Teens & Prescription Drug Abuse Infographic

TEENS: & PRESCRIPTION DRUG ABUSE The information you need to know 90% of addictions start in the teenage years. 12 17 Every day in the US, 2,500 youth (12 to 17) abuse a prescription pain reliever for the first time. alcohol Teens who abuse prescription drugs are twice as likely to use alcohol, five times more likely to use marijuana, and twelve to twenty times more likely to use illegal street drugs such as heroin, Ecstasy and cocaine than teens who 33% marijuana Times Heroin, Ecstasy & Cocaine do not abuse prescrip- tion drugs. 12-20 Times 1 in 4 teens has misused or abused a prescription (Rx) drug at least once in their lifetime That is a 33 percent increase over a five-year period. 27% 13% More than a quarter of teens (27 percent) mistakenly believe that misusing and abusing prescription drugs is safer than using street drugs. One in eight teens (13 percent) now reports that they have taken the stimulants Ritalin or Adderall when it was not prescribed for them, at least once in their lifetime. 14 23% Of those kids who said they abused Rx medications, one in five (20 percent) has done so before age 14. Almost one in four teens (23 percent) say their parents don't care as much if they are caught using Rx drugs without a doctor's prescription, compared to getting caught with illegal drugs. 26% One in four teens (26 percent) believes that prescription drugs can be used as a study aid. + 56% 20% More than half of teens (56 percent) indicate that it's easy to get prescription drugs from their parent's medicine cabinet. In fact, about half of parents (49 percent) say anyone can access their medicine cabinet. One in five parents (20 percent) report that they have given their teen a prescription drug that was not prescribed for them. The top lingo terms asssiar pr vith Syrup → prescription cough syrup Gorked Kiddie dope to be high on prescription narcotics → usually prescription drugs The top lingo terms associated with prescription drug use in teens from uKnowLingo: Script writer Drank a doctor willing to write a prescription for faked symptoms → prescription cough syrup, often mixed with Sprite Sizzurp Drunk pills prescription cough syrup mixed with a fruity soda and a jolly → valium rancher. Also can be called purple drank, lean, texas tea, tsikuni, drank, barre Statistics found at DrugFree.org. Click here for more digital parenting infographics