Teens Smoking Less, but Using More Pills

[leftchick]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051219/ap_on_he_me/drugs_teens

WASHINGTON - America's teens are smoking less and popping pain pills more. The lure of the family medicine cabinet helped nearly one in 10 high school seniors try out prescription painkillers last year, even as their generation continued turning away, at least slightly, from smoking and many other drugs.

The decline in illicit drug use by teens was modest, but continued a trend, according to the government's annual study of drug use by eighth, 10th and 12th grade students.

And while teen cigarette smoking fell to its lowest level since the survey began, eighth graders showed their first increase since 1996 in smoking in the month before the survey.

The survey of nearly 50,000 teens across the country found that 21.4 percent of eighth graders had used some illicit drug in their life, down from 21.5 percent a year earlier. For 10th graders it was 38.2 percent, down from 39.8 percent and the figure for 12th graders was 50.4 percent, down from 51.1 percent.

[GrumpyGreg]

1. Is this good news or bad news?

[leftchick]

2. I don't know...

Whe I was a teen there was plenty of both, though not pain pills but other kinds, so perhaps this is good? :shrug:

[Warpy]

3. Pills are generally less damaging to body systems

than either alcohol or smoking. It would be great if all kids could navigate adolescence with good family support and completely sober, but we all know that is simply not the case.

I would much rather see kids experimenting with pot or even opiates than either tobacco or alcohol. Most will outgrow the drugs. Because tobacco and alcohol are so ingrained into our culture and their use reinforced by the media, they tend to be lifelong substances of abuse, with devastating consequences.

I suppose that makes me an outlaw and a liberal loon, but honestly, it's just basic pharmacology.

[sendero]

7. While I agree sorta..

... pain pills are incredibly addictive and god forbid a teen should have regular access to them.

[Warpy]

8. Yes and no

I'm convinced it's a matter of brain chemistry, addiction to opiates.

Addiction and dependency are two different animals. Dependency may produce physical symptoms when a drug is withdrawn suddenly, but there are no cravings. Addiction's hallmark is cravings, even when the person is flying high with no symptoms of withdrawal.

Still, you can be addicted to pure opiates (with no Tylenol or the trash street drugs are cut with) for many years and suffer less damage than is caused by either tobacco or alcohol addiction. That's the dirty little pharmacologic secret of the drug war, right there.

Most people will try the stuff, maybe even try it repeated times, and then walk away when it starts to get in their way. The per capita rate of addiction for opiates hasn't changed from the bad old days when opiates were over the counter at every drugstore and general store in the country.

Again, it would be lovely if all adolescents were healthy and came from healthy families and could navigate that period of their lives without resorting to chemical help. However, this isn't the case. I'd rather see them experiment with pot than with cigarettes, with pills rather than booze. Sadly, many teens experiment with all of the above and face lifelong consequences.

[nonconformist]

9. I'm going to have to disagree on that

Because kids aren't taking the meds in prescribed doses. There is a risk of overdose, allergic reaction, etc. Painkillers are also highly addictive.

[sasquatch]

4. This is all Rush Limbaugh's fault

You see now the kids think it's ok to pop pills because Rush did and he's a millionaire.

[marylanddem]

5. I heard that - kind of weird news....

sad, really.

[SoCalDem]

6. Mom & dad's $10 copay for 90 days' worth of meds

vs $8 a pack for cigs? easy choice..and Mom & Dad probably don;t use up the whole prescription anyway, and won;t miss the pills..