Reference Shelf: Prescription Drug Abuse

From the rising death toll due to opioid prescription drug abuse to the open marketplace for selling “stay awake and focus” drugs like Adderall in schools, prescription drug abuse is a major concern among doctors, educators, policy makers and parents. Most parents are unaware of both how common prescription medicine abuse has become in high schools across America, and how easy it is for students to secretly acquire pills in their own homes, classrooms, and online. Nearly 19,000 people – teenagers to seniors - die each year from prescription opioid overdoses. The regular prescription of pain-killing medication for sports injuries has been cited as a contributor to epidemic levels of heroin addiction in young adults. Elder care often neglects to audit lethal combinations of prescription drugs. This collection will explore different views on the causes of and potential solutions to the long-term risks of prescription drug abuse.