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Addiction to Medications: What Are the Risks and Who Is Vulnerable?

Air date: Tuesday, November 9, 2004, 7:00:00 PM
Time displayed is Eastern Time, Washington DC Local
Description: NIH Clinical Center's 2004 Medicine for the Public lecture series

Most people who take prescription medications take them responsibly, but the non-medical use of these drugs can be dangerous. Non-medical use of certain prescription drugs can lead to abuse and dependence, characterized by compulsive drug-seeking and use. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, an estimated 6.2 million people used prescription medications non-medically in 2002. The National Institute on Drug Abuse's annual Monitoring the Future survey found a staggeringly high increase in reported rates of non-medical use of two pain medications among 12th graders. One-in-ten high school seniors took Vicodin® last year, making it the second-most commonly reported illicit drug used by high school seniors, after marijuana.

http://clinicalcenter.nih.gov/about/news/mfp.shtml
Author: Nora D. Volkow, M.D., National Institute on Drug Abuse
Runtime: 2 hours