Prescription Opioid Abuse Can Lead to Heroin Abuse
6 Comments You may have heard marijuana referred to as a “gateway drug,” meaning that it can open doors to other kinds of drug abuse. But did you know that prescription painkillers can be gateway drugs to heroin? Some studies show that people who are addicted to heroin often started out abusing prescription painkillers (opioids), like OxyContin or Vicodin.
Not everyone who abuses a prescription opioid will move on to heroin—but why take the risk?
It might begin innocently enough—you think that taking a family member’s prescription painkiller is safer than abusing an illicit drug like Ecstasy, and you start using your dad’s prescription to get high. But what if you can’t stop? Prescription painkillers act on the same brain areas as heroin, after all, and can be very addictive. Once the pills run out, what do you do? If you’re addicted, you may look for another source, and sometimes that means buying heroin, a dangerous move, considering the potential consequences.
NIDA’s Monitoring the Future survey of teen drug use and attitudes shows that high school students have long seen heroin as one of the most dangerous drugs out there. However, once a person is addicted to prescription painkillers and can’t get them anymore, heroin might not sound like such a bad deal.
Both prescription opioids and heroin are extremely hard to stop once a person is addicted. A person trying to quit abusing opioids or heroin usually goes through severe withdrawal, which can cause restlessness, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, diarrhea, vomiting, cold flashes with goosebumps, and involuntary leg movements.
Read more about the dangers of abusing prescription opioids.
Curious what could happen if you abuse someone else’s prescription drugs? “Choose Your Path” with NIDA’s interactive videos. The best part is, if you don’t like your outcome, you can go back and try another path!
Help Prevent Prescription Drug Abuse: Ask Mom and Dad To Clean Out the Medicine Cabinet
The Drug Enforcement Administration, in conjunction with state and local law enforcement agencies, is hosting the 4th National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day on April 28 to provide places within local communities for people to dispose of unwanted and unused prescription drugs. Visit the Web site for more information and collection sites near you.
Prescription and over-the-counter drugs are among the most commonly abused drugs by high school seniors. Many teens think that abusing prescription drugs like Adderall or Vicodin is safe because they are medications prescribed by doctors.
That’s not true—prescription drugs that are not taken as prescribed can have powerful and dangerous effects on the brain and body. When doctors prescribe medication for a patient, they have taken into account that person’s age, body weight, other health conditions, and other medications or supplements.
Taking someone else’s prescription, like Adderall, can cause irregular heart beat and seizures; and abusing pain medicine like Vicodin can restrict breathing. Prescription pain relievers, stimulants, and antidepressants can all have serious side effects if abused—that is, taken in ways or for a reason or by a person not intended by the prescription.
How Teens Find Prescription Drugs To Abuse
In the 2011 Monitoring the Future study, high school seniors reported that they got most of the prescription drugs they abused from friends and relatives, sometimes without their knowledge. It’s important for families to keep their prescription drugs in a secure place—and remove any expired, unwanted, or unused medications, so that your friends and younger siblings (and even pets) cannot get hold of them.
Most drugs can be thrown out in the household trash, but your parents should take certain precautions before doing that. Here are a few tips from the Food and Drug Administration for disposing of over-the-counter and prescription medications.
- Read the Label
Follow all disposal instructions on the drug label or patient information that comes with the medication.
- Find a Medicine Take-Back Program
Medicine take-back programs will safely dispose of medication for you. Contact your city or county government’s trash and recycling service—or your local pharmacist—to find out if there is a take-back program near you. Another option is National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day. Local law enforcement and community partners offer thousands of take-back sites nationwide to collect unwanted medicines a few times each year.
- Seal it Up and Throw it Away
If no instructions are available on the drug label and your community doesn’t have a medication take-back program, you can throw away prescription drugs in your household trash. Follow these three simple steps:
1. Mix medicine—do NOT crush it—with something gross, like used kitty litter or coffee grounds.
2. Place the mixture in a closed container, such as a sealed plastic bag, to prevent leaking.
3. Put the container in the trash.
- Flush It
A small number of medications are so harmful and dangerous that it’s best to flush them down the sink or toilet to prevent accidental use by children or pets. Do not flush prescription drugs down the toilet unless the label instructions specifically tell you to do so. View a list of medicines that should be flushed.
Throwing away unused medicine is just one way to help prevent prescription drug abuse. Check out NIDA’s PEERx Activity Guide for some fun ideas and step-by-step instructions for mobilizing your peers in creative ways. If you have other ideas, let us know in the comments.
Treating Addiction With Medication
Most people are familiar with taking prescription medications like antibiotics when they get sick. Some people also are prescribed medication to help with a problem like depression or ADHD.
Did you know that some (not all) drug addictions actually can be treated with prescription medications, too? It may seem odd that someone addicted to a drug like heroin would start taking another drug so they can stop using heroin. But, research shows that some people respond very well to what is called “medication-assisted treatment.”
Why Does Medication Help?
If a person is addicted to an opioid (like heroin or prescription pain relievers), medication can help him or her get back to a better state of mind—beyond just thinking about seeking and using the drug. It also can help ease withdrawal and cravings, which can give a person who is addicted the chance to focus on changes needed to recover.
Taking medication for opioid addiction is like taking medication to control heart disease or diabetes. It is not the same as substituting one addictive drug for another. Used properly, the medication does not create a new addiction.
How Does Medication Work?
Medications to treat opioid addiction (like methadone and buprenorphine) affect the same brain areas as the drugs of abuse they are opposing (like heroin and OxyContin)—but in different ways. Anti-addiction medications “trick” the brain into thinking it is still getting the drug, which stops withdrawal. They help the person feel normal, not high, and reduce drug cravings.
Alcohol dependence also may be treated with medication. Three oral medications and one that is injected have been shown to help patients reduce drinking, avoid relapse to heavy drinking, or stop drinking altogether.
Of course, these medications aren’t available over the counter at your local pharmacy. They are dispensed at treatment centers or by primary care doctors approved to prescribe them.
Medication isn’t the only treatment for opioid or alcohol dependence—adding counseling or therapy can help, and the support of family and friends is often crucial to a person’s success. See NIDA’s new treatment resource, Seeking Drug Abuse Treatment: Know What To Ask.
To learn more about medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction, read the brochure, Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Addiction: Facts for Families and Friends.
How Many Teens Actually Smoke, Drink, or Do Drugs?
How Many Teens Actually Smoke, Drink, or Do Drugs?
It’s natural to be curious about your peers—especially when it comes to things that we know can be dangerous, like alcohol and drug use. You’ve probably heard rumors of kids drinking beer at a party or may have a friend who smokes cigarettes.
You may wonder how many teens actually smoke, drink, or do drugs. It’s a question we hear frequently from teens. During NIDA’s 2011 Drug Facts Chat Day, students from the around the country asked NIDA scientists questions such as:
- “How many teens smoke every year?”
- “Has the number of people who abuse drugs increased or decreased in the past 5 years? And why?”
- “What percent of teens has tried drugs?”
- “How many kids are doing drugs?”
Nora D. Volkow, M.D., Director of NIDA, announcing the release of the 2011 Monitoring the Future survey results.
In December 2011, NIDA released the 2011 Monitoring the Future Study, and it seems that more teens are making better decisions when it comes to smoking and alcohol use, but not so much when it comes to using marijuana and abusing prescription drugs.
Here’s a glimpse at the most recent trends in teen drug and alcohol use.
Cigarette and Alcohol Use at Historic Low
Teen smoking has declined in all three grades included in the study—grades 8, 10, and 12. Still, almost 19 percent of 12th graders reported current (past-month) cigarette use.
This decline shows that more teens realize the harm smoking does to your body and are making the decision not to start. Also, teens’ attitudes about smoking have changed. They increasingly prefer to date nonsmokers and believe smoking to be a dirty habit.
Likewise, among nearly all grades, trends over the past 5 years showed significant decreases in alcohol use—including first-time use, occasional use, daily use, and binge drinking. As with smoking, this decline may be the result of more teens understanding the risk of drinking alcohol and disapproving of this behavior.
Marijuana Use Continues To Rise
Unlike cigarettes and alcohol, marijuana use is increasing. Among 12th graders, 36.4 percent reported using marijuana at least once in the past year, up from 31.5 percent 5 years ago. This accompanies a decrease in the number of 12th graders who perceive that smoking marijuana is harmful. For example, only 22.7 percent of high school seniors saw great risk in smoking marijuana occasionally, compared to 25.9 percent 5 years ago.
Of course, we know the risks: marijuana can affect memory, judgment, and perception, and it can harm a teen’s developing brain.
Prescription Drug Abuse Remains Steady
Prescription drug abuse hasn’t changed much since 2010. Abuse of the opioid painkiller Vicodin and the nonmedical use of Adderall and Ritalin, stimulants meant to treat ADHD, remained about the same as last year. Also, the abuse of the opioid painkiller OxyContin remained steady for the past 5 years across all 3 grades surveyed.
To drive this trend downward, NIDA recently launched PEERx, a prescription drug abuse awareness campaign that gives teens science-based information about the harmful effects of prescription drug abuse on the brain and body.
When teens understand the health risks of abusing drugs, they do it less. So, tell us, how would you convince your peers that marijuana use and prescription drug abuse are harmful?
These estimates come from the Monitoring the Future Study’s national surveys of approximately 47,000 students in about 400 secondary schools each year. The survey was conducted in classrooms earlier this year. View all of the 2011 data.
Let’s Talk: Which Feature of the PEERx Web Site Do You Like Best?
There are lots of really cool features on the newly updated PEERx Web site. Have you seen them? Check them out here. From unique downloadable images that you can iron right onto T-shirts or print onto stickers, to the new Choose Your Path video that puts YOU in the driver’s seat to decide what happens next, to the Activity Guide full of fun things you can plan in your school or community group—there is something for everyone!
So now we want to know, what is your favorite feature on the PEERx Web site? Do you like to download cool designs, choose a path in a video activity, or create your own stories?
To answer the question, you can either write your response in the “Leave a Reply” box below, or send us a message. As always, we read all comments and consider all feedback.
Don’t forget that you can always respond to questions we’ve asked before, so comment away! We value your feedback and look forward to hearing from you.
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National Institute on Drug Abuse | National Institutes of Health | U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
