Published this month by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the most recent National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2006) revealed mixed findings.

While the overall illicit drug and alcohol use among youth (ages 12-17) is already declining, prescription painkillers are being misused at an increased rate among young adults (ages 18-25) and are attracting the most new users of any drug among those aged 12 and older.

Misuse of prescription painkillers is increasing at an alarming rate because more and more teenagers and young adults are being exposed to the dangers of opiod addiction, the same type of addiction that occurs with heroin.

According to Edwin A. Salsitz, MD, Beth Israel Medical Center, New York City:

"SAMHSA's recent survey results show that efforts to discourage teen drinking and drug abuse have been very successful. This is good news, but on the flip side, teens and young adults are reaching more and more for what's inside the medicine cabinet.

"As more people who experiment with prescription painkillers become physically dependent and perhaps addicted, it will be critical for doctors and the general public to understand that private office-based medical treatment for opioid addiction is available with an FDA-approved medication called buprenorphine."

Buprenorphine is an FDA-approved medicine used to treat opioid dependence that can be prescribed by doctors in their offices and with take-home prescriptions.

According to the most recent SAMHSA survey, among young adults (1):

• nonmedical use of prescription drugs increased from 5.4 percent in 2002 to 6.3 percent in 2005.
• in terms of new users, in 2005 more people 12 years and older -- 2.2 million -- misused opioid painkillers for the first time than any other drug, including marijuana and cocaine.
• The increase among teens and young adults reflects a national public health crisis -- a total of 4.7 million people currently misuse prescription pain relievers, second only to marijuana use.

In the same way that a recent national survey on the public's perceptions of opioid addiction, Prescription Painkiller/Heroin Addiction and Treatment, revealed that nearly half of the United States public does not know that misusing prescription opioid painkillers is as harmful to the body, and fully as addictive, as heroin abuse.(2)

Though opiod addiction can now be treated in a doctor's office like any other chronic disease, I think the best cure is still massive educational campaign in order to let the general public know about its harmful effects. Prevention is still the best cure.

Read more at PR Newswire.

(1) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2006) (a pdf file).
(2) Schulman, Ronca, & Bucuvalas, Inc., Prescription Painkiller/Heroin Addiction and Treatment, 2006