TEENS POP PILLS AS USE OF POT FALLS: U.S. SURVEY

White House Drug Czar Sounds Alarm

Junior's been helping himself to Mother's little helper.

That's the conclusion of a report released Wednesday by White House
drug czar John Walters that found while U.S. teenagers' use of
marijuana is declining, their abuse of prescription drugs is holding
steady or, in some cases, increasing.

"The drug dealer is us," said Walters, the national drug policy director.

Walters said that many teenagers are obtaining drugs over the
Internet, getting them free from friends or taking them from
someone's medicine cabinet.

According to an analysis of national surveys prepared by Walters'
office, 2.1 million teenagers abused prescription drugs in 2005, the
most recent year for which figures are available.

While their use of marijuana declined from 30.1 per cent to 25.8 per
cent from 2002 to 2006, use of OxyContin, a painkiller, increased
from 2.7 per cent to 3.5 per cent over the same period. Use of
Vicodin, another painkiller, increased slightly from six per cent to
6.3 per cent.

Teens are also abusing stimulants like Adderall and anti-anxiety
drugs like Xanax because they are readily available and perceived as
safer than street drugs, Walters said.

Walters said adults should keep track of prescription drugs and throw
them out when they expire.

"People just aren't aware that they need to be careful, and so they
leave prescriptions in the medicine cabinet and they don't think
anything about it," he said.

The report is based on the 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and
Health, a survey of 68,308 families, and the 2005 Monitoring the
Future Survey of 50,000 Grade 8, Grade 10 and Grade 12 students
conducted by the University of Michigan.

Dr. Terry Horton, the medical director of Phoenix House, which
operates nearly 100 substance abuse programs in nine states, said the
belief that prescription drugs are safer than street drugs is false.

"These medicines cause dependence and addiction when misused and have
the potential to cause death," he said.

"We're talking about medicines that are related, pharmacologically,
to heroin and have very similar effects."