PRESCRIPTION DRUGS ABUSED

Patients May Become Addicted To The Drugs Or Sell Them To Friends.

The abuse of prescription drugs is common among college students, and USC is
no exception.

Even with prevention programs and warning labels on bottles of prescription
drugs, the pressure of college can sometimes be too much.

Students have so many things to juggle -- with doing well in school and
maintaining a social life -- that they often look for ways to help them
cope, said Dr. Fred Weissmen, associate dean for academic affairs at the USC
School of Pharmacy.

Students will take prescription drugs because the drugs help them
temporarily stay awake, increase awareness and concentration, and give an
overall feeling of elation.

Weissman said that many students don't stop to think about what taking
medication they don't need can do to their body.

Prescription drug abuse can happen when a person takes more than the
prescribed dosage of a medicine or illegally obtains medication he or she
does not need.

In 2001, the National Institution for Drug Abuse estimated that 9 million
people 12 years or older used prescriptions drugs for non-medical reasons.

The 18- to 25-year-old age group was the most likely to abuse the drugs.

Students may be trying to "remove themselves from the tension and pace of
daily life and placing themselves in a fiction of happiness," Weissman said.

The problem comes when people try to achieve that feeling of euphoria all
the time.

"People think that if they feel good, they must do what they can to continue
to feel good," Weissman said.

"It's very much a physiological problem. The body will, however, eventually
demand more medication to achieve the same effects."

After an incident at another university in the early '90s when prescription
drugs were dispensed to student athletes on the field without a doctor's
consent, the student athletic program at USC implemented safety precautions,
said Russell Ramano, head athletic trainer for intercollegiate athletes.

"At other institutions, there may be problems," Romano said, "but not on
this campus."

Physicians and orthopedic doctors regularly see student athletes. They often
prescribe a variety of anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotics.

All the medications are kept locked up and separated from each other as they
should be, he added. There are very specific records who gave how much
medicine to whom.

Since 2001, every prescribed medication has been accounted for and
everything has come in and gone out balanced, he said.

According to NIDA, which regularly publishes research reports about
prescription drugs, there are three types of drugs that are commonly
misused.

The first type of drug is opiods, which include commonly prescribed drugs
such as OxyContin, Demerol, Percodan and Vicodin. These drugs are prescribed
to treat pain from an injury or after a surgery.

The drug causes patients to experience a feeling of euphoria. Overuse of
these drugs can cause a person to build up a tolerance and so she must take
a higher dosage of the medication in order to feel any of its effects.

Because taking the drug over a long period of time may cause dependence and
withdrawal symptoms, it is often hard for people to stop taking the medicine
even when they are feeling better.

"Although I haven't been as surrounded by it nearly as much as I was while
attending CU Boulder last fall, the abuse of prescription drugs is prevalent
at both campuses," said Morgon Fraser, a sophomore majoring in kinesiology.

Fraser knows many people who have been prescribed pain medications and
either save them or sell them to their friends, so that they can take them
with alcohol while at parties.

There are many dangers in mixing pain medications and alcohol because as a
combination the substances depress the nervous system and can cause
respiratory problems.

To treat anxiety, stress, panic attacks, and sleep problems, many people are
prescribed CNS depressants such as Vallium and Xanax. These types of drugs
slow function to the brain and cause many people to feel sleepy and
sluggish.

The National Drug Intelligence Center describes one of the physiological
effects as being very calming. The body does form tolerance and more drugs
must be taken to feel the effects.

Zach Joos, a undeclared freshman has a close friend who regularly buys a
prescribed form of Nodoz, a caffeine medication that helps people with
sleeping disorders stay awake, from a friend.

Joos says his friend uses the drug as a study aid because it helps him stay
up for long periods of time while still being able to concentrate.

If taken over a long period of time, withdrawal symptoms can be felt from
the dependence the body has formed.

Stimulants are another category of drugs that are prescribed. They are
prescribed to treat Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, asthma and
some respiratory problems.

Commonly prescribed stimulants are Adderall and Ritalin. Both drugs
stimulate the brain and can result in increased alertness and energy.

The increase in the dopamine to the brain makes many people experience a
euphoric feeling that can become addictive and cause people to take more
pills than are prescribed.

Stimulants also raise blood pressure and increase heart rate. Because these
side effects can be serious, physicians have become more cautious about
prescribing the drugs.

Ritalin can be abused by many students because it a widely prescribed drug
that treats ADHD.

When taking Ritalin, the nervous system can be stimulated and increased
alertness can occur, similar to what that would be felt if someone was
taking cocaine.

Because of these effects, many students will take the drug more than it is
prescribed or get it from friends when they need to stay up and study for
long periods of time.

Students in high school and college have been known to sell their Ritalin to
other students who use the drug for studying purposes.

The number of adolescents and young adults who are prescribed Ritalin, or
drugs with similar effects to treat the disorder, has been on the rise since
the early 1990's.