Prescription drugs replacing marijuana as ‘gateway drug’

For decades the lead­ing cause of acci­den­tal death for teens has been motor vehi­cle crashes, with firearms being the sec­ond lead­ing cause. In 2004, acci­den­tal poi­son­ing deaths took the sec­ond spot and accord­ing to a recent Cen­ters for Dis­ease Con­trol and Pre­ven­tion (CDC) report, acci­den­tal poi­son­ing could soon be the lead­ing cause.

Death rates for teens due to motor vehi­cle crashes decreased by about 31 per­cent between 2000 and 2009 while poi­son­ing deaths increased more than 90 per­cent dur­ing the same time period and pre­scrip­tion pain killer abuse is the pri­mary rea­son for the increase.

While many teens stay away from most ille­gal street drugs, mar­i­juana is still the most abused ille­gal drug. One offi­cial from the CDC believes pre­scrip­tion pain killers are quickly replac­ing mar­i­juana as the “gate­way drug” to abus­ing harder drugs. An esti­mated 2,500 teens try pre­scrip­tion pain killers for the first time every day.

Increased use of seat belts and laws requir­ing teens to gain more expe­ri­ence behind the wheel have con­tributed to the decrease in teen deaths due to motor vehi­cle crashes. Par­ents can also help decrease teen deaths due to pre­scrip­tion drug abuse. Sur­veys have indi­cated most teens obtain the pre­scrip­tion drugs they abuse from the fam­ily med­i­cine cab­i­net. Proper stor­age and dis­posal of unused pre­scrip­tion med­ica­tions can help decrease the chances of teens get­ting their hands on them. Keep all med­ica­tions in a locked cab­i­net and dis­pose of unused med­ica­tions at a law enforce­ment spon­sored drug drop off site and help keep our kids safe.

Keep­ing Our Kids Safe is brought to you by the Delaware Police Depart­ment and School Resource Offi­cer Rod Glazer.

Posted by Rod Glazer on May 4 2012. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Comments can be made below.