"it's easier to buy narcotics than beer"

Parents who don't safeguard their medications are putting their teenagers at serious risk of addiction to prescription drugs, according to a national survey. The survey was released by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. Teenagers surveyed said it's easier to buy narcotics than beer. Nearly half the 17-year-olds in the survey said they have at least one friend who abuses prescription drugs.

Health experts not involved in the survey agree that teenagers raiding the family medicine cabinet are a growing problem - many youths quickly become hooked on such powerful opiates as Vicodin and OxyContin. Studies show that opiates trail only marijuana as the most commonly abused class of illegal drugs among adolescents.

While illegal drug use among teenagers has dropped by 25 percent since 2001, the number of teens using Vicodin has not budged, and the number of teens using OxyContin has risen by 25 percent, according to statistics kept by the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

SOURCES:
The San Francisco Chronicle
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/15/MNO7129OUD.DTL&hw=national%20center%20on%20addiction%20substance%20abuse&sn=001&sc=1000

ALEXANDRA CHUNN