As a public health analyst at NIDA, one of my jobs is to look at
data and help get information out to the public. When I heard
that about 1 in 10 high school seniors had used the pain
medicine Vicodin last year without a prescription, I knew there
was a problem. Many people, and not just teens, think that
because doctors are the ones who typically prescribe these
drugs, they are safe for anyone to use. That’s not true. So, why
would someone take a prescription drug that wasn’t theirs?
Research shows there are many reasons. While a number of young
people take prescription drugs to get high, many teens,
especially girls, take them to help them concentrate when
studying or to deal with physical pain. Even this type of use is
considered “abuse” and is illegal since the drug was not
prescribed for that person. Not only is it illegal but it might
end up affecting your health. Even if you follow the directions
on the label, those instructions were written for someone else.
For example, different body weights require