Teen drug abuse
WASHINGTON — Teens increasingly are getting high with legal drugs like painkillers and mood stimulants, and they’re turning to cough syrup as well, says a government survey released this week.
The annual study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, conducted by the University of Michigan, showed mixed results in the nation’s longtime campaign against teen drug abuse.
It found that while fewer teens overall drank alcohol or used illegal drugs in the last year, a small but growing number were popping prescription painkillers like OxyContin and Vicodin and stimulants like Ritalin.
As many as one in every 14 high school seniors said they used cold medicine “fairly recently” to get high, the study found.
It was the first year that the government tracked the frequency of teens who reported getting high from over-the-counter medicine for coughs and colds.
Associated Press