was using them and drinking alcohol. It could have killed me."

What they get high on


Number of teens nationwide who have tried:


Marijuana: 8.7 million

Vicodin: 4.3 million

OxyContin: 2.3 million

Ritalin/Adderall: 2.3 million

Cough medicine: 2.2 million

Crack/cocaine: 2.2 million

Ecstasy: 2 million

LSD: 1.4 million

Heroin: 1 million
Source: Survey by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America

Author:ADAM NICHOLS
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Date:Originally published on April 21, 2005

 

well, the doctors here are doping kids up on rx's as fast as they can. it's a super sad state for sure.

 

its said the percent of teens trying it is decresing it casue we stopped trying it, i think thats because once its tryind u will probobly just keep smoking and it will spred like wildfire. no more trying weed just fucki smoke it and b proud. its sad my second favorite drug isnt on there, ShRoOmS. well ofcourse weed is my favorite

 

Kids have been popping pills for as long as I can remember.

It's pretty funny to hear people say man I'm so fucked on adderall right now...

 

Well, I love prescription drugs and they ARE easily accessable, so I can see how those numbers are going up. I am pretty shocked that heroin is at the bottom of the list, though. In my area, it seems to be a popular drug among young people. They snort it, mostly. Luckily, the little bit of better judgement I have left has kept me from trying heroin.

 

ive done adderall a couple of times. ill probally do it again. I think its sad how the least harmful drug on the list is 2nd to last. This has to do with no good cid around know a days i think its sad to see kids doing coke , ecstacy and percription drugs know adays then just dropping a tab like in the 60's

 

well i think its second to last because LSD is quite rare compared to RX's, x, crack, horse, and especially bud.
Marijuana: 8.7 million - done more then try it haha

Vicodin: 4.3 million - nope

OxyContin: 2.3 million - nope

Ritalin/Adderall: 2.3 million - nope

Cough medicine: 2.2 million - nope

Crack/cocaine: 2.2 million - nope

Ecstasy: 2 million - yeah

LSD: 1.4 million - i wish

it really all depends on what you want to try and the availabilty of it and thats why surveys like this are full of shit.

 

jagermeister = cough syrup

 

please end your life now.

i cant stress it enough, people who use perscription drugs to get high are scum.

 

i just see it that there are two drug effects. there is making youi feel differeny and making you think different. feel good drugs, like opiates and painklillers, they jsut seem like.. a wank.
i like to change my mind when i take drugs.
and leave the rest to cigarettes every so often

 

What makes me scum? I prefer prescription drugs to any others because I know their chemical make-up and can control how much I'm taking so much easier than if I were to buy any other drug from a dealer.

If you don't like prescription drugs being used for recreational purposes, than by all means, state your opinion. But DO NOT call me scum.

 

Gee..i wonder how long it took them to figure that one out..

 

"If you don't like prescription drugs being used for recreational purposes, than by all means, state your opinion. But DO NOT call me scum"

well not by all means, evidently, if he is not able to use the means of text to describe his oppinion of you

 

His UNFOUNDED opinion. But thanks for pointing that out.

 

I've taken Dxm and that is from a medicine cabnet.

 

I really dont think you have a right to call her scum. I am a opiate addict and pain killers I find or buy from people are what makes me feel great cause I dont want to be going to heroin for my opiate withdraws, would you still call me scum since I would be doing heroin instead of taking prescription pills? Oh well, Yea those all seems like a pretty right survey but im sure the numbers would be alot higher in each catigory.

 

i think stonerbill states it perfectly.

.. theres the drugs that alter your state of mind and whatnot like psychodelics and make you feel clearly different, in my opinion those are the drugs to get involved in, theyre the ones that are worth it. other drugs like coke and tweak and all that are a waste of time in my opinion, not to mention theyre grody as hell.however, i admit to experimenting with prescription drugs everynow and then, but only when theres no pot or psychodelics around.

where has all the LSD gone?

 

I personally think it's much sadder to see that people are not able to control what goes into their bodies than it is to see people "abusing" prescription drugs. Just because you do not have a prescription and you take a drug to relieve symptoms of whatever it is that ails you, that should NOT automatically be assumed as drug abuse! Where the FUCK does the Partnership for a Drug Free America get all of their info - aside from right outta their asses?!?!?

I am currently studying research methods for a degree in Sociology, and part of that field involves how data is collected and processed. It's such a broad and often controversial thing to use survey-collected data and present that as fact, that quite honestly I would advise all of you to educate yourselves and your adult/authority figures on how right-wing organizations like the Partnership for a Drug Free America manipulate data in order to make things seem one way when they honestly have no means of collecting and presenting ACCURATE data to the public.

In case I've lost some of you, what I'm saying is that there is virtually no way whatsoever that the organization from the original article can survey and accurately report such statistics in the first place. Surveys are highly controversial in Social Studies (This is measuring teen drug abuse patterns-supposedly), mainly because there is a high risk that people will not tell the truth, or that the data found will be misrepresented and manipulated in order to argue one way or another. It's very similar to how people will use scripture in order to justify their opinions and/or actions. For example, in Deutoronomy it is stated that a child who is dissobedient of their father - even if it's only one time - that the child should be taken into a field and stoned to death, and no in a fun way either... So, if I had a child who disobeyed me, then I could quote that specific scriptural passage and unfortunately in some courts (where I would be tried for the homicide of my child no doubt), I have a sad feeling that using the Bible as my defense might hold water afterall. I hope not, and I would be shocked perhaps, but on the other hand I would not be completely awestruck... especially after watching Jacko get off the hook last week... Regardless, that would be a terrible misinterpretation of the scripture, and I would be using it in order to manipulate the feelings of those who believe in the Bible's authority in an inappropriate manner. All in all, that's what this organization has been doing for years, unfortunately, and those of you who are infact teens are the only ones who really know the truth.

Let me just say, in conclusion, that the Partnership for a Drug Free America has been around for far too long and people have not done a very good job of asserting their right to the the pursuit of happiness as stated in the Constitution... or wherever the hell it was written down. If only we could redirect abortion clinic bombers to something more deserving of their ignorant hostility... Just kidding.... that would never happen in this country... Either way, we need to come together to realize that people have been using drugs for centuries, and unfortunately they have gotten a bad wrap mainly because people do not realize that the haze of mystery around drug use is predominantly a haze of untrue journalists, and other mythological bullshit of epic proportions! If you have a bad back, or your arm hurts because you pulled a muscle, do you really think tylenol is going to help? Hell no! You deserve the right to well-being, and unfortunately we do NOT guarantee that to all of our citizens! Drugs have a TREMENDOUS potential to do WONDERFUL things as well as the negative, so let's quit being neo-conservative pussies and get our heads out of the sand! Imagine it we had construction workers on cocaine.... how much faster roadwork would be done, and how precise their craftsmanship would be! Of course there will never be such a thing as a drug free america, and there will most likely never be a perfect state of freedom where people can easily obtain drugs without emperical scrutiny, but the addiction that many drugs create in people can be as harmless as eating grapes or less! So what if someone gets addicted to a drug that has little or no effect on their performance and overall health? Why, in this day and age, should someone be blocked from receiving potentially addictive medicines if that medicine will not harm them or cause them to become mentally disabled and/or unemployed? I'll finish now with this quote from a psychology professor of mine:

"Why is marijuana bad? Most people say that it is bad because it is a gateway drug that can lead to other harmful drugs, such as heroin. Well, I say to those people ' What makes heroin such a bad drug?' As long as that person receives heroin on a regular basis, they will have no reason to quit their job, overdose, nor will they become mentally unable to work, but only as long as they are capable of receiving the drug on a regular basis. Even if that person becomes addicted and dies from an overdose, what makes that such a bad thing? Wouldn't that almost be desired when compared to living life as a corporate slave and dying an old man (or woman) in a nursing home, unable to wipe his own ass?"

- Dr. Frey to Matt Watts; a dear friend and the greatest political scientist to ever take socialism seriously.

 

hahahaha "perscripton drugs being used recreationaly" if u dont see anything wrong with that statement maybe u suck down too much nyquil.

and i can call u whatever the hell i want, it's the internet.

 

You digitalldj, are the proverbial "too-cool-for- school", lame-ass poser mother fucker of a hormonally-driven, and puberty-governed jackass internet "12 year old." It doesn't even matter if you've been around a lil' longer, or perhaps maybe you may have a few more pubes than your friends... either way, you're still shoutin' twelve like it's your mother fuckin' birthday kid... Hmmm... just outta curiosity... let's scroll up and see if I'm right... Oh, what's wrong fucker? Too scared that you might be discredited if you put your true age in your profile? It's kids like you that Jay and Silent Bob, and thousands of other stoner hippie type dudes lay the smack down on for writing lame ass lines like you can roll with the big dogs. Bitch, shut the fuck up and quit jackin' off thinkin' you've got the best damn come-backs around town... Sheeeit son, you need to back off deez nutz before you get your lil' balls tossed in a meat grinder. If you ain't never done the shit, then by the name of Snoop Diziggitty Dogg almighty, shut your mutha fuckin' spit flappers.... Bah Damn!!!