How are Youth and Young Adults Accessing Prescription Drug Medications and OTC Drugs?

Most youth and young adults secure pharmaceuticals through family or friend connections. Some get them from their own doctor for legitimate needs and then misuse them for nonmedical reasons. Others may buy them outside the ordinary medication distribution system, either from someone they know or from a drug dealer or from a stranger. Perhaps the most interesting finding is that only a very small number of people get the drugs they used for nonmedical purposes through multiple doctors, a process known as "doctor shopping," which many states have identified as a key target for enforcement intervention or prescription drug monitoring.³⁰

In 2008, over half (55%) of teens surveyed cited family medicine cabinets as the main source for obtaining prescription drugs.³¹ Go to "Safe storage of legitimately obtained prescription medications" for more information on how to safety store prescription drugs.

Since prescription drugs are widely available in the home, teens often do not have to go far to find ways to get high. Nevertheless, a small number of teens say they get their prescription drugs illicitly. The World Wide Web also plays a big role in providing information and advice to teens.

• Some pharmacies operating on the Internet are legal, and some are not. Illicit pharmacies pretend to be authentic by operating websites that advertise powerful drugs without a prescription or with the "approval" of a "doctor" working for the drug trafficking network. Teens have access to these websites and are exposed to offers of prescription drugs through email spam or advertising. Parents should be aware of which sites their children visit and should scan credit card and bank statements for drug purchases.
• Teens sometimes brag about their drug use on social networking sites such as MySpace, advertising their behavior to future employers, college admissions offices, and others.
• The Internet is a tremendous resource for teens to learn about the dangers of drug abuse. However, it is also full of information about how to use prescription drugs to get high–how much to use, what combinations work best, and what a user can expect to experience.