Education Report Roundup

Report Cites Teenage Abuse of Over-the-Counter Medications

By Christina A. Samuels — May 19, 2006 1 min read
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The 2005 “Partnership Attitude Tracking Study” is published by The Partnership for a Drug-Free America.

Using prescription and over-the-counter medications to get high is now so wide-spread that it has become “normalized” among teenagers, says a report by the New York City-based Partnership for a Drug-Free America.

The partnership’s annual “attitude tracking” study, which surveyed more than 7,300 teenagers in grades 7-12 last year, found that 40 percent of respondents believe that such drugs are “much safer” to use than illegal drugs, even if they were not prescribed by a doctor; 29 percent believe that prescription pain medications are not addictive, even if they’re not prescribed by a doctor; and 31 percent believe there’s nothing wrong with using such medications to get high “once in a while.”

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