Pubdate: Mon, 07 Jan 2008
Source: Billings Gazette, The (MT)
Copyright: 2008 The Billings Gazette
Contact:  http://www.billingsgazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/515
Author: Sharon Sloane
Note: Sharon Sloane is president and CEO of Potomac, Md.-based WILL 
Interactive, Inc., which has produced a program used in more than 
10,000 U.S. scho ols to educate students about the abuse of 
prescription drugs. She has 25 years of experience in producing 
cutting-edge instructional systems for behavior modification and 
performance improvement technology and holds a master's degree in 
counseling from the University of Connecticut and a bachelor's degree 
in education from Boston University.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Marijuana)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?232 (Chronic Pain)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone)

PRESCRIPTIONS NOW TEENS' DRUGS OF ABUSE

While drug education programs have contributed to the decline of 
illegal drug use among American youth, the abuse of prescription 
drugs by teens continues to rise. In fact, according to a federally 
financed study released last month by the National Institute on Drug 
Abuse (NIDA) at the White House, illicit drug use by teens has 
continued to gradually decline overall in 2007, but the use of 
prescription painkillers remains popular among young people. So while 
we have been fighting a battle to educate our youth about drug abuse 
on one front, another front has quietly opened and expanded.

The nation's education programs on drug abuse have had success in 
shaping perceptions of street drugs and those that abuse them. We've 
seen the use of amphetamines, methamphetamine, and crystal 
methamphetamine decline significantly, while marijuana use has 
modestly decreased from 11.7 percent in 2006 to 10.3 percent in 2007. 
It seems that the message that these street drugs are illegal, 
dangerous and potentially deadly has reached teens and had an impact 
on them. The risks of abusing prescription drugs, however, have not 
been communicated.

Education Gap

The Office of National Drug Control Policy reported in February 2007 
that three out of 10 teens believe pain relievers are not addictive, 
and 1/3 of teens believe that there is "nothing wrong" with 
occasional abuse of prescription medication. Further, the 2005 
National Survey on Drug Use and Health reported 47.3 percent of teens 
obtained pain relievers from friends for free; 10.2 percent took them 
from a friend or relative without permission; and 10 percent bought 
them from a friend or relative. These findings suggest that there is 
a perception that misusing prescription drugs is safer than using street drugs.

One possible explanation for this phenomenon is the current 
proliferation of over-the-counter and prescription drugs used at all 
levels of our society. The increased use of these medications by 
parents, role models and other authority figures sets a tone for 
teens and shapes their opinions. Another factor that influences teens 
is accessibility. These drugs are available at their local pharmacy 
or in the family medicine cabinet; if they are legal and readily 
available they are viewed as trustworthy.

The need to broaden the front lines of the drug education battle to 
include prescription and over-the-counter medicines is substantiated 
by the development and expansion of the survey used by NIDA over the 
course of its 33 years. NIDA began its Monitoring the Future study in 
1975 to survey the use of drugs by 12th-grade students. A significant 
development occurred in 1991 when the survey was expanded to include 
eighth- and 10th-graders. Revisions to the survey over the last five 
years have alerted us to the wider view of drug abuse that we must 
now consider.

The 2007 survey reported that the proportion of eighth-graders 
reporting use of an illicit drug at least once in the 12 months prior 
to the survey has fallen to 13 percent from 24 percent, a drop of 
nearly half. While this is certainly encouraging news, we're also 
facing the more somber news that at least one in every 20 high-school 
seniors has taken OxyContin, a powerful narcotic drug, in the past 
year. The percentage of students using Vicodin was 2.7 percent, 7.2 
percent and 9.6 percent in eighth, 10th and 12th grades, respectively.

So our mission is clear.

We are winning the battle against certain illegal drugs. But, if 
teens are just switching to alternative sources, what have we really gained?

Take a New Tack

Current government education programs are merely shifting teens from 
illicit street drugs towards prescription and over-the-counter drugs 
because the latter are more accessible, easier to ingest, legal, and 
seen as safe when used widely and openly by authority figures such as 
parents. Authority figures taking drugs should be aware of any impact 
their use may be having on impressionable youth that surround them. 
Teens may simply be taking the path of least resistance, both 
physically and mentally.

What is required is a focus on the underlying root of the problem. We 
must concentrate on decision-making, judgment, critical thinking and 
how, why, and under what conditions teens make behavioral choices. 
The key to success lies in teaching youth how to think rather than 
what to think. This learning must occur with great attention paid to 
the context of teens' real life experiences, the stresses and 
resources at their disposal and the unique physical and emotional 
characteristics of this demographic.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake