The effective treatment of adolescents with substance abuse and behavioral disorders requires an approach that includes attention to every aspect of a young person’s life. We see every individual as a whole being. In addition to fully understanding the emotional, developmental, physical, psychological, familial, social and cultural factors, there must be appropriate resources in place to address these issues. Need help? Contact Us Today! (866) 889-3665
Prescription medication abuse amongst adolescents is on the rise. 20 percent of 12- to 17-year-old teenagers in the U.S. have reported giving their prescription drugs like Oxycontin and Adderall to friends or obtained drugs the same way, Reuters reported Aug. 18.
Allergy drugs, narcotic pain relievers, antibiotics, acne medications, antidepressants, and anti-anxiety medications were the most commonly shared. Three-quarters of those who borrowed drugs from friends said they did so instead of visiting a doctor.
About one-third of those who borrowed medications said they had experienced an adverse reaction as a result.
Past research has shown that 40 percent of adults also share their medications. "However, prior to our study, no one had asked adolescents how often they shared prescription medications, which meds they shared and what some of the outcomes were," said lead researcher Richard Goldsworthy of Academic Edge, Inc.
For the first time in many Years Alcohol related deaths involving a motor vehicle is not the #1 killer of teens. Accidental overdose of prescription drugs like Oxycontin and Xanax is!
A new study reports that 20% of teens report having shared their prescription medication like Oxycontin with their friends. The study showed that teens traded everything from opiate painkillers to allergy medication, to antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications. Many teens reported that they received medications in the same way.
Trading meds seemed to be the polite thing to do when I was using. I could easily trade my antidepressants for Xanax or Vicodin. Pills are easily hidden and they are easier to take undetected than drugs you have to smoke or snort. They don’t seem as dangerous to teens, either. I never considered that taking someone else’s Adderall or Darvocet could be as dangerous as snorting a line of speed or shooting heroin.
Getting clean at Visions helped me to realize that addiction can wreck lives regardless of the substance or the age. My pill abuse qualified me for help in the same way someone with a heroin problem needed help. No one at Visions ever made me feel like I was too young or “not enough” of an addict. I felt like I was too young, and that it hadn’t gotten bad enough to need help, but once I got out of my using fog, I could clearly see just how bad my life had become. I may not have crashed cars or ended up in jail, but I had completely lost sight of myself. In teen drug treatment, I got a chance to get to know myself again. I remembered that I wanted to do well in life, that I wanted to finish high school in Houston, Texas and get a degree. I wanted to be a good child and a good sibling. I wanted to be me again. Contact us for Prescription medication treatment.
A survey of 12,000 high school seniors indicates that 12.3% of the teens have abused prescription opiate-based painkillers to get high, confirming the rising trend in Teenage prescription drug abuse. Either ignorant of the dangers, or by choosing not to care, teenagers are putting themselves in great danger by abusing these drugs, which can very easily lead to accidental overdose. The study also concluded that most teens who engage in prescription drug abuse are also more likely to abuse other drugs and to have addictive problems. When I was a using, I considered prescription drugs like Vicodin and Oxycontin to be harmless. I wasn't shooting heroin so what was the big deal? The big deal was that regardless of the substance, I was desperately addicted.
I tried them with a friend who had found them in her parent's medicine cabinet. I began to use my after school job money to buy more pills from kids at school. I stole my mom's prescriptions to trade for opiates. When I didn't have them, I got really sick. My whole life began to revolve around getting more pills. I was constantly calculating how many I had versus how many I would need and how I was possibly going to get them. At the end of my using, I was consuming potentially lethal amounts of pills because my tolerance was so high. I needed help. Visions Adolescent Treatment Center helped me detox and begin the recovery process. We covered all aspects of my life, finding new ways to handle life without using drugs. It was a difficult process, but as the number of teenage prescription drug abusers increases, I am so glad I made it out alive.
Officials investigating the death of Michael Jackson will be looking into his prescription drug abuse as a possible cause of death as an accidental drug overdose . The pop icon admitted to prescription drug addiction in the 90’s and it is likely that his battles continued. Some rumors speculate that Jackson was injected with the heavy narcotic Demerol prior to suffering from cardiac arrest. Autopsy findings will be released in the near future.
Prescription drug abuse is growing rapidly in this country, with prescription drug use eclipsing marijuana use among teens. Teens are increasingly abusing stimulants like Adderall, sedatives like Xanax and Valium, and opiates like Oxycontin, that they acquire from parents’ drug cabinets, friends, and online purchasing. Most parents do not suspect that their teen is abusing prescription medication, however, over the past decade-and-a-half, teen prescription drug abuse has increased five-fold.
It makes sense. When I was using, pills seemed like a harmless thing. I ate Xanax (we called them “zanies”) and Oxycontin (“oxy”) like candy. Pills have less of a stigma attached. While my friends and I would have considered heroin or cocaine a horrible and dangerous drug to try, pills seemed easy and normal- something the girls from Sex and the City might to do relax. I had no idea I was gambling with my life the same way a junkie on the streets gambles with theirs.
Adolescent Drug Treatment helped me see teen addiction as the problem- not the particular substance I abused. I know that the prevailing attitude among teens is that pills are harmless and not nearly as dangerous as street drugs. I hope that with the insane amount of press coverage surrounding Michael Jackson’s death, more attention will be given to the seriousness of prescription drug abuse in our country. I’d rather have a better name for my generation than “Generation Rx”. We can be more than pill-popping zombies I hope. I know I can. If your teen is struggling with prescription drug abuse, help is right here.
If your teen is struggling with teen prescription drug abuse, help is right here.
Opiate rehab is a solution for teens struggling with opiate dependence. Some commonly abused opiates include the street drugs heroin and opium, and prescription medications such as Oxycontin, Vicodin, Morphine, Percoset, Fentanyl, or Darvocet. Some opiate abusers also abuse synthetic opiates like Methadone and Buprenorphine. Opiates and their derivatives are highly addictive both physically and psychologically, often causing major physical and social problems for the user. They are extremely dangerous when abused and their use can easily result in accidental overdose.
Because of the highly addictive nature of opioids, opiate users often encounter great difficulty in successful withdrawal on their own. Adolescent opiate rehab addresses not only the teen’s physical detox from the drug, but works to address the underlying psychological and emotional issues that may have contributed to the teen’s drug abuse in the first place. Our therapeutic environment provides your teen with a safe place to detox, without the temptations they might encounter at home. After successfully detoxing from opiates, your Adolescent will work with our treatment staff both one-on-one and in group settings to address their addiction, and also any underlying emotional, psychological, or behavioral problems. Our scholastic academy in Los Angeles allows your teen to enter treatment without disrupting their education, and provides a safe learning environment. Aftercare programs like our outpatient program facility in Los Angeles provide a safe re-entry into the world following rehab. Our goal is to provide your teen with the tools necessary to not only successfully detox, but to achieve long-term sobriety.
If you think your adolescent is abusing opiates, or any other substance, please don’t hesitate to contact us today for adolescent opiate rehab in Los Angeles
I just got back from a wedding in New York and I guess I should have asked my readers if they wanted me to bring back any souvenirs. Percocet? Darvocet? Oxycontin? Vicodin? There were more prescription drugs floating around that wedding party than an Orange County high school. I was amazed at how quickly people offered up pills for any malady. The bride has cramps? “Oh here hon, take half an Oxy.” I was sitting at dinner the night before the wedding as one bridesmaid prepared a list of pill requests for the next day and was surprised to hear the bride’s 13 year old sister pipe in, demonstrating her knowledge of pharmaceuticals. “Oh yeah,” she said when I asked her about it. “All of my friends are on that stuff.”
I don’t know if this group was particularly special in their pill consumption or if I just don’t hang out with “normal” people very often. I have been reading so much about the escalation of prescription drug abuse in this country and to see it firsthand was honestly a bit of a shock. I mean, I abused a lot of prescription medications when I was using, but to see someone offer up Vicodin as readily as most people offer up Ibuprofin was kind of scary. I talked to the 13 year old sister some more when we were alone. I saw some fresh cuts on her arms and felt concerned about her, growing up around all of this casual pill abuse. She told me about her friends in 8th grade that are snorting oxycontin and cocaine, and how a friend of hers overdosed on a scary cocktail of marijuana, mushrooms, vicodin, klonopin, cocaine, and alcohol the other day after his girlfriend broke up with him. All of her friends in this suburb of New York City are engaging in some really dangerous behavior. She insisted that she hasn’t tried any of drugs but that her friends pressure her daily. We talked about how it’s hard to not use drugs when everyone around you acts like it’s normal. I hope she continues to resist. She and her friends cut themselves and show each other, and being in therapy is like a badge of honor among them. I hope that she makes it through all of that. I told her about the struggles I had and about the treatment center in Malibu that I went to. I told her if she ever needs anything, or if her friends are looking for help to call me. I guess that’s all I can do, and sometimes that’s a hard thing to realize.
The National Drug Control Policy recently reported that unintentional deaths from prescription opiates, like Oxycontin, increased by 114% between 2001 and 2005. In 2006, accidental deaths from overdoses exceeded those by firearms and were second to car-accidents in the United States. Reports from across the country all point to the ever-increasing risks of teen prescription drug abuse in the United States. These alarming numbers point to the need for increased awareness and treatment of this epidemic.
Perhaps it is the perception that these medications aren’t as dangerous to use as say, crack or heroin. The numbers say otherwise. I now recognize that my drug abuse was just as bad and deadly as the junkie downtown. The decision to ask for help and enter teen drug treatment can be a very difficult one, but it is not nearly as difficult as trying to maintain a life of active addiction. In residential treatment, adolescents are given new tools to help deal with not only the acute problem of drug and alcohol abuse, but the underlying issues that drive them to use in the first place.
‘Tis the season to admit to having a prescription drug problem it seems. Paula Abdul joins Eminem this week in admitting to her past addiction to prescription painkillers. She reports that she finally took the plunge and went through the pain and discomfort of withdrawal last Thanksgiving because she couldn’t go on the way she was living. She recognizes now that the pills could have killed her. The singer and American Idol judge cites longstanding health problems, multiple surgeries, and strong drive to keep working and performing contributed to her increased dependency on pain pills.
Celebrities opening up about their own struggles with substance abuse generally helps to shine the spotlight on the addiction struggles of everyone else.
Prescription drug abuse, especially amongst teenagers, is a growing problem. The Office of National Drug Control Policy reported in 2007 that the number of adolescent prescription drug abusers has caught up to adolescent marijuana abusers, and that prescription drugs are the most commonly abused drug among 12-13 year olds. The most frequently abused prescription drugs are the powerful painkillers OxyContin and Vicodin. The report states that adolescents are more likely than young adults to become addicted to prescription drugs, as they are often viewed as harmless by teens. Teens easily get these drugs from friends and relatives. BYOP (bring your own pills) parties are where teens bring whatever pills they have, be it their own prescriptions or their parents’, and mix the pills into a pile, called “trail mix.” Whatever you get is whatever you get. In order to keep highs exciting, teens blindly take medications so that they will be surprised by their high. If prescriptions must be kept in the home, parents should keep them in a locked location. Pills that have the potential for abuse should be counted frequently. Parents should talk to their children about the true dangers of prescription drug abuse. If you suspect that your teenager is struggling with prescription drug abuse, don’t hesitate to contact us. Help is available.
The world of prescription drugs is a complex place, no where is that more true than Los Angeles. Even though studies have shown that use of drugs such as alcohol and marijuana is down in adolescents, prescription drug abuse is on the rise. Many teens can easily buy these drugs on the street, at school, or find them in the medicine cabinet at home. Typical ways to administer these drugs are: orally, or crushed up and snorted. The most common pills that are used are Valium, Xanax, Ritalin, and Oxycontin. Prescription drugs can be classified into three groups:
*Pain relievers or Narcotics
*Depressants/tranquilizers/sedative/anti-anxiety
*Stimulants(prescribed for AD(H)D/anti-fatigue
Below is a short list of common prescription drugs and some of their street or slang names. If you hear these names or see them written by your kid, you may be concerned.
Pain Relievers
-Vicodin- vikes, beans, happy pills
-Oxycontin- oxys, OCs, hillybilly heroin
-Percocet (which is made from oxycontin and acetomenaphine aka Tylenol)- perks
Depressants
-Benzodizapines- benzos, bennies
-Valium
-Xanax- bars, z-bars, totem poles, ladders
-Klonopin
-Adivan
-Even sleeping pills such as Ambien and Lunesta act like benzos when ingested
Miscellaneous
-Amphetamine or diet pills aka “cross tops”
-MDMA- beans
-Ecstasy- X
-Ketamine- vitamin K, special K
-GHB or the “Date Rape Drug”
-Coricidin ( like Robitussin)- Triple Cs, skittles
Jack Osbourne takes Access Hollywood on a tour of Visions Adolescent Treatment Center.
Only seven years ago, Jack Osbourne was a party animal, now a grown up Jack Osbourne cleans up his act and gives Access Hollywood a rare look at his life in drug and alcohol rehab.
Watch this clip and see how we helped Jack with his problems with alcohol, oxycontin, marijuana and vicodin, and we can help you too.
If you need treatment for yourself, or you know someone who does and need immediate answers to your questions, please call 866 889-3665.
There are many different ways that adolescents are using to get high these days. Marijuana and alcohol are among the most common. However, more and more adolescents are turning to prescription medication abuse. 48 million or 20% of the United States population have used prescription medications for reasons other than medical in their lifetime. Since 1995 emergency room visits resulting from prescription medication abuse have gone up 163% and so are visits to adolescent drug rehabs Prescription medications are easier to obtain now more than ever. Some teens are simply stealing their parent’s prescriptions out of the medicine cabinet. More often teens are visiting online pharmacies, where they sell very addictive medications to anyone who will pay. Teens also will trade their prescriptions at school, either for other drugs or for money. Prescription medication can be classified in one of three categories that are the most commonly abused: stimulants, opioids and central nervous system depressants.
Opioids include Morphine, Vicodin and Oxycontin, to name a few. Opioids are used to treat pain. When abused these medications can be life threatening. If opioids are mixed with any substance that depressed the central nervous system, such as alcohol, Xanax, or Valium, they can cause respiratory malfunction and death. These drugs are occasionally snorted or injected, in order to amplify the high.
Central nervous system depressants, such as Xanax or Valium, are used to treat anxiety and sleep disorders. Barbiturates are also considered central nervous system depressants. These medications work by slowing down brain activity, which when abused or used with alcohol they can slow the activity down so much that it results in heart or respiratory malfunction and death.
Stimulants speed up the body causing increased attentiveness, alertness and energy. Stimulants were primarily used to treat asthma and obesity. Currently they are used to treat Attention Deficit Disorder, Depression and narcolepsy. Abusing these medications or mixing them with decongestants may result in irregular heart activity and high body temperatures.
Studies may indicate that the overall percentage of elicit teen drug use has declined over recent years. However, the teen use and subsequent teen abuse of prescription medication has steadily increased in this age group at an alarming rate. Many teens find the pills in their parent’s medicine cabinet IE., Oxycontin, Vicodin, Zanax, Klonopin and Ambien. Others share or buy them from peers. Shockingly, some teen drug abusers even rummage through their neighbors trash to find leftover prescriptions. Furthermore, teens may not risk buying illegal drugs when they can get high on many household products, such as aerosols and other inhalants.
Based on this information, it is important to remember that what we regard as “unsafe to children” extends to teens as well. Reconsider locking up anything that you might consider dangerous to a child. When you throw away an old prescription, seal it, and grind it up in cat litter or old coffee grounds. These simple precautions may save the life of someone, namely someone you love.
Did anybody Notice that yesterday's Los Angeles Times Sports section had two out five articles on it's front page with substance abuse and addiction as their subjects. Andy Ried coach of the Philadelphia Eagles is struggling with two drug addicted sons. Famed tennis player Martina Hingis winner of five Grand Slam singles titles tested positive for cocaine at Wimbledon and is retiring as a result. Ried's sons have been arrested for possession of Oxycontin, Heroin, Cocaine and weapons charges. There is an extensive history of addiction for these two young men one of whom has been to drug treatment. Leaving the Eagles would probably do his sons no good as they are now adults, the best thing he could do is take a tough approach and cut his sons off financially and let them experience their own consequences. Hingis has retired from Tennis in protest and claims to be "100% innocent" and plans to fight the allegations. She is a very accompished player and it is sad that she is retiring under such a dark cloud.
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