Parents have long worried whether their kids at college are drinking too much or just abusing drugs. Lately there have been a large number of young people abusing prescription opiates.
It is rather common knowledge now that several years ago, attention-deficit drugs such as Ritalin and Adderall became popular among students. This was so that they could improve concentration or lose weight. Now more dangerous drugs and powerful painkillers are being used largely by such students such as OxyContin, Vicodin and Percocet.
Earlier this month, several drug experts testified at a congressional hearing named Generation Rx In 2006, 2.2 million people ages 12 and older said they started abusing pain relievers within the past year. It has also been seen that young adults ages 18-25 show the greatest overall use of any age group.
Even so, these drugs are still not as popular amongst young adults. College students use these drugs much less than alcohol and pot. From 2002 to 2006, the annual prevalence of use of narcotics other than heroin among college students rose to 8.8% at its former rate of 7.4%, according to a University of Michigan study. For OxyContin, annual prevalence of use doubled, to 3%; the use of Vicodin rose to 7.6% from 6.9%.
This trend has been explained by an increasing availability of getting these drugs. Perhaps parents or someone they know has access to them.
Source: The Wall Street Journal