Drug Abuse Risks of Prescription and OTC Medications

[Retired]

NIDA InfoFacts: Prescription and Over-the-Counter Medications
National Institutes of Health (U.S.)
National Institute on Drug Abuse
July 2009

Prescription medications such as pain relievers, central nervous system (CNS) depressants** (tranquilizers and sedatives), and stimulants are highly beneficial treatments for a variety of health conditions.

Pain relievers enable individuals with chronic pain to lead productive lives; tranquilizers can reduce anxiety and help patients with sleep disorders; and stimulants help people with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) focus their attention.

Most people who take prescription medications use them responsibly.

But when abused—that is, taken by someone other than the patient for whom the medication was prescribed, or taken in a manner or dosage other than what was prescribed—prescription medications can produce serious adverse health effects, including addiction.

Read the entire article in the attached document describing not only the benefits but also the potential risks when common medications are abused.

**central nervous system (CNS) depressants should not be confused with antidepressant medications which are different in their mode of action, used to treat the illness of depression and may not necessarily act in the same way as CNS depressants.

 

[Daniel E.]

Dr. Sanjay Gupta: The truth about prescription medication addiction – - CNN.com Blogs
February 22, 2012

Whenever I hand a prescription for pain pills to a patient, I tell them, “Remember not to drink any alcohol when taking these medications.”

For years, we in the medical community thought that simple message was getting through. It turns out we were wrong.

Every 19 minutes someone dies because of misuse of prescription medications. Sometimes it is because they take too much. Many times it is because they forget or ignore the warning their doctor gave about combining the medications with alcohol. And tens of thousands of people die every year as a result.

As much attention as we pay to illicit drugs such as cocaine or heroin, the truth is prescription medications kill more people in this country than those illicit drugs combined. Perhaps it is a perception issue: “It came from a pharmacy, therefore, it must be safe.”

They certainly can be safe, but they can also be incredibly addictive, with more than 1.9 million Americans hooked on prescription pain medications alone...