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Rx Drug Abuse. What is Rx Drug Abuse??. Using a prescription drug without a valid prescription intended for YOU . Giving or selling prescription medication to a friend or family member is ILLEGAL.
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What is Rx Drug Abuse?? • Using a prescription drug without a valid prescription intended for YOU. • Giving or selling prescription medication to a friend or family member is ILLEGAL. • Prescription drugs are NOT safer than illegal drugs. When taking pills not prescribed for you, they are just as dangerous as illegal drugs like cocaine or heroin.
Rx Drug Abuse Facts • 1 in 4 teens have taken a prescription medication that wasn’t prescribed for them. • More teens abuse prescription drugs than any other drug besides marijuana. • Every day, approximately 2,500 young people use a prescription pain reliever for non-medical use for the first time. • In 2009, 3.2 million high school students reported they had abused a prescription drug at least once in their lives.
What’s the big deal? • Addiction – when we become dependent upon the drug physically and/or emotionally. Addiction to prescription meds can happen quickly. • Health problems – when we take medication prescribed for someone else’s physical problems, we may actually create physical or emotional problems for ourselves.
What can happen? • Academic difficulty, failure – if you’re high, you can’t learn. • Decline in physical health and performance • Conflict with friends and family • Legal problems: probation, incarceration • Death
Smart Moves, Smart Choices • Nurse Munsey!