Prescription Drug Abuse Up 400 Percent

For years it’s been known that prescription drug abuse has been steadily increasing at campuses across across the country as more students turn to pills to get through tests, papers and daily life in general. But a new report from the White House illustrates how out of control the problem of prescription drug abuse has become.

The decade from 1998 to 2008 saw a 400 percent increase in the number of substance abuse treatment admissions for those aged 12 and over reporting abuse of prescription pain relievers, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration which released the study, Substance Abuse Treatment Admissions Involving Abuse of Pain Relievers: 1998-2008. Total admissions rose from 2.2 percent in 1998 to 9.8 percent in 2008. Females, according to the study, have a higher percentage of abuse the drug more than males, and whites are more prone to use pain killers for non-medical purposes than any other race. More than 14 percent of white people abused pain relievers in 2008, compared to 2 percent of blacks, 3.1 percent of Hispanics and 8 percent of American Indians.

“The TEDS (Treatment Episode Data Set) data released today highlights how serious a threat to public health we face from the abuse of prescription drugs,” Gil Kerlikowske, the National Drug Policy director, said in a statement with the report’s release. “The spikes in prescription drug abuse rates captured by this study are dramatic, pervasive, and deeply disturbing.”

SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde noted that the abuse of prescription pain relievers is now the second most prevalent form of illicit drug use in the nation.

In The Christian Science Monitor, Dr. Scott Glaser, president of Pain Specialists of Greater Chicago, points to several practices that lead to widespread abuse:

• Easy access to prescription drugs through the Internet.
• Caravans of people crossing state lines — Florida is well known for its open-door clinics with easy access to drugs.
• Street sales fueled by lax oversight.
• Teens selling prescription drugs to each other.

Marc Phillips’ story shows how easy it is for students to get their hands on drugs like Adderall. Although Adderall and Ritalin, pervasive among college campuses, are drugs used to treat attention deficit disorder and not pain, they are just two of the drugs popular among the student crowd. What’s worse is that many students mix the pills (Ambien, Vicodin, Valium, Percocet, et al) with alcohol, further playing Russian Roulette with their lives.

The Office of National Drug Policy released its strategy for combating prescription drug abuse in May. Some of the ideas include: increasing prescription drug return, take-back and disposal programs; educating physicians about opiate painkiller prescribing; expanding prescription drug monitoring programs; and driving illegal Internet pharmacies out of business.

Although these strategies may make pain pills harder to get a hold of, it will not get them out of peoples’ hands. Instead, the price per pill will simply increase. This may deter some students, but many will still pay a premium price to get their hands on the pills. Educating students about the risks of prescription drug abuse and sharing stories of fellow students is what will have the most impact long term.

Kristi Eaton is a staff writer for Campus Progress. She graduated from Arizone State University in 2008.