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   the rEgion
 

Youth abuse of prescription and
over-the-counter drugs grows Criminal Justice Research Division

The nonmedical use of prescription and over-the-counter drugs is a trend that has the attention of the public health community and national drug trend surveillance entities. Of particular concern is the growing use among the elderly and the adolescent population. SANDAG is tracking these trends in its data collection and analysis featured in several reports.

While the reason for this growth is not definitive, the National Institute of Drug Abuse cites access to medication via the Internet and the increased prescription of pharmaceuticals as two possible contributing factors. To better understand the issue locally, questions were added to the Substance Abuse Monitoring (SAM) interview instrument in 2007 regarding illegal use of prescription and over-the-counter drugs. As part of SAM, interviews are completed at local adult and juvenile detention facilities with arrestees regarding their drug use histories. The results revealed that one-third of the youth reported using prescription drugs (33%) or over-the-counter drugs (30%) illegally (not shown).

While the percentage that reported this drug use was higher than youth in the general population who responded to the National Survey on Drug and Health (12%), according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the types of medication abused and the high proportion of youth that also used other types of drugs was similar to national trends. The two most commonly abused drugs were painkillers, including Oxycontin, and tranquilizers. Additionally, all or nearly all of the youth who reported illegally using prescription or other medication also reported using alcohol and/or marijuana, and more than half reported using harder drugs such as methamphetamine, cocaine, mushrooms, and/or ecstasy. (see Table 1: Juvenile Arrestees Who Abuse Medication Also Likely to Use Other Substances)

These data are valuable in tracking the changing trends of abuse and the ease of access to such medication.

For more information on substance abuse trends among the juvenile arrestee population, visit the SANDAG Web site at www.sandag.org/sam to view the current SAM report.

Additional Links

Project Manager

Dr. Cindy Burke, Director, Criminal Justice Research Division
cbu@sandag.org; (619) 699-1910