Vicodin and OxyContin: legal but dangerous.Addiction can occur with many drugs, not just "street drugs" like heroin. Painkilling drugs such as Vicodin and OxyContin Ox·y·con·tin A trademark for the drug oxycodone. oxycodone hydrochloride ETH-Oxydose, OxyContin, OxyFast, Oxy-IR, Oxynorm (UK), Roxicodone, Supeudol (CA) Pharmacologic class: Opioid agonist may seem safe because they're available by prescription, but many teens don't realize that they are also very addictive ad·dic·tive adj. 1. Causing or tending to cause addiction. 2. Characterized by or susceptible to addiction. addictive ( if not used as directed by a physician. This is not surprising, since the active ingredient An active ingredient, also active pharmaceutical ingredient (or API), is the substance in a drug that is pharmaceutically active. Some medications may contain more than one active ingredient. in OxyContin acts at the same site in the brain as heroin. The case of Jacob [name changed] puts the dangers of prescription painkillers in focus. Jacob began using OxyContin at 18, and before long was selling pills to help support his habit. (Selling prescription drugs prescription drug Prescription medication Pharmacology An FDA-approved drug which must, by federal law or regulation, be dispensed only pursuant to a prescription–eg, finished dose form and active ingredients subject to the provisos of the Federal Food, Drug, makes you a drug dealer and subject to criminal prosecution.) Eventually Jacob moved from OxyContin to heroin. "If I'd never touched OxyContin, I wouldn't have done heroin," he claims. Luckily, Jacob eventually faced his addiction and entered a drug treatment program. |
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