CYCLE OF DRUG ABUSE CONTINUES FOR TEENS

There's good news and bad news from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

It seems teens, specifically those in grades eight, 10 and 12, have
cut back on smoking cigarettes, but they're using more prescription
painkillers.

The agency's annual study found that 9.5 percent of 12th-graders
reported using the painkiller Vicodin and 5.5 percent reported using
OxyContin in the past year. Even more frightening is the fact that
long-term trends show a significant increase in the abuse of
OxyContin from 2002 to 2005 among 12th-graders.

Teens need to know that drugs, when prescribed by a doctor and used
properly, are powerful medicines.

Used unsupervised and at random without a prescription, the drugs are
dangerous and can cause harm or even death.

Also alarming is the significant increase in the use of sedatives and
barbiturates among 12th-graders.

Because of this increase in drug use, parents must keep a very
watchful eye on their children and must communicate with them
extensively. Teens are obtaining these drugs from somebody somewhere
- -- they don't just magically appear. Chances are a teen taking
Vicodin or OxyContin got the painkiller from a friend, a dealer in
his or her school, through the Internet or even, unfortunately, from
a parent's medicine cabinet.

That's the bad news, but there is a bright spot as another survey
shows teens are heeding the message that tobacco is harmful.

Lifetime use of cigarettes declined 2 percent among eighth-graders,
decreased 1.7 percent among 10th-graders and declined 2.8 percent
among 12th-graders, according to the Monitoring the Future survey
done by the University of Michigan.

This is encouraging, because we know teens who stop smoking today and
remain smoke-free will be healthier adults in the future.

Also on the decline are teens' use of alcohol, methamphetamine,
steroids and marijuana -- all good news for sure.

But parents must now watch for other drug dangers. The popular drugs
of a generation ago have been replaced by Vicodin and OxyContin, and
these drugs will, too, be replaced in the future. It's a vicious
cycle, and unfortunately those involved have much to lose.