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Show •r C m OPINIONS • » t c IE • It m * | www.uvureview.com * December 6, 2010 VOL L ISSUE 17 a m norahce is bliss Why we deny prescription drug abuse Randy h'el!son/UVU Review Street drugs contain similar chemicals as prescription drugs, and yet both are easy to find even though one is legal and one is not Nonmedical use of prescription drugs is on the rise. Students are at risk for abuse and addiction of these drugs, even in Utah County. use has doubled in the last five years. What is concerning is that prescription drugs are often a precursor to heroin use. Particular to Utah is the justification that these drugs are not against the LDS church's Word of Wisdom, a strict code of health, and therefore not prohibited, per se. What's more is that family and friends take them and have them in their homes, which may be what make By Celeste Rosenlof ; the drugs alluring - they Asst. Opinions Editor are not seen as a threat and ull-time college stu- they are easy to get. According to the ATTC dents are twice as Network, a substance likely to abuse preabuse treatment developer, scription medications than 40 percent of adolescents those not enrolled in the same age group, according and young adults have a to the National Survey on false security about prescription k drugs and think Drug Use and Health. Utah is no exception, they are safer to use than even within our quest to illicit drugs. Seventy percent of perfection. According to an opin- the people who are abusion piece by R. Gil Ker- ing these drugs say that likowske, director of the they obtained them from a Office of National Drug friend or relative, and only Control Policy, published 4.3 percent actually bought in the Salt Lake Tribune, them from a drug dealer. Although these drugs nine counties of Utah's 29 are more widely available, have higher rates of drug they should not be seen fatalities than the national as a safe way to get high. average. Ten percent of the 2,086 drug fatalities Many of these drugs conin Utah occurred by over- tain identical base ingredidosing on pharmaceutical ents found in street drugs and are not exempt from drugs. potential addiction and the Although Utah County side effects of street drugs. is below the national average for drug deaths, heroin They are just disguised in F v the facade of the familiar medicinal pill. It is available and we are not educated about its harms. As students fall into the age bracket which most abuses prescription drugs, it is concerning that in the spring 2010 American College Heath Association's survey of college students, 71.9 percent of them responded that they "Utah is not unique to drugs. What is unique about Utah is the level of denial, because we want, particularly in Utah County, to look a certain way rather than how it truly is." -Ron Williams m were not interested in receiving information from their college or university about alcohol or other drug use/ . During a time when young adults are trying to transition between their dependence upon parents to their independence, they choose to be ignorant of the dangers of substance abuse. Percent 10 -j 8 - 6 - 4 - 2 - 0 Total Aged 18 to 22 Aged 18 to 20 Aged 2 1 or 22 Male Age Group n Female Age Gender Full Time College Students Other Persons Aged 18 to 22 The NSDUH report said, "Full-time college students who were nonmedical users of [prescription stimulants] were almost three times as likely... to have used marijuana in the past year, eight times more likely to have used cocaine in that period, eight times more likely to have been nonmedical users of prescription tran- v quilizers and five times more likely to have been nonmedical users of prescription pain relievers." In addition to choosing not to be educated about illicit and prescription drug use, it seems, that in the case of Utah, it may also be something that is easy to hide. Popping a pill doesn't require the same paraphernalia as other drug use. Ron Williams, the maker of the film Happy Valley, a documentary about drug abuse in Utah County, said, "Utah is not unique to drugs. What is unique about Utah is the level of denial, because we want, particularly in Utah dmnty, to look a certain way rather than how it truly is.'* |