Prescription Drug Abuse

Most anti-drug messages focus on "street" drugs--heroin, cocaine, etc. However, prescription drug misuse can be just as dangerous to a young person's body, mind, and future. This video takes a hard look at the potential damage from abuse of doctor-prescribed drugs, which--due to wide availability, lower costs, and the perception that they are "safer" or more pure than street drugs--are often considered less risky to use. The truth is that some of these drugs require less than a month of abuse for addiction to develop in the user. Unfortunately, Prescription Drug Abuse suffers from a few drawbacks: the language seems to speak to an audience of at-risk young people, but the information and images seem better suited to adults who work with young people; the program uses a lot of technical medical terminology; and--worst of all--the feature includes graphic dramatizations that sometimes almost amount to how-to demonstrations of drug usage, including cooking pills and shooting up. Since all of this seems rather counterproductive in a program aimed at discouraging substance abuse in young people, this is very optional--even with its often overlooked subject. Aud: J, H, P. (E. Gieschen)