In this study, prescription stimulant drugs including Adderall, Ritalin and Dexedrine were found to be the second most-used illegal drugs among college students, following only behind marijuana. These prescription stimulants were seen by students as academic performance enhancers, but the physical and sociological risks of using these substances should far overshadow any potential academic gain.

In fact, the illicit use of psycho-stimulants such as those named above were part of the students’ perceived competitive edge while fighting for higher test scores and better grades, as revealed in an undercover college drug raid at Columbia University in 2010. This raid, nicknamed “Operation Ivy League,” found students regularly buying and selling illegal drugs.

Perhaps college students learn this complacent attitude early in life, as the phenomenon of prescribing drugs begins in this country (as well as others) very early in life. In fact, strong prescription stimulants are commonly prescribed to children in this country. In 2007, about 5.4 million children aged 4 to 17 years old were diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About two-thirds of those so diagnosed were medicated.

Drugs like Adderall are compounds of different kinds of amphetamines. Ritalin (methylphenidate) is a prescription stimulant that possesses structural similarities to amphetamine, but its pharmacological effects are more similar to those of cocaine.

It seems all too commonplace and accepted that young children are placed on highly addictive drugs such as these. These drugs are extremely dangerous even though millions of children are taking them.

The physical symptoms are quite serious enough, not to mention the legal complications involved. The selling of a prescription to another student or possessing these prescription stimulants without a prescription is illegal. A student who is convicted of illegal possession or distribution of prescription drugs can incur fines of hundreds or even thousands of dollars and a potential felony conviction.

The potential for so much negative impact should overshadow any perceived “test score advantage” that taking such drugs might offer and opinions vary on whether or not the drugs do, in fact, offer any academic advantage. The results of prescription stimulant abuse can include long-term addiction from which is hard to break free.

It isn’t just the college students who are too comfortable with drug use and abuse. Many segments of society are far too accustomed to “popping a pill” to solve any random difficulty they face in life.

The Narconon program has been offering effective drug abuse education, treatment and rehabilitation for more than forty years on six continents of the world. Narconon has effective education and rehab programs in more than 120 locations which offer life-saving results, and it has done so since 1966.

To learn more about the effective program used at Narconon to combat drug and alcohol abuse among college students as well as any other segment of the population, please read: http://www.narconon-news.org/program/narconon-alcohol-drug-treatment.html.

What would we want for our young adults? As future business owners, legislators and professors, they should be completing their educations, starting their careers, and giving the next generation its start.

Unfortunately, too many are getting their plans for the future derailed by prescription pain reliever abuse and addiction. As an example of one of the prescription pain relievers seeing the most growth, OxyContin was introduced to the United States in 1996. In 1998, only 1.5 percent of all drug addiction treatment admissions for those between 18 and 24 were for prescription pain relievers.

Some very effective marketing for OxyContin followed and prescription numbers began to skyrocket. By 2008, US sales of OxyContin alone topped $2.5 BILLION. And by 2008, treatment admissions for pain reliever addiction in the 18 to 24 age bracket hit 13.7 percent of all drug rehab admissions. The percentage of admissions for those between 25 and 34 increased from 2.1 percent to 13.5 percent over the same ten years.

“When it comes to abuse of prescription pain relievers, the only protection is a good education on drugs,” stated Bobby Wiggins, spokesperson for Narconon. Narconon is an international non-profit organization dedicated to the elimination of substance abuse and addiction through effective drug rehabilitation and education. “The person trying to sell you an 80 milligram OxyContin tablet is not going to warn you that the drug is addictive. And Purdue Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of OxyContin is certainly not going to make this plainly known.”

When Purdue Pharmaceuticals was fined more than $630 million dollars in 2007, the US Attorney’s Office charged them with failing “to adequately warn consumers of the risks,” particularly the risk of addiction. But by 2007, it was too late for many people who had already become addicted or even overdosed on “Oxys.” Many other people will never read or hear about this charge and will make the very common assumption that “if a doctor prescribes OxyContin, it cannot be harmful.” Tragically, this will be a fatal assumption for some people. For others, it will rob them of their plans and goals, their families and perhaps even their freedom, if they are unlucky enough to become addicted and lose it all.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxycodone

OxyContin or its generic version oxycodone is not the only prescription pain relief drug addicting our young adults. The list is long. By their generic names, the list includes: codeine, fentanyl (calculated to be at least 50 times stronger than heroin), hydromorphone, meperidine, morphine, pentazocine, dextropropoxyphene, methadone (used both for opiate addiction treatment as well as pain relief), and hydrocodone combinations sold as Vicodin, Lortab and Lorcet. All opiates create euphoric effects when abused by crushing and snorting, injecting or smoking.

• http://www.justice.gov/dea/concern/18862/ndic_2010.pdf

Most of those who succumb to prescription drug abuse are abusing more than one drug at a time and are not the holders of a legitimate prescription for the drug or drugs that killed them. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found this in a statistical analysis of those who died of prescription drug overdoses in West Virginia in 2006.

More than 79 percent of these people actually had multiple substances in their bodies at the time of death. These multiple substances included other prescription drugs, alcohol and/or illicit drugs. The same analysis showed that 63 percent had no prescription for the drugs they were abusing.

Naturally enough, deaths follow the increase in prescriptions being issued and admissions to drug addiction treatment. The number of people dying due to unintentional opioid overdoses increased from 5,547 in 2002 to 11,001 in 2006, a 98 percent increase.

“Without sufficient education on the risks of abusing prescription drugs, young and old alike are taking their lives in their hands when they snort or shoot oxycodone, hydrocodone or any of these drugs,” stated Wiggins.

“That’s why Narconon drug and alcohol rehab centers around the world offer drug education classes to schools, civic groups and corporations, wherever young and career-minded people gather. “Addiction must be treated on both fronts: rehabilitating the addicted individual and preventing the young from using or abusing substances that might result in addiction. With both lines of attack at work, we intend to achieve a drug-free future for all.” Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers and Narconon drug education groups operate from major cities on every continent.

For more information about the Narconon drug rehabilitation and education program, contact us by phone or email.

In March 2011, Bridget Brennan, New York’s special narcotics prosecutor, testified that prescriptions for oxycodone doubled in the city over the past three years. Ms. Brennan defined the problem with a frankness seldom seen: “The public flat out needs to be better informed about how widespread the problem is and how dangerously addictive these substances are. It’s pure opium. And that’s an addictive drug.”

In 2007, 500,000 prescriptions for OxyContin and its generic form oxycodone were filled in the five boroughs of New York City. By 2010, the number had jumped to more than one million. This means one prescription for one of every eight people, or 13 percent of the population.

But in Staten Island, there were enough prescriptions for this addictive painkiller issued to supply 28 percent of the borough’s population. Add hydrocodone, another popular opioid painkiller, and the supply increases to 33 percent.

In Brooklyn and the Bronx, oxycodone prescriptions increased 116 percent and 120 percent, respectively, between 2007 and 2010.

In a 2010 visit to a New York City drug rehabilitation center serving US military veterans, Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske noted that one in eight active duty military personnel are also current users of illicit drugs, primarily prescription drugs.

• http://www.vosizneias.com/78820/2011/03/16/new-york-ny-1-in-8-new-yorkers-is-on-oxy-pain-killers
• http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/news/press10/111010.html

High Drug Crime Numbers Follow High Prescription Numbers

How many of these prescriptions wind up in the illicit market? There is no way to know. But one index may be found in a similar increase in drug crime and emergency room visits.

Drug Crime: In these same three years, the special prosecutor’s caseload of prescription drug arrests constituted just 6 percent of her total workload. By 2010, the proportion of the caseload devoted to this type of arrest more than doubled, arriving at 15 percent. Ms. Brennan noted the high levels of violence that accompanies the black market sale of prescription drugs.

Every year, about 80,000 people with drug or alcohol problems leave New York City jails and return to the community or the streets. Few received any drug recovery treatment while they were in jail. Without any substantive help, they are likely to re-offend, return to drug or alcohol abuse and possibly return to jail.

Emergency Room visits: In New York City, for every 100,000 people, more than 150 of them will visit an emergency room for abuse or misuse of pharmaceutical drugs. Add to this another 62 who consumed alcohol along with their pharmaceutical drugs, another 39 who added an illicit drug and 32 who abused both prescription and illicit drugs together.

Of these ER visits, thirty were for opiates/opioids and of these, nearly 12 per 100,000 people in New York City visited an ER for abuse or misuse of oxycodone. With more than eight million people in the city, this brings the total number of visits to almost 1,000 per year for oxycodone alone .

• http://www.samhsa.gov/statesinbrief/CityReports/7401_MetroReports_NewYorkCity_NY.pdf

  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16739041

“When you have a situation spiraling out of control like this,” stated Wiggins, “one component of the solution must be effective drug rehabilitation programs like the one administered at Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers around the world. In more than 120 Narconon drug rehab centers, the Narconon drug recovery program results in seven out of ten graduates returning home knowing how to stay clean and sober.”

Contact us immediately if you know someone who has a problem with drug addiction. Our drug rehabilitation counselors are always on standby to help.

http://www.justice.gov/ndic/pubs40/40380/drugover.htm

The Appalachian mountains stretch, depending on who is describing them, from Maine to Central Georgia, and from Eastern Ohio to the Coastal Plains. The core of the Appalachians is generally considered to be Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia and these areas bear the brunt of the prescription drug abuse problem. But outlying Appalachian areas are just as hard hit in many cases.
Like Scioto Country in Eastern Ohio. Few families escape the curse of having at least one of their members addicted to prescription opioids. Sometimes more than one, as in the case of the Mannering family, who lost one daughter to a drug-related murder and a son to prison on drug charges.

Narconon spokesperson Bobby Wiggins commented, “Drug dealers bringing prescription pain killers into this area are essentially predators, seeing an opportunity to reap huge profits for very little risk when they can find a corrupt medical professional to dispense the drugs. The ones who suffer most are the families at the distribution end of the supply chain.” Narconon is an international non-profit organization dedicated to the elimination of substance abuse and addiction through effective drug rehabilitation and education.

Babies Tested Positive for Drugs

In Scioto County, nearly one in ten newborn babies tests positive for drugs. Fatal overdoses have quadrupled in the last ten years and surpassed traffic accidents as the leading cause of accidental death in 2007.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/20/us/20drugs.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1

One report stated that the Appalachian region of Kentucky experienced drug-related deaths at four times the rate of the rest of the state. And a law enforcement officer commented that more people in Ohio died in 2008 and 2009 of overdoses than died in the World Trade Center attack in 2001.

http://www.reachoflouisville.com/SIG/Appalachia.pdf

One of the oddities of the drug abuse in the area is that much of the illicit prescription drug supply comes from other states, particularly Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania or Ohio.

South Florida has been a particular problem for Kentucky law enforcements for years. Individuals board planes in Kentucky, visit pain clinics in South Florida and return with hundreds of pills to dispense for a dollar a milligram or more when it’s OxyContin.

In March 2011, Dr. Michael Shook pleaded guilty to illegally distributing 25,000 doses of OxyContin and methadone from the Lauderhill Medical Clinic in Oakland Park, Florida, to Kentuckians who made the trip south. Conveniently, his clinic even had an on-site pharmacy.

By late 2008 and all of 2009, 90 percent of the Lauderhill Medical Clinic’s patients were from Kentucky. For $6,000 a week, this doctor performed limited or no exams and prescribed addictive narcotics that were taken back to Kentucky for illicit sale. Some of the same patients also visited former doctors Randy Weiss of Philadelphia and Lloyd Naramore in Ohio for more supplies. Dr. Shook faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and the lingering knowledge that he supplied the drugs that could have caused hundreds of overdose deaths far from home.

http://www.justice.gov/usao/kye/press/march/shook_michael_sent.html

In 2009, the number of people traveling to Philadelphia and Ohio for illicit supplies of narcotics skyrocketed. In just four month’s time, the number of people visiting out of state pain clinics on a regular basis increased from 10 to an astonishing 140. In one clinic in Philadelphia, Dr. Timothy Hall managed to dispense 200,000 pills before being caught. In some areas, so many people are involved in these drug trafficking rings that they are now being referred to as cartels.

http://www.facesofdrugabuse.net/documents/2011-conference/presentations/6-prescriptions-addressing-the-epidemic.pdf.

http://www.claiborneprogress.net/view/full_story/10677996/article-%E2%80%9CPill-Mill%E2%80%9D-dismantled

The potential profitability of this type of drug ring is staggering. Each supply of 180 OxyContins can score the drug dealer between $14,000 and $18,000 once the drugs are sold.

Fighting Drug Addiction

“At Narconon centers around the world, we are fighting the drug abuse and addiction problem with our successful in-patient drug recovery programs and our proven drug education curriculum,” added Wiggins. “We will continue to support families who wish to rescue their loved ones from drug addiction with our long-term residential drug rehab program and educate young people and employees on the real dangers associated with substance abuse.”

Narconon drug rehabilitation services and drug education classes are available at more than 120 centers on six continents.

Don’t hesitate to reach out for help if you know someone suffering from drug addiction. Our drug rehab counselors are here to help.

As prescription drug abuse and overdoses hit new highs among Americans, the Office of National Drug Control Policy has just announced its new strategy to bring these numbers down. While some illicit drugs like cocaine have lessened in popularity, prescription drug abuse has been increasing. In evidence of the growing popularity of these drugs to abusers, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health showed that nearly one third of the people who abused drugs for the first time in 2009 chose prescription drugs to abuse. Overdoses have increased five-fold since 1990. And for the first time, deaths from prescription drug misuse have exceeded deaths from gunshot wounds and, in many states, deaths from traffic accidents.

• http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/pdf/rx_abuse_plan.pdf
• http://ofsubstance.gov/blogs/pushing_back/archive/2011/02/22/51827.aspx

“While this kind of drug abuse is a ‘growth industry’ so to speak, it’s not the kind of growth that benefits your citizens,” commented Bobby Wiggins, the director of Narconon for drug education. Narconon is an international non-profit organization dedicated to the elimination of substance abuse and addiction through effective drug rehabilitation and drug education. “We commend the ONDCP and the Food and Drug Administration for taking action to increase awareness of the problems resulting from reckless prescribing or from just letting unused drugs sit in the family medicine chest.”

As Drug czar Gil Kerlikowske announced the strategy on April 19, 2011, he said that by and large, Americans are ignorant of the fact “that what’s inside the medicine cabinet can kill.” In particular, teenagers are susceptible to abuse and addiction because they may consider medications prescribed by the family doctor safer to abuse than street drugs. And when the family fails to safely dispose of old prescriptions, it can be easy for a young person to get the drugs he wants out of the medicine chest.

• http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2011/04/prescription-drug-abuse-a-public-health-crisis.

Part of the strategy included requiring manufacturers of extended-release and long-acting opioid medications to help mitigate the inherent risks of these drugs by financing education for doctors on proper pain management, patient screening and to ensure that patients use the drug as prescribed.

Some opioid addicts started out using these drugs for a legitimate medical need. As the body builds tolerance, patients feel they need more of the drug to keep the aches and pains away so they may abuse the drug and finish their prescription. After the patient finishes the prescribed dosage, the Dr. may simply cut the person off, sending this now-addicted person into illicit use. An addict may get desperate enough to harm someone to get the drugs he feels he needs. Also, he or she may resort to illicit drugs as a substitute. Doctor-shopping, prescription fraud or theft may provide the addicted person with the prescription medications they feel they need to be able to function normally.

The medications frequently abused by opioid addicts are: hydromorphone (marketed as Dilaudid, among other names), oxycodone (ingredient of OxyContin), morphine, oxymorphone (brand named Opana and others), methadone, and fentanyl (a synthetic opioid 50 to 80 times stronger than heroin).

“It’s vital to plan for drug prevention through education and drug recovery through effective drug rehabilitation at the same time that you get these prescription drugs off the street. People who are already addicted must have somewhere to turn,” Wiggins concluded.

Admissions at Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers across the U.S. have been seeing increasing numbers of admissions to treatment due to prescription drug abuse. In some centers, half of the addicts entering treatment are recovering from prescription drug addiction. But no matter what the substance of abuse is when a person enters rehab, the Narconon program still results in seven out of ten graduates remaining sober after they return home.

1. Hawaii Drug Use Continues to Rise: Recent studies show drug use in Hawaii is up and the use of narcotics continues to climb. A program [Narconon Hawaii] recently brought to Hawaii is helping to tackle the problem. Drug abuse and addiction continue to grow by epidemic proportions in Hawaii. (a press release report courtesy of www.khon2.com)
2. Employers Can Benefit from Drug-Free Work Week Pointers: If an employee is already trapped in the cycle of addiction finding a drug rehabilitation facility that will get them back to the productive, drug-free individual required for their work and to enjoy the life they so rightly deserve is of the utmost importance. “This is where Narconon Arrowhead comes in,” declared Ryan Thorpe, Director of Admissions at Narconon Arrowhead, one of the country’s leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers located in southeast Oklahoma. “We offer employers an alternative to simply getting rid of good staff that can be rehabilitated, and we enable good workers who have become hooked to drugs to come back to the work force, sober and industrious. At Narconon, our program constantly returns substance abuser to a healthy, productive lifestyle. Seven out of ten of our graduates are still drug-free years after they return to work.”
3. Economic Hardships Can Increase Addiction: Yet I continued to put the drugs before finding employment, putting food on the table for my family and paying any bills. I just know I woke up every morning with all aim of getting a job and instead would find myself doing whatever it took, be it lying ,cheating or stealing from family and friends to get money so I could acquire more drugs,” said Joe Harper, graduate of the Narconon Arrowhead drug rehabilitation program.
4. There is a Continuing Desperate Need for Substance Abuse Treatment Programs in Oklahoma: Many Oklahomans believe that drug addiction is simply a way of life and you have to live with that addiction every single day for the remainder of your life. What many Oklahomans do not know s that substance abuse treatment programs, like Oklahoma’s Narconon Arrowhead, can end drug abuse and give a person their life back. (Narconon Arrowhead drug rehab news)
5. Narconon of Georgia Applauds Efforts of Prescription Buy-Back Programs: Narconon of Georgia, in conjunction with local law enforcement, has spearheaded the effort in Georgia state to make people more aware of prescription drug abuse dangers and educating teens and parents alike. “The drug education we provide to schools, churches, and local support groups has shifted some-what in the past few years,” comments Gordon Weinand, Public Relations for Narconon Drug Rehab of Georgia.
6. Narconon Georgia Graduate Celebrates Three Years Clean: She believed her son could make it if he were in a long-term drug treatment program, not available at the time, in her own state. She searched online and found what she was looking for – Narconon of Georgia, a non-traditional program which employs sauna therapy and life skills to prepare its clients for full and winning re-entry into life. “Life after Narconon is a whole lot better! In my darkest hours, I never thought I could be this happy. Now every day is a healthy bright day after Narconon for me and my family.”
7. Addiction Treatment Reduces Crime: … This study comes after two decades of research into the effectiveness of drug rehabilitation in criminal offenders which has largely gone unheard. … The Narconon program has long asserted that successful treatment can only be accomplished through establishing comprehensive personal ethics. The treatment program delivered by Narconon of Georgia is an excellent choice for anyone seeking an alternative to incarceration, as it emphasizes on personal responsibility as the major component necessary for real recovery.
8. Narconon Louisiana drug rehab graduate traces roots of addiction back to psychiatric medications: Once J.K. became addicted to street drugs as well as his prescriptions, his problems continued to intensify. Luckily, before he lost his life to drugs he found a rehabilitation center with a completely drug-free method called Narconon Riverbend; situated in Denham Springs, Louisiana. During his treatment he had to come to terms with his past troubles as well as the road that his psychiatric therapy led him down.
9. Handling Meth Addiction In Michigan: Narconon Freedom Center, a residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation program located in Albion, Michigan, has been at the forefront of the Red Ribbon Week activities in the state. This week Narconon Freedom Center visited a neighborhood watch meeting to educate the local community about the risks of meth abuse and the manufacturing of the drug.

Narconon-News.org. For regular updates on the Narconon network news and activities around the world. (press release report)