Prescription drug abuse: teens in danger.

Dear Teacher:

A serious threat to your students may be lurking in their families' medicine cabinets. New research by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and other federal agencies is revealing a troubling rise in prescription drug abuse among young people--and among adults as well. The increase in abuse of prescription painkillers by teens has been slight but at a persistent level of high use.

This installment of Heads Up: Real News About Drugs and Your Body gives students essential science-based information about prescription drug abuse and the harm posed by the most commonly abused medications. The article explains what prescription drug abuse is--and isn't--and dispels harmful myths.

In addition to sharing and discussing the article with your students, be mindful that parents and other adults should use prescription drugs as directed, then discard any leftover pills. Medications with potential for abuse--particularly pain relievers, antianxiety medications (benzodiazepines), and stimulants--should not be kept in easy-access locations such as medicine cabinets. Your assistance in delivering this important information to students is invaluable; it does make a difference.

Thank you for joining me and the team of NIDA scientists in our efforts to bring students the facts about drug abuse. Together, we can all look forward to a day when students across the country understand that abusing drugs--any drugs, whether prescription or street drugs--is never the right decision.

Nora D. Volkow, MD

Director of NIDA

--A message from Dr. Nora D. Volkow, Director of NIDA