OLYMPIA -- The intentional abuse of prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medications to get high is an increasing problem among today's teen population, according to a new study whose results were released to the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) today.

The study confirms that "Generation Rx" has arrived:

"While it's important to remember that most kids don't misuse alcohol or other drugs, these findings should serve as a wake-up call to parents that their teen is facing a drug landscape that did not exist when they were teens," said Doug Allen, Acting Director of the DSHS Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse.

"We're seeing a similar picture among adults in the abuse of narcotics and stimulants," said Dr. Jeffery Thompson, M.D., Medicaid's Chief Medical Officer. "We are working with providers to ensure that the right medicine gets to the right person at the right time for the right reason. Use of medicine outside these parameters only leads to further problems, including deaths related to prescription narcotics."

"As we move into high school graduation parties and summer vacation, it's important for parents to keep talking with their kids about the ways alcohol and other drugs can hurt their health and their future. Although alcohol still injures and kills more kids and adults than any other drug, it's also important for parents to include prescription medicine and OTC drugs in those conversations."

"Using medicines for anything other than their intended purpose is just as dangerous as abusing alcohol or illegal drugs," added Allen.

DSHS and the Washington Chapter of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America are supporting a national effort by the Partnership to raise awareness of the concerns underscored by the 2005 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (PATS).

The campaign, which began this week, speaks directly to parents, warning them about teens using their own homes as a source of medications. It also has a multifaceted interactive online component that supplements the other information.

Some of the PATS findings mirror similar surveys in Washington State, including the 2004 Healthy Youth Survey (HYS). But the PATS study showed decreases in teens' use of tobacco and the number of teens using alcohol. HYS showed a different trend, with one in every four 12th graders, and nearly one in every five 10th graders, still having five or more drinks in a row during the last two weeks. That trend has not changed from 2002.

Free, confidential information and help is available for parents and teens in Washington:

• Alcohol/Drug 24-Hour Helpline (for information about state-funded treatment, and referrals to chemical dependency professionals: 1-800-562-1240 or www.adhl.org
• Alcohol/drug educational materials: 1-800-662-9111 or http://clearinghouse.adhl.org
• Alcohol/Drug Teenline: 1-877-345-TEEN or www.theteenline.org

"Parents need to educate themselves about the medications kids are abusing," Allen said. "Communicate with your kids and make sure they know it is not safe to abuse medicine. Safeguard your medications by learning which ones can be abused, limit access to them and keep track of the quantities you have in your home. Make sure your friends do the same."

Other findings in the PATS study:

• Nearly one in five (19 percent or 4.5 million) teens has tried prescription medication (pain relievers such as Vicodin and OxyContin; stimulants like Ritalin and Adderall) to get high.
• One in 10 (10 percent or 2.4 million) teens report abusing cough medicine to get high.
• Abuse of prescription and OTC medications is on par or higher than the abuse of illegal drugs such as Ecstasy (8 percent), cocaine/crack (10 percent), methamphetamine (8 percent) and heroin (5 percent), but occurs less than binge drinking among Washington's high school seniors (26%).
• Nearly one-third of teens (31 percent or 7.3 million) believe there's "nothing wrong" with using Rx medicines without a prescription "once in a while;"
• Nearly three out of 10 teens (29 percent or 6.8 million) believe prescription pain relievers – even if not prescribed by a doctor – are not addictive; and
• More than half of teens (55 percent or 13 million) don't agree strongly that using cough medicines to get high is risky.
• More than three in five teens say prescription pain relievers are easy to get from parents' medicine cabinets; half of teens say they're easy to get through other people's prescriptions; and more than half of teens say pain relievers are "available everywhere;" 43 percent of teens believe pain relievers are cheap and 35 percent believe they are safer to use than illegal drugs.
• Kids who learn a lot about the risks of drugs at home are up to 50 percent less likely to use drugs;
• While three out of five parents report discussing drugs like marijuana "a lot" with their children, only a third of parents report discussing the risks of abusing prescription medicines or non-prescription cold or cough medicine.
  

A national Web site includes special information for teens and their parents about abuse of prescription drugs and cough medicine:

For parents - www.drugfree.org/Parent/

For teens - www.dxmstories.com/

FOR MORE INFORMATION: The PATS study is posted on the Web at http://www.drugfree.org