An annual national study of teen drug abuse commissioned by The Partnership for a Drug-Free America reports the disturbing move by U.S. teens toward prescription drugs as their choice for drug abuse.1,2 The 25-page report (available at www.drugfree.org3) reveals that Vicodin, OxyContin, Ritalin/Adderall, and cough medicine are tried more often by teens abusing drugs than cocaine, ecstasy, LSD, heroin and most other street drugs. Only marijuana and inhalants have been tried more often than this list of prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs.
The numbers are a bit frightening. Almost one out of every five teenagers has used a prescription painkiller to get "high." Approximately one in 11 has used an OTC medication such as cough syrup.
According to the survey, this is what our youth are taking:
One reason America's teens are turning to the prescription drugs is their assumed safety. If their medical doctor readily prescribes them, how harmful can they be?
Another reason has to be accessibility. Buying drugs off the street from someone you don't know has some pretty obvious risks. Raiding your mother's medicine cabinet has the appearance of greater safety.
But at the end of the day, drug abuse is still drug abuse. Only these days, it isn't a Columbian cartel or an underground meth lab. The people producing the drugs our children are abusing are the same drug manufacturers that spend billions of dollars each year, convincing consumers that their drugs are the answer to any and all ailments.
Take another look at the numbers. If you have five teenage patients, chances are at least one of them is abusing prescription or OTC drugs. If you have five parents of teenagers, the problems may be going on right under their noses. The parents (or their children) may be "misplacing" medications, and the parents might not even realize what is happening.
This is another opportunity for our profession to step up and make a difference in people's lives. This is a serious problem in the United States, and the chiropractic profession should be the first to speak out against it.
You should be talking to your patients, writing an article for your local newspaper, putting something on your Web site, and even contacting The Partnership for a Drug-Free America to see if you can partner with them. Chiropractic has always represented a nondrug lifestyle; this is our chance to go on record with an issue affecting the nation.
Yes, you can use this article. A printable copy is available online at www.chiroweb.com/archives/23/17/30.html. You can also copy it into a text-editing program (e.g., Microsoft Word) and edit it as you wish.
Yes, there is a substantial amount of information you can access on The Partnership for a Drug-Free America Web site. Make your patients aware of this potential problem their children are facing. Get them to visit www.drugfree.org and educate themselves and their teens.
Providing this information is another way to introduce health into the lives of our patients and the people in our community. Your actions could result in the saving of a life (or many lives). Your efforts could prevent a young person from overdosing on a drug they thought was safe just because their mother or their little brother took it (for a health condition).
Our society has embraced drug therapy for too long. As consumers, we are reaping what we have allowed the drug companies to sow. Chiropractic is qualified to speak out against this trend in our youth. We only have to open our mouths and our hearts.
References
When sports chiropractors first appeared at the Olympic Games in the 1980s, it was alongside individual athletes who had experienced the benefits of chiropractic care in their training and recovery processes at home. Fast forward to Paris 2024, where chiropractic care was available in the polyclinic for all athletes, and the attitude has now evolved to recognize that “every athlete deserves access to sports chiropractic."
It is estimated that 61% of patients with CTS avoid taking surgical options due to postoperative complications and costly surgical procedures. Chiropractic care offers a comprehensive and effective treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome, addressing the condition from multiple angles. Recent studies also have unveiled a game-changing adjunct to chiropractic treatments for CTS: nerve flossing.
Some doctors thrive in a personality-based clinic and have a loyal following no matter what services or equipment they offer, but for most chiropractic offices who are trying to grow and expand, new equipment purchases help us stay relevant and continue to service our client base in the best, most up-to-date manner possible. So, regarding equipment purchasing: should you lease, get a bank loan, or pay cash?
