Treatment Providers Target Teen Prescription Drug Abuse
Aug 13, 2010
Treatment and care providers from around San Diego County recently met for a regional summit addressing the topic of preventing prescription drug abuse, particularly among teenagers. Signs indicate that prescription drug abuse in the county may be on the rise.
Susan Bower with San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency said local officials and treatment providers see the problem of prescription drug abuse growing across the nation, and sponsored the summit to keep abuse from escalating locally. At Phoenix House, an outpatient adolescent drug treatment center, about 75% of the teenage patients treated last year admitted to having used prescription drugs to get high, said program coordinator Loretta Adame. The same patients, she said, also admit to using marijuana or other illegal drugs. Adame said teenage patients tell her that "Xanax is like candy. Everybody takes it and loves it. It has no stigma. Xanax is No. 1 and Vicodin is No. 2." Keynote speaker David Mineta, deputy director of demand reduction for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, told the group that "the misuse of prescription drugs is an increasing problem across the country."
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North County Times