Monitoring the Future (MTF) is an ongoing study of the values and habits of high school students – each year approximately 50,000 high school students are surveyed. One of the focuses of the survey is the attitude towards and use of alcohol and drugs by students.
After marijuana, prescription and OTC medications were the most commonly abused drugs by high school students. In 2002, MTF added questions specifically about the non-medical use of Vicodin and OxyContin to the annual survey and has been tracking results since. For the 2008 survey the following is the percentage of non-medical use of Vicodin and/or OxyContin:
8th Grade 5.0%
10th Grade 10.3%
12th Grade 14.4%
Nearly 1 in 10 high school seniors reported non-medical use of Vicodin; 1 in 20 reported abuse of OxyContin.
When asked how prescription narcotics were obtained for non-medical use, about 52 percent of 12th graders said they were given to them from a friend or relative; 34 percent bought them from a friend or relative; and 30 percent received a prescription for them.
The continuation of this trend of abuse of perscription drugs by teens is alarming for parents and educators. Many teens perceive prescription drugs as safer than illegal drugs which is a contributing factor to the increase in usage. The other factor is the ease of finding the drug at home in the medicine cabinet.
Parents need to be aware of the drugs they have available in the home and be aware that students are asking and looking for the drugs from friends. Even adults are stealing Oxy from other home’s medicine cabinet as shown in the recent story of Wade Juracek, ex-Mayor of Gregory, SD, who entered homes under the guise of business and asked to use the restroom to raid the medicine cabinet.
Monitor the prescription drug supplies in your home and the behavior of your teens. A simple oxycodone drug test can be performed to find out if a teen is taking the drug.
