Research on Prescription Drug Abuse and Addiction Among Teenagers

Prescription Drug Abuse and Addicition among Teenagers

Submitted to:

Ms. Nadia Kamal Al- Siraj (NKS)

Prepared by:

Zeba Adiba

ID: 123 0368 630

Course: ENG105(10)

Date: August 20, 2015

Prescription Drug Abuse and Addiction among Teenagers

Acknowledgement

This research paper has been prepared as a requirement for completing my course on ENG105

(Advanced Composition). A lot of people have played a huge role behind the development of

this paper, either by active participation or through their valuable advice and suggestions. So I

will start this paper by acknowledging the people who have helped me with their aid, which was

necessary for completing this research paper. I would like to thank my course instructor Ms.

Nadia Kamal Al-Siraj for all her help and advices during both her office hours and class times.

Her invaluable support motivated me to conduct my research confidently. I am really grateful to

her because of all the time she spent on helping me wherever I got stuck.

Moreover I want to thank Dr. Fahmida Begum, Md.Shaphawat Hossain, and Aquib Bhuiyan to

give me their valuable time and share their opinion about this topic.

Last but not the least,I would also like to thank my friends and all those people who responded to

my survey for helping me out in all possible ways and also for their honest opinions regarding

my topic and the questionnaire. I am grateful to all for pointing out my mistakes and helping me

to rectify those. Finally, I would say that I’m extremely grateful to all those who supported and

helped me to write up this paper.


Abstract

Prescription drug abuse is a growing problem among young generation in Bangladesh. It is

becoming very popular because of its affordability and accessibility. This addiction is often

overlooked by our society because of being a legal drug and often prescribed by a doctor. The

objective of this paper was to find out the severity of this addiction in Bangladesh and what can

be done to control this epidemic. Through this research it was found that this addiction is

extremely common among young people and these people are totally unaware of the negative

consequences of this addiction. It is important to realize that prescription drug abuse among

teenagers is a broader concern and every group from the society have their own part to stop the

abuse.


Table of Contents

Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 1

Background ................................................................................................................................................... 3

Research Questions ...................................................................................................................................... 7

Hypothesis..................................................................................................................................................... 8

Research Methodology ............................................................................................................................... 10

Primary data presentation and analysis ..................................................................................................... 11

Summary of Interviews ............................................................................................................................... 22

Summary of Research Findings ................................................................................................................... 25

Limitation .................................................................................................................................................... 27

Recommendations ...................................................................................................................................... 28

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 29

References .................................................................................................................................................. 30

Annotated Bibliography .............................................................................................................................. 32

Appendix ..................................................................................................................................................... 34


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Introduction

Prescription drugs are medications that are prescribed to patients by a doctor to help them

for problems, such as relieve pain, treat symptoms of a disease, or to help fight an infection.

They are very safe when used properly and under the supervision of a physician yet, if used

without the approval of a doctor they can be very harmful and in some cases could lead to death.

Prescription drug abuse is a modern-day disease. There are many prescription drugs that are

being abused by our society today. Most common among these prescription drugs that people are

addicted to are cough syrups, sleeping pill, painkillers and antacids. Most of them don’t have any

street names because they are not hard to get, or illegal for that matter. Anyone can get their

hands on a bottle of cough syrup from their local pharmacy. Taking cough medicine has been

around for a very long time, but it is only recently that medicines like painkillers and sleeping

pills have joined the group.

During the adolescence years, teens have curiosity which builds up and leads to

experimentation, they pop a pill, get high and then they want more. Teenagers consider taking

these drugs fashionable and cool these days. Not only do they ease their state of mind increasing

numbers of teens have easy access to painkillers through classmates, friends, family members,

and peers. Sometimes they can even obtain the leftovers from the family medicine cabinet. After

experimenting with prescription drugs, what was once a curiosity can turn into dependence rather

quickly and even lead to death. Teenagers feel that taking pills is a cheaper, less harmful way to

ease their state of mind. It has become a big health issue because of the dangers, particularly the

danger of abusing prescription pain medications.


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Through my research I want to prove that prescription drug addiction among teenagers has

become more dangerous than ever in Bangladesh and this prescription drug addiction is having

disastrous effect on teenager’s health and academic life as well.


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Background

When teens want to get high, many don’t even have to leave home. All it takes is a visit

to their parent’s medicine cabinet. Prescription drug abuse is a big problem among adults is now

spreading in schools. Kids are secretly reaching for painkillers, tranquilizers and stimulants

prescribed for mom or dad, with many parents completely unaware. According to National

Survey on drug use and health 2012 Prescription medications are the most abused drugs among

12- and 13-year olds. When taken different amounts or for different purposes than prescribed,

prescription drugs have some of the same harmful effects, including the potential for addiction

and overdose. (A.Pawlowski, 2014)

According to Khan (2007), 10 out of 100 patients in the hospitals of Bangladesh are the

cases of drug addiction involving heroin, ganja, painkillers and cough syrups and they mostly

belong to the age group of 15-30. Different hospital survey results have reported that the

average age for drug addicts are 22. They belong to all kind of occupation including students,

businessman, professionals, laborers, rickshawalas, etc and are from various standards of

livelihood (para. 2). In 2012, Islam, Tabassum, Shafiuzzaman, Umar, and Khanam found in a

statistics that “Among 253 drug abusers 31% is addicted to cannabis, 26% to alcohol, 24% to

phensidyl, 10% to heroine and 9 % to diazepam, antihistamine, methamphetamine, etc. the male:

female ratio is 20:1 and 58% is between 18-35 years, 20% is between >35-50 years, 5% between

10-15 years and remaining is >50 years of age” (p. 102). On the other hand, Shemul (2009) gave

another statistics that was investigated among 996 drug abusers in Dhaka. He found that young

people who got influenced by friends were 85.7 % of total percentage of drug addict.


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Camí and Farré (2003), stated that drug addiction is a chronic, relapsing disorder in

which compulsive drug-seeking and drug-taking behavior persists despite serious negative

consequences. Camí and Farré (2003), further stated that addictive substances induce pleasant

states (euphoria in the initiation phase) or relieve distress and continued use induces adaptive

changes in the central nervous system that lead to tolerance, physical dependence, sensitization,

craving, and relapse. (p.975)

According to Shazzad et al. (2013) Young people abuse drugs due to complex social and

peer groups influence, frustration, depression, curiosity, sub-cultural and psychological

environment that induce the youths to take drugs. Major risk factors responsible for drug abuse

are family disorganization, parental neglect, parent-child conflict, loss of spouse strife,

indiscipline, isolation, lack of emotional support, rejection of love, over protection,

unemployment, repeated failure and personality mal adjustment and easy availability of drugs.

Shazzad et al. (2013) also stated that Drug addiction leads to disintegration of family lies. The

drug addicts in a threat to the family Because of the hostile behavior of the drug abuser the

family in at risk. Normal activities of the family disrupts due to antisocial activities of the abuser.

The drug addict youth drops out from school/college or university education. The service holder

loses his job because of irregularities. Social isolation and alienation are very common. (p.84)

According to Nestler (1992), drug abuse continues to exact enormous human and

financial costs on society, yet all currently available treatments for drug addiction are notoriously

ineffective. The search for a better understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying

the addictive actions of drugs of abuse and of the genetic factors that contribute to addiction

should be given a high priority, as this should result in crucial advances in our ability to treat and

prevent drug addiction. From the basic neuroscience perspective study of the neurobiology of


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drug addiction offers a novel opportunity to establish the biological basis of a complex and

clinically relevant behavioral abnormality. Three terms related to drug abuse are commonly

tolerance, dependence, and addiction. Tolerance represents a reduced effect upon repeated

exposure.

According to McLellan, Lewis, O’Brien and Kleber (2009), the effects of drug

dependence on social system has helped shape the general health view that drug dependence is

primarily a social, not a health problem. And in turn, medical approaches to prevention and

treatment are lacking. Few persons who try drugs or regularly use drugs become dependent

however once initiated there is a predictable pathogenesis to dependent marked by significant

and persistence changes in brain chemistry and functions. It is not even possible to explain the

physiological and psychological that transforms controlled voluntary use of alcohol and other

drugs into uncontrolled involuntary dependence. Twin studies indicate a definite role for genetic

heritability nonetheless personal choice and environmental factors are clearly involved in the

expression of dependence in terms of vulnerability, onset, and course, drug to similar to other

chronic illness such as type 2 diabetes and asthma. (McLellan, Lewis, O’Brien & Kleber, 2009)

Addiction affects a significant number of health care professionals. Limited data is

available on the rates of incidence because abusing or addicted health care professionals rarely

report abuse or addiction accurately for fear of disciplinary action against their license to

practice. It is also difficult to gather accurate statistics because employers often fail to recognize

the signs and symptoms of these disorders. Available literature on the subject estimates that

almost 10% to 15% of health care professionals are afflicted with alcohol or drug addiction.

Health care professionals are at particular risk for alcohol/drug abuse or addiction for many

reasons. Drugs are one of the primary tools used by health care professionals to treat and help


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their patients. They prescribe, administer and dispense medications every day. Exposure and

accessibility to mind-altering medications, pharmacological knowledge of the drugs which

fosters a false sense of control, and a tendency to self-treat or self-medicate are a few

contributing factors. (Alcohol and Drug Abuse and Addiction: A Health Care Professional’s

Resource Guide, n.d.).

Prescription drug abuse is an epidemic that has been labeled the world's fastest growing

drug problem (Schreiner, 2012, p.529). Deaths from drug overdose surpass those of homicides,

gunshots, and suicides (Office of National Drug Control Policy, n.d.). Most drug overdose deaths

are linked to nonmedical prescription drug use (Schreiner, 2012, p.529). According to a

University of Michigan study, after marijuana, prescription and over-the counter medications are

the most commonly abused drugs by high school students (National Institute on Drug Abuse

[NIDA], 2014a).


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Research Questions

Through my research I look forward to analyze the current situation on prescription drug

addiction among teenagers in Bangladesh. I will also try to explore why do teenagers get

addicted to medicinal drugs, its impact and what are the possible solutions to overcome this

problem. Thorough my research I would attempt to answer the following research questions:

1.How do youth gets addicted to prescription drugs?

2. Why do youth become addicted to prescription drugs?

3. How do prescription drug addictions affect teenager’s physical, mental and social life?

4. What can be done to prevent teenagers from getting addicted to prescription drugs?


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Hypothesis

Prescription drug addiction can be started through many ways as adolescence is a time of

self-exploration, one could argue that it’s perfectly natural and normal to want to try new things,

such as getting high or drunk for the first time. However, others would argue that adolescents, by

virtue of their young age and lack of life experience, aren’t prepared for the consequences that

often follow. Peer pressure is a powerful force at any stage of life, but it’s especially influential

during adolescence. At a time when kids are trying to figure out who they are and where they fit

in when insecurities can be fierce the desire to be accepted and saying “no” becomes extremely

difficult. Friend’s influence can be one of the most common causes for prescription drug

addiction. The desire to try new things and explore the world can be other important factors for

prescription drug addiction.

Teenage is the toughest time in a human’s life, during the adolescent stage a child goes

through several crisis. Prescription drug addiction happens due to depression, loneliness and

unsupervised access to the medicine. Often due to depression, teenagers feel frustrated and get

addicted to prescription drugs. There are various explanations of why some individuals become

involved with drugs and then escalate to abuse. One explanation points to a biological cause,

such as having a family history of drug or alcohol abuse. Another explanation is that abusing

drugs can lead to affiliation with drug-abusing peers, which exposes the individual to other

drugs. In Bangladesh prescription drugs are easily available. A teenager can go to a pharmacy


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and buy it. This availability of prescription drugs is responsible for teenage prescription drug

addiction.

Prescription drug abuse affects a human’s life in various ways. One’s physical conditions start to

deteriorate severely. Short term effects of this addiction include loss of appetite, increased heart

rate, blood pressure, body temperature, disturbed sleep pattern, nausea, sometimes violent

behavior, hallucinations, irritability and death from high doses. Long term effects include

permanent damage to blood vessels of heart and brain, high blood pressure leading to heart

attacks, strokes and death, liver, kidney and lung damage, destruction of tissues in nose if

sniffed, respiratory (breathing) problems. Prescription drug addiction also effects a person’s

mental condition for example one can become depressed and even can go for suicide. Other

effects include memory loss, impaired memory & judgment, confusion, insomnia, distorted

visual perception. This addiction can affect a person’s social life too, a person becomes lonely,

after knowing about this addiction the individual’s parents can reject and friends will have

negative perception about him/her.

In Bangladesh though some actions have been taken against marijuana, heroin, inhalants,

and hallucinogens, yet no action has been taken against prescription drug addiction. To prevent

prescription drug addiction firstly the parents have to be careful if their children are taking drug

without prescribed by any doctors. Many teenagers don’t know the adverse effect of prescription

drug abuse so awareness should be created about prescription drug addiction. Government and

private sectors should make sure that medicines are not attainable so easily in our country.


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Family and friends should be supportive towards drug addicted people so that they don’t feel

alone and depressed.

Research Methodology

For my primary research I would like to conduct direct in-depth interview of a doctor from

Apollo Hospital and the assistant student counselor of North South University .I will also talk

with a pharmacist as they are directly involved in selling prescription drugs. For

understanding and incorporating the general people’s perspectives, I shall be conducting a

survey using questionnaires that I will be eventually developing. I will be distributing my

questionnaires among random sample of NSU students and people living in Dhaka. For my

secondary research, I plan to collect information from a wide array of books, periodicals,

newspaper and other relevant supplementary materials that I plan to access through the

university database/ catalogue and the World Wide Web.


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Primary data presentation and analysis

1. When you were a teenager have you ever used drugs other than those required

for medical reasons?

Yes 18 56.25%

No 13 40.63%

Sometimes 1 3.13%


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Purpose of my first question was to see how many people used prescription drug other than those

required for medical reasons during their teenage. 18 out of the 32 respondents said yes they

have used prescription drug without prescription. It is almost 56.25%. 13 respondents said No

they have not done so and it is 40.63%. Only 1 respondent said sometimes he used to abuse

prescription drugs which are almost 3.13%. By this question I have found that most of people

have used prescription drugs other than those required for medical reasons during their teenage.

3. At what age did you start taking drugs?

13-15 12 38.71%

16-18 16 51.61%

Others please specify 3 9.68%


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This question was asked to learn if people have started this addiction from their teenage or not.

This pie diagram shows that almost 16 respondents which are almost 51.61% said they have

started taking drugs when they were 16-18 years old. Another 12 respondents said they started

taking prescription drugs when they were 13-15 years old which is 38.71% in total. Rest of the 3

respondents mentioned about different age when they started this addiction.

4. Who do you think influenced you to get addicted to prescription drugs?

Friends 14 43.75%

Cousins 4 12.5%

Class mates/Peers 9 28.13%

Others (please specify) 5 15.63%


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This question was asked to find out who had influenced these drug addicts to get addicted to

prescription drugs. Around 43.75% said friends influenced them which comprise almost 14

respondents out of 32. 9 respondents out of 32 chose class mate/ peers options which is almost

28.13%. 4 respondents said that cousins influenced them which make 12.5%. 5 people chose the

option others and they said boyfriend, girlfriend and siblings influenced them to get addicted to

prescription drugs.

5. What factors drove you towards prescription drugs addiction? (You can choose

more than one answer option here)

Family issues 12 37.5%

Relationship problems 13 40.63%

Frustration 13 40.63%

I was just curious to try this 6 18.75%

Others (Please specify) 0 0%


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From this question I wanted to know what factors drove this people to get addicted to

prescription drugs. In this question respondents could chose more than one answer option as

there can be multiple factors responsible for this addiction. 13 out of 32 respondents which are

40.6% think relations problems are responsible for their addiction. Another 13 respondents said

frustration drove them to this addiction which is again 40.63%. 37.5% respondents consider

family issues are responsible for their addiction. 6 respondents which are 18.75% said that they

were just curious to try this.

6. Have you ever missed school or college because of your drug use?

Never 8 25%

Regularly 8 25%

Occasionally 11 34.83%

Rarely 5 15.63%

Don’t know 0 0%


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The purpose of these questions was to see if this addiction is affecting their academic life and to

what extend this addiction is affecting their academic life. 11 respondents out of 32 said

occasionally they miss school because of this addiction. 8 respondents which comprise 25% said

never. Another 25% said regularly. The rest of the 5 ( 15.63% ) respondents said rarely they miss

school because of this addiction.


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7. To what extent do you agree with the following statement: “Prescription drugs

addiction leads to poor academic results”.

Strongly Disagree 1 3.13%

Disagree 3 9.38%

Neither agree nor disagree 10 31.25%

Agree 6 18.75%

Strongly agree 12 37.5%

This question was asked to find out to what extent people think that prescription drug is

responsible for poor academic results. 12 respondents out of 32 which comprise 37.5% strongly

agreed with this statement. Another 31.2 % remained neutral towards this statement. Rest of the

18.75% agreed with this statement. 3 respondents disagreed and 3.13% strongly disagreed with

this statement.


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9. Did your friend/society/peers abandon/neglect/avoid you because of this

addiction?

Yes they did not talk to me 8 25%

No they remained same after knowing this 24 75%

Other 0 0%

Purpose of this question was to find out how society behaves towards this drug addicted people.

8 respondents, means 25% said their friend/society/peers did not talk to them. But 24

respondents, which comprise 75 %, said they remained same after knowing about this addiction.

This shows society don’t consider prescription drug addiction as a serious issue.


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10. Have you noticed any adverse effect of this addiction on your physical health?

No, I think I am fine 24 75%

Yes, I think my health is deteriorating day by day 8 25 %

The above graph is based on the question I asked in the questionnaire that if they have notice any

adverse effect on their physical health because of this addiction. 24 out of 32 respondents, means

75% said that no I think I am fine which means they think this addiction is not affecting their

health and they are fine. Rest of the 25% said yes they have seen adverse effect of this addiction

on their health.


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11. Do you think you will be able to quit this addiction?

Yes 11 34.38%

No 12 37.5%

Not sure 9 28.13%

The purpose of this question was to find out what these drug addicted people think about quitting

their addiction. 11 respondents, means 34.38% said that yes they think they will be able to quit.

But majorities 37.5% (12 respondents) think they will not be able to quit. Other 9 (28.13%)

respondents said they are not sure about this.


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12. What factor is not allowing you to stop this addiction?

Peer pressure 7 22.58%

Depression/ Frustration 15 48.39%

Extreme work pressure 7 22.58%

Others (Please specify) 2 6.54%

15 respondents out of 32, means 48.39% said depression / frustration is not allowing them to stop

this addiction. Another 7 respondents comprising 22.58% said they are not able to quit this

addiction as they have extreme work pressure. Same number of respondents 7 (22.58%) also

mentioned about peer pressure is not allowing them to stop this addiction. 2 respondents chose

other but didn’t mention about any.


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Summary of Interviews

For my primary research I have conducted face to face in depth interview with the following

people:

Dr. Fahmida Begum, (2015, July 27) Consultant – Nephrology , Apollo Hospital DhakaMd.

Shaphawat Hossain, (2015, August 3 ) Counseling Psychologist, Assistant Student Counselor,

North South University

Aquib Bhuiyan ( 2015, August 5) Pharmacist, Tamanna Pharmacy, Uttara

For my first interview I interviewed Dr. Fahmida Begum. When I asked her what the

possible side effects of these over the counter (OTC) drugs are, she said though the side effects

of these medicines are not so visible but these drugs can cause significant damage to the internal

organs of a person’s body or can even lead to death. The most popular drugs which are being

abused in our society today are painkillers sleeping pills, paracetamol and antacid tablets. She

mentioned that once she received a case of a boy who was 22 years old and was a medical

student. During his exams he was having awful headache and took several painkillers for 2-3

days. That boy was brought in severe condition to the hospital and he died due to liver failure.

She said as teenagers these days stay awake at night and don’t get enough sleep, they think that

it’s better to take a sleeping pill so that they can get a sound sleep without knowing its harmful

effects. As sleeping pills and cough syrups are addictive medicine someone can easily be

dependent on them and can’t sleep without taking sleeping pills. Then eventually their body

starts to develop resistance against these drugs. These sleeping pills can lead to brain damage,

liver failure, liver cirrhosis, and respiratory disease. Most of the people are unaware of the


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harmful effects of taking these drugs and they think that it is ok to take those as it is not illegal

medicines. When I asked what can be done to prevent this problem she replied firstly awareness

should be created as most of the people are not aware of the side effects of these drugs.

Secondly, an instructions manual should be given with this drugs where the side effects of those

drug will be mentioned. Thirdly, Law should be strictly enforced on selling over the counter

drugs.

For my second interview I interviewed the Assistant Student Counselor, of North South

University Mr Shaphawat Hossain. When I asked him why teenagers get addicted to prescription

drugs, he replied that the main reasons of this addiction are frustration, family problems

relationship issues and curiosity. Sometimes teens just want to get high but they don’t have

affordability or accessibility to illegal drugs. So they go for prescription drugs as these are cheap

and easy to buy. Most of the parents are not aware of what their children are taking and even if

they know this they just completely ignore it thinking that these are medicines so it does not fall

under drug addiction. Once teenagers become dependent on it, they can’t live without those

medicines. He said teenagers who are at higher risk to develop abuse dependence are teenagers

with family histories of addiction, personal histories of substance abuse, eating disorders,

untreated depression and low self-esteem. Addicted teenagers can be irritable, restless,

depressed, unmotivated, and even suicidal. He also said teenagers coming off the medication

typically have difficulty concentrating (even if they had little to no problems with concentration

before starting the medication). He said addicted teenagers face some mental problems like

irritation, restlessness, depression, lack of motivation, and some can even go for suicide. When I

asked him how parents will identify if their child is addict, he replied it can be a little tricky to

detect if child is addicted to prescription drug or he is using it for medical purposes. He said


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usually prescription drug addicts show some symptoms like using drugs when not prescribed by

a physician, seeking out several different physicians to obtain the medication, lying to physicians

about symptoms to obtain the medication, buying the medication on the street and personality

changes. When I asked him what can be done to prevent young people from exploiting

prescription drug uses, he replied awareness should be created as most of the people don’t know

about the harmful effects of prescription drugs.

For my third interview I had interviewed Aquib Bhuiyan is a pharmacists and he works at

Tamanna Pharmacy. I asked him if they want any prescription when an individual comes to

purchase any drug. He replied that they don’t ask for any prescription as they are not instructed

to do so. When I asked him do they know that these teenagers abuse these drugs by purchasing

from them, he told me that he is totally unaware of this. He told me that most of the teenagers

usually ask for sleeping pills and medicines like alatrol, cough syrup, histacin, antacids etc.


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Summary of Research Findings

Through my research I have found that most of the people started prescription drug

addiction when they were teenagers. Most of the people think friends and class mates influenced

them to get addicted to prescription drug addiction. But they believe that family issues,

frustration and relationship problems drove them towards this addiction. Though some of them

said curiosity and just trying to get that high feeling are also responsible for their condition.

Majority of the addicted people said because of this addiction they have missed school/college

and it has affected their studies which ultimately lead to poor academic performance. It proves

one of my claims.

Most of these addicted people said even after knowing that they are addicted to

prescription drugs their family/society/peers remained same with them. Where other drug

addicted people are abandoned in our society, perspective of seeing these prescription drug

addicted people are different. Society often overlooks prescription drug addiction and don’t

understand the seriousness of this addiction where this addiction is equally or even more harmful

than any other illegal drug addiction. Most of the drug addicted people think this addiction is not

causing any harm to their body. These prescription drugs are harmful and overdose can

immediately cause death but addicted people are not even aware of the side effects of this

medicine

Most of the drug addicted people think they will not be able to quit this addiction. It

means that they have become dependent on these drugs to such an extent that they can’t quit this

addiction without expert help. They also think that frustration and peer pressure are not allowing

them to quit this addiction.


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By looking at all this information we can sum up to one thing that Prescription drug

addiction has become a very serious issue in Bangladesh and it is overlooked. This addiction is

very common among teenagers these days. This addiction is affecting teenager’s physical health

and destroying their future which ultimately proves my claim.


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Limitation

The research would have been better if some interviews of substance abuse counselor and

doctors of drug rehab centers could have been conducted which would have helped to know their

perspective regarding the issue. However, there are some limitations of this study. The study was

limited by a number of factors. Firstly, the sample size was very small to present the proposed

scenario. Secondly, time constraint led to get narrower outcomes and finally, the knowledge

constraint regarding the issue was another limitation for this study. The shortcomings may be

commented or suggested by the readers of the report.


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Recommendations

1) Health Ministry needs to come up with the guidelines for health practitioners and

pharmacists to adhere certain regulations while prescribing and selling prescription drugs.

Its quite imperative for the pharmacists to stop selling prescription drugs without

verifiable prescriptions. The health practitioners can maintain a database of patients along

with their name, date of birth, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment. Pharmacists can call

back to the respective health practitioner and confirm the authenticity of the prescription

and drugs recommended. This method can be considered as a baseline and depending on

the context, can be modified to provide the best output.

2) Family needs to monitor the use of prescription drugs among the teenagers and explain

them the importance of doctor consultation before taking any prescription drug. There

can be a voluntary service among the clinics that can provide free consultation to the

teenagers in the clinics the important of prescription drugs and the necessity to stop its

abuse. School, colleges and university can hold seminars that are mandatory for students

to attend and explain the importance of the issue.

`It’s important to realize that this is a generic concern and everyone from the society needs to do

their part to stop this abuse. It’s not a sole responsibility on the government neither on the health

practitioners. It’s the society, in general, that needs to declare war against prescription drug

abuse and act accordingly.


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Conclusion

It is imperative to understand the importance of resisting drug abuse among the teenagers

in the society considering its long term; impact. To build a formidable future, we need to have a

young generation free from anti-biotic and other prescription drug resistance. It is also important

to realize that prescription drug abuse among teenagers is a broader concern and every group

from the society have their own part to stop the abuse. Starting from the government to come up

with policies and regulations, the health practitioners and pharmacists to follow the regulations

set out religiously, the parents and senior members of the society to monitor the drug use by the

teenagers in their family, locality and most importantly adequate consultation with the teenagers

to explain the downsides of abusing prescription drugs and helping them to get over the issue

will be the preliminary steps to get rid of this critical social problem. If the society can act

together as a single force against prescription drug abuse, it will be possible to restrict the issue.


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References

1. A. Pawlowski. (2014, September 19). Secret life of teens: The dangerous drug

parents aren’t talking about with kids. Retrieved from:

http://www.today.com/parents/prescription-drug-abuse-part-secret-life-teens-

1D80157066

2. Khan, M. H. (2007, December 25). Drug Addiction and its remedies. Bangladesh

News. Retrieved from: http://www.independent-bangladesh.com/

3. Shemul, H. T. (2009, April 15). The impacts of drug on young generation of

Bangladesh. Modern Ghana. Retrieved from: http://www.modernghana.com/

4. Camí, J., & Farré, M. (2003, September 4). Mechanisms of Disease: Drug

Addiction. The New England Journal of Medicine, p. 975.

5. Shazzad, M.N., Abdal, S.J., Majumder, M.S.M., Sohel, J.U.A., Ali, S.M.M., &

Ahmed, S. (2013). Drug Addiction in Bangladesh and its Effect. Medicine Today (Vol.

25, p. 84).

6. Nestler, E.J., (1992, July). Molecular Mechanisms of Drug Addiction. The

Journal of Neuroscience.

7. McLellan, A.T., Lewis, D.C., O’Brien, C.P., & Kleber, H.D. (2009). Drug

Dependence, a Chronic Medical Illness: Implications for Treatment, Insurance, and

Outcomes Evaluation.

8. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Alcohol and Drug Abuse and

Addiction: A Health Care Professional’s Resource Guide, pp. 1-2.

9. Schreiner, M.D. (2012). A deadly combination: The legal response to America's

prescription drug epidemic. The Journal of Legal Medicine, 33, 529-539.

http://www.today.com/parents/prescription-drug-abuse-part-secret-life-teens-1D80157066


http://www.independent-bangladesh.com/

http://www.modernghana.com/


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10. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). (2014a). Drugs, brains, and behavior:

The science of addiction. Retrieved from: http://www.drugabuse.gov/sites/default/

files/soa_2014.pdf

11. Office of National Drug Control Policy, (n.d.). Prescription drug abuse. Retrieved

from https://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/prescription-drug-abuse


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Annotated Bibliography

McLellan, A.T., Lewis, D.C., O’Brien, C.P., & Kleber, H.D. (2009). Drug Dependence,

a Chronic Medical Illness: Implications for Treatment, Insurance, and Outcomes

Evaluation

This journal talks about the social consequence of drug addiction. Drug addiction is not

a health problem anymore it has become a social problem. These expensive effects of

drugs on all social systems have been important in shaping the public view that drug

dependence is primarily a social problem that requires interdiction and law enforcement

rather than a health problem that requires prevention and treatment.

Pawlowski. (2014, September 19). Secret life of teens: The dangerous drug parents

aren’t talking about with kids. Retrieved from :

http://www.today.com/parents/prescription-drug-abuse-part-secret-life-teens-

1D80157066

This article discuss about prescription drug addiction about teenagers. Prescription drug

addiction is a raising problem among teenagers these days. Mainly parents are modeling

the wrong behavior. They share pain medicines with their kids; they share antibiotics

among the family. But when they're misused in any way, not only can they be dangerous,

they can be deadly as well.




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Nestler, E.J., (1992, July). Molecular Mechanisms of Drug Addiction. The Journal of

Neuroscience.

This journal shows the results of recent research efforts that have begun to characterize

the neurobiological basis of compulsive drug use. Its major focus is on opiates and

cocaine, since the addictive mechanisms underlying the actions of these drugs are the best

understood

Camí, J., & Farré, M. (2003, September 4). Mechanisms of Disease: Drug Addiction. The

New England Journal of Medicine, p. 975.

This journal talks about advances in the neurobiology of drug addiction have led to the

identification of neuronal substrates responsible for the rewarding effects of prototypical

drugs of abuse, which are crucial to the addictive process. There is increasing evidence

that prolonged exposure to drugs of abuse produces long-lasting effects in cognitive and

drug-rewarding circuits. For this reason, addiction should be considered a chronic

medical illness.

Schreiner, M.D. (2012). A deadly combination: The legal response to America's

prescription drug epidemic. The Journal of Legal Medicine, 33, 529-539.

The journal talks about the current situation of prescription drug addiction in America.

In America after marijuana prescription drugs and over-the counter medications are the

most commonly abused drugs by high school students the most common drugs that are

being abused.


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Appendix This questionnaire is designed for the purpose of doing a research on “Understanding the current situation on prescription drug addiction among teenagers”. This is an academic research and findings from this survey will only be used for academic purposes. Your honest responses are appreciated.

Please circle your answer unless otherwise stated. Gender: (a) Male (b) Female Please mention your age _______ 1. When you were a teenager have you ever used drugs other than those required for medical reasons?

a) Yes b) No c) Sometimes

2. Do you still use prescription drugs?

a) Yes b) No c) Occasionally

3. At what age did you start taking drugs?

a) 13-15 b) 16-18 c) Please specify_________________

4. Who do you think influenced you to get addicted to prescription drugs?

a) Friends b) Cousins c) Class mates/Peers d) Others (please specify) _________________________________

5. What factors drove you towards prescription drugs addiction?

(You can choose more than one answer option here)

a) Family issues b) Relationship problems c) Frustration d) I was just curious to try this. e) Others (Please specify)___________________________


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6. Have you ever missed school or college because of your drug use?

a) Never b) Regularly c) Occasionally d) Rarely e) Don’t know

7. To what extent do you agree with the following statement: “Prescription drugs addiction leads to poor academic results”.

a) Strongly Disagree b) Disagree c) Neither agree or disagree d) Agree e) Strongly agree

8. When was the last time you used prescription drugs without any doctor’s recommendations?

a) Within last 2 days b) Within last 3-7 days c) Within 1 month d) Others (Please specify)_____________________

9. Did your friend/society/peers abandon/neglect/avoid you because of this addiction?

a) Yes, they did not talk to me b) No, they remained same after knowing this. c) Others (please specify)________________________

10. Have you noticed any adverse effect of this addiction on your physical health?

a) No, I think I am fine b) Yes, I think my health is deteriorating day by day

11. Do you think you will be able to quit?

a) Yes b) No c) Not sure

12. What factors are not allowing you to stop this addiction?

a) Peer pressure b) Depression/ Frustration c) Extreme work pressure d) Others (Please specify) ____________________


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2. Do you still use prescription drugs other than prescribed?

Yes 18 56.25%

No 8 25%

Occasionally 6 18.75%

The purpose of this question was to see that if they still use it or not. 18 respondents out of 32

which are 56.25% said they still use it. 8 respondents said they don’t use it now and it is 25%.

Rest of the 6 respondents said occasionally they take prescription drugs and it is 6 18.75%. From

this I found that people who used to use prescription drug during teenage, still use prescription

drugs without any medical reasons.


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8. When was the last time you used prescription drugs without any doctor’s recommendations?

Within last 2 days 0 0%

Within last 3-7 days 6 18.75%

Within 1 month 20 62.5%

Others (Please specify) 6 18.75%

In this questions 20 respondents out of 32, means 62.5% said within one month they have used

prescription drug without any medical reasons. 6 respondents, means18.5% said within last 3-7

days, they have used drugs. Another 18.75% chose the other option but did not mention any

particular time limit.


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Research on Prescription Drug Abuse and Addiction Among Teenagers

Healthcare

Transcript of Research on Prescription Drug Abuse and Addiction Among Teenagers