American Teens Hooked to Parents' Painkiller Drugs

Misuse of prescription painkillers have gone up among American teens and the source is parents' medicine cabinets, a new study says.

Dr. Richard Miech, of the University of Colorado in Denver and colleagues examined the popularity of nonmedical painkillers among the young generation and found prescription painkillers the second most abused drugs by teens across the country, after marijuana. They also noted a 10-fold increase in the use of prescription painkillers among children aged between 12 and 17, past 50 years.

"I think many parents just don't realize how dangerous unsecured prescription drugs are to their children and their children's friends," Dr. Miech, said in a statement.

For the study, researchers looked at data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health between 1985 and 2009. Use of painkillers among those born between 1980 and 1994, irrespective of genders and races was found 40 percent higher than those born before that period.

"The fact that the trend is present across all racial and ethnic groups [just] highlights that this is a problem that affects everyone," Miech said.

Researchers found, in most cases these young children accessing the drugs from their parents' medicine cabinets at home. They urged the parents to be more alert to prevent this occurrence.

"For instance, parents should keep track of the quantity of pills in a bottle and the frequency of refills," Dr. Ruth Gassman, executive director of the Indiana Prevention Resource Center in the Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington.

"If you discover that you have to refill medication more often than anticipated, this may be a sign that someone is taking these medications without your knowledge."

Findings of the study have been published Oct. 16 in the Journal of Adolescent Health.