Many people think of drug abuse only in the context of illegal drugs. While drug abuse is commonly linked with illegal drugs, prescription medications can also be abused. The National Institute on Health (NIH) claims that four million Americans have used prescription drugs for “non-medical purposes” in the past. This form of drug abuse is highly dangerous as well as illegal.

Trends in Drug Abuse

The NIH has examined trends among older adults, adolescents, and young adults. According to the NIH, prescription drug misuse is the most common form of drug abuse among the elderly. The organization also claims that the elderly have “the poorest rates of compliance with directions for taking a medication.” In other words, they do not follow directions when taking their prescription medication. NIH studies also show that prescription drug abuse rates are on the rise among college students. One manifestation of this is so-called pharming.

Pharming

Pharming has been defined as “grabbing a handful of prescription drugs and swallowing some or all of them.” It is a practice of taking prescription medications that were not written for you, or even mixing them with other prescription medications. This phenomenon is taking place among teenagers who take pills from the family medicine cabinet and pass them out at school, something that is both illegal and very dangerous.

Commonly Abused Drugs

The NIH lists three classes of drugs that are commonly abused: opioids which are commonly found in pain killers, central nervous system depressants which are used for anxiety and sleeping disorders, and stimulants prescribed for narcolepsy, ADHD, and obesity.

Remember that prescription drugs, though legal when prescribed by a doctor and filled by a pharmacist, are still powerful drugs that should not be abused.