Using prescription and over-the-counter medications to get high is now so widespread that it has become “normalized” among teenagers, says a report by the New York City-based Partnership for a Drug-Free America.
Read the 2005 “Partnership Attitude Tracking Study” from the 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.”
