MANY TEENS FIND DRUGS AT HOME

The year 2007 brought encouraging news on many points of drug abuse
prevention in Montana and across the nation.

American teens' use of illegal drugs - including methamphetamine,
cocaine, marijuana and other street drugs - declined, according to
multiple, ongoing research surveys. However, a report released last
month by the National Institute on Drug Abuse noted that abuse of
prescription drugs by U.S. teens remains high with no significant decrease.

The "Monitoring the Future" survey of eighth-, 10th- and 12th-grade
students measures prescription drugs, including opiates like Vicodin
and OxyContin, amphetamines (including Ritalin),
sedatives/barbiturates and tranquilizers, as well
as over-the-counter drugs such as cough syrup.

Altogether, 15.4 percent of high school seniors reported nonmedical
use of at least one of these prescription medications within the
past year. Ten percent of 12th-graders surveyed reported
nonmedical use of Vicodin in the past year.

According to various surveys, 71 percent of young people abusing
prescription drugs report getting them from "medicine cabinets of
their own home, and the medicine cabinets of the parents of their
friends in their homes," John Walters, director of the White House
office of National Drug Control Policy, said at a December press
conference. Walters noted that painkillers such as Vicodin and
Oxycontin are particularly dangerous in combination with alcohol.
Misuse of those medications can cause seizures, even death.

These medications have appropriate medical uses for people suffering
serious pain. The risk is that leftovers not properly disposed of or
unmonitored supplies can be misused by people who wrongly believe
prescriptions are a "safe" way to get high. This is a risk that can
be reduced with precautions in the home as described in the box below.

Some of the major teen behavior surveys used in Montana and
throughout the country don't specifically ask about misuse of
prescriptions drugs. Such questions should be added this year.
Accurate, comprehensive information is needed to plan the most
effective prevention strategies to deal with the full range of substance abuse.