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Drug Abuse Warning for OTC and Prescription Drugs

When prescription drugs are taken the right way, they are safe and there is little chance of addiction. However, prescription drugs can be dangerous if they are abused (for example, taking too much or taking them when they're not needed). Some of the most commonly abused prescription drugs are painkillers and anti-anxiety drugs.

Abused substances produce some form of intoxication that alters judgment, perception, attention, or physical control.Many substances can bring on withdrawal—an effect caused by cessation or reduction in the amount of the substance used. Withdrawal can range from mild anxiety to seizures and hallucinations. Drug overdose may also cause death.

Drug abuse has a wide range of definitions related to taking a psychoactive drug or performance enhancing drug for a non-therapeutic or non-medical effect. Some of the most commonly abused drugs include alcohol, amphetamines, barbiturates, cocaine, methaqualone, opium alkaloids, and minor tranquilizers. Use of these drugs may lead to criminal penalty in addition to possible physical, social, and psychological harm, both strongly depending on local jurisdiction.

People can become addicted to both illegal drugs and drugs that doctors prescribe. Commonly abused illegal drugs include marijuana (pot), hallucinogens (PCP, LSD), methamphetamine (speed, crank, crystal, meth), cocaine and crack, and heroin. People can also become addicted to things they may not think of as drugs, such as alcohol and tobacco.

Systems of treatment and care for drug abusers have developed in various ways in different European countries and regions over several decades, according to cultural, political and other factors. As a consequence the structures of the care systems as well as individual services and treatment modalities are often not planned and created solely on the basis of scientific findings, and therefore do not always meet the priorities set by public health or the needs of clients.

Adolescence is a time for trying new things. Teens use alcohol and other drugs for many reasons, including curiosity, because it feels good, to reduce stress, and to feel grown up or to fit in. It is difficult to know which teens will experiment and stop and which will develop serious problems. Teenagers at risk for developing serious alcohol and drug problems include those:

with a family history of substance abuse
who are depressed
who have low self-esteem
who feel like they don't fit in or are out of the mainstream.

Particularly for young people, peer pressure is a strong factor in starting to use and abuse drugs. A lack of attachment with your parents may increase the risk of addiction, as can a lack of parental supervision. Drug use is associated with a variety of negative consequences, including increased risk of serious drug use later in life, school failure, and poor judgment that may put teens at risk for accidents, violence, unplanned and unsafe sex, and suicide.

Emergency room visits related to the nonmedical use of pharmaceuticals, including prescription and over-the-counter drugs, increased 21 percent from 2004 to 2005, according to the latest estimates from the Drug Abuse Warning Network, 2005: National Estimates of Drug-Related Emergency Department Visits. Visits related to illicit drug use or alcohol were unchanged for the same time period.

The DAWN report, published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, shows that the total number of drug-related emergency room visits remained stable from 2004 to 2005. However, visits involving the nonmedical use of prescription or over-the-counter drugs increased from 495,732 to 598,542. The majority of these visits involved multiple drugs.

“When people show up at emergency rooms as a result of drug misuse or abuse, it provides an opportunity that is too often missed to reach out with counseling or other options that could help prevent further consequences,” said Terry Cline, PhD, SAMHSA Administrator. “Our Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral and Treatment initiative is designed to take advantage of the opportunity in emergency department and other settings by preventing progression toward addiction.”

Anti-anxiety drugs (benzodiazepines, up 19 percent), prescription pain relievers (up 24 percent) and methadone (up 29 percent) were among those most frequently implicated in nonmedical use. DAWN does not distinguish between methadone in pill form, which is prescribed for pain, and methadone in liquid form, which is used for the treatment of heroin addiction.

The 2005 estimates from DAWN provide the first opportunity since the redesign of the survey to examine changes over time in drug-related emergency room visits. Because of the changes, only 2004 and 2005 can be compared.

“We are in danger of becoming a nation of pill poppers,” said John Walters, Director of National Drug Control Policy. “The data released today put in stark relief the message we've been trying to get out in recent years: Prescription drugs can be lifesaving medicines when used properly, but their misuse can lead to addiction, suffering, and even death. The increase in the abuse of prescription drugs has been fueled worldwide by misperceptions of the potential harms of these powerful drugs, making it more critical than ever that we raise public awareness about the dangers of their misuse.”

Of the 1.4 million emergency room visits associated with drug misuse or abuse recorded by DAWN in 2005, 31 percent involved illicit drugs only and 27 percent involved pharmaceuticals only. An additional 36 percent involved combinations of illicit drugs, alcohol, and/or pharmaceuticals. Overall, there were 108 million emergency room visits in U.S. hospitals during the year.

DAWN shows that over half of all the drug-related visits during 2005 involved an illicit drug alone or in combination with another drug. Cocaine was the most frequently cited, with 448,481 visits; marijuana was involved in 242,200 visits; heroin, in 164,572 visits; and stimulants, such as amphetamines and methamphetamine, in 138,950 visits. The numbers for heroin and stimulants were similar when the margin of error is considered. Other illicit drugs, such as PCP, Ecstasy, and GHB, were involved much less frequently.

About one-third of all drug-related visits involved alcohol in combination with another drug (all ages) or alcohol alone (for patients under 21). Since DAWN does not account for emergency room visits involving alcohol alone in adults, the actual number of visits involving alcohol is higher. Alcohol, when it is the only drug implicated in a visit, is included in the DAWN estimates for patients younger than age 21; when alcohol is present in combination with another drug, it is included for patients of all ages.

For patients ages 12 to 17 years old, 56,978 visits involved alcohol, and for patients ages 18 to 20, the number of visits climbs to 88,781. The rate of alcohol-only visits for the 18- to 20-year-olds was 3.5 times that for patients ages 12 to17.

DAWN estimates that 27 percent of emergency room visits were related to the use of alcohol in combination with another drug. Alcohol was most frequently combined with cocaine (86,482 visits), marijuana (33,643 visits), cocaine and marijuana (22,377 visits) and heroin (12,797).

DAWN relies on a national sample of general, non-Federal hospitals operating 24-hour emergency rooms. Estimates for 2005 are based on data submitted by 355 hospitals. In each participating hospital, medical records are reviewed retrospectively to find the emergency room visits that were related to recent drug use.

Breaking a drug addiction is difficult, but not impossible. Support from your doctor, family, friends and others who have a drug addiction, as well as inpatient or outpatient drug addiction treatment, may help you beat your drug dependence.Drug abuse treatment and care forms an integral part of general health care and social welfare.

The system of treatment and care for drug abusers can be defined as the totality of professional or organised services providing treatment and non-therapeutic care for drug addicts in a given region. Included are advisory and intervention measures in the working areas of social workers, psychologists, medical professions as well as services provided by volunteer organisations of non-professionals with a view, in the long-term, of overcoming the drug addiction and reducing the medical, social and psychological problems that result from it.

This includes counselling facilities, in-patient and out-patient therapy and detox institutions, after-care, substitution but also living support such as medical treatment, night shelters, day-care centres, occupational programmes or prison facilities.