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CONSUMER-DRUG-SAFETY
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Drug Safety for Kids
The availability of drugs to young people in the U.S. is at an all-time high, and drug safety for kids is of great concern today. The use of various drugs by adults has skyrocketed in recent years, and it is perhaps no surprise that children in America are mirroring the medication-use habits of the grownups around them.
Street drugs, prescription drugs, and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs all have a definite presence in American life, as does alcohol. Kids are often unaware of the dangers of these drugs, or they feel that they can "experiment" safely. In addition, the age at which kids have started trying drugs has dropped to 12 years old.
Much Cause for Concern
The widespread use and abuse of drugs by teens and younger kids has thus been a focus of healthcare agencies, law enforcement, and government. For example, the Food and Drug Administration has much to say about drug safety for kids on its website, which includes a special section focusing on helping kids stay away from drug use for any non-medical reasons.
The statistics are sobering. The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHA) notes that more than two million teens abused prescription drugs in 2005. In fact, many kids mistakenly think that prescription and OTC drug use is safer than using street drugs such as marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine, and heroin, when the truth is that just as much physical and mental damage, including addiction, accompanies the abuse of prescription and OTC drugs.
Their Parents' Pills
Guidelines regarding drug safety for kids point out that the contents of the family medicine cabinet are the first place that kids will go when they want to experiment with drugs. Even OTC preparations such as cough syrup and Tylenol can be abused, especially when they're taken at doses much higher than intended and/or consumed along with alcohol. Many websites also sell prescription drugs without requiring the buyer to submit a prescription, and Internet-savvy teens are taking advantage of this to get drugs.
Kids find prescription medications such as Xanax, Valium, Ritalin, Oxycontin, Nembutal, Prozac, Vicodin, and others in their own homes, and start experimenting for the intentional high, sedative effect, or energy boost.
Overdoses, Seizures, Etc. Are Common
Unfortunately, SAMHA drug safety data indicate that there are now more new users (12 years old and up) of prescription drugs than there are of any other drug — even marijuana. Many teens are engaging in what's called "pharming," or trading OTC and prescription drugs to take in the hopes of getting a high, often with alcohol. The teens aren't all just taking a few pills here and there, either; some kids consume handfuls of pills at a time.
Among youngsters and teens who experiment with drugs, emergency room visits, overdoses, seizures, cardiac arrest, and fatalities are common. In fact, SAMHA reported that in 2006, overdoses accounted for about one-fourth of the 1.3 million drug-related ER admissions.
Drug safety for kids in the U.S. and around the world is a pressing problem, especially as the pharmaceutical companies continue to try to persuade everyone that so many drugs are helpful and pose no real danger. However, drug abuse has already damaged or ruined many young lives and families.
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