Although it’s dangerous to take a prescription medication
without a prescription, abusing such medications is the fastest
growing type of drug abuse in the United States, outpacing
marijuana abuse two to one, according to some studies. A study
by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse found
the number of teenagers who admit to abusing prescription
medications tripled from 1992 to 2003, while in the general
population such abuse had doubled. What’s going on? Several
factors that have arisen in the last decade or so have made the
type of prescription drugs people abuse very easy to get. The
fact is, anyone with or without a credit card can purchase just
about any drug on the Internet without age verification. In
addition, on many high school and college campuses, the drugs
are sold, given away, or traded by people with prescriptions, or
students acquire them from college campus health centers by
faking a need for them. The most commonly abused medications are
pain relievers (oxycodone or hydrocodo