Students
On TV there are too many ads to count about medications, all of which seem to make people happier, healthier, and more likeable, right? Then there are newspaper and magazine ads that say that prescription medications are similar to dangerous street drugs. Who is right?
Both. The truth is that any chemical put into the body can be either helpful or harmful.
Foods are made up of chemicals, most of which are helpful to the body. But some people have allergies to certain foods, and those foods can be dangerous and deadly.
Medications you get off the supermarket shelf are also made of chemicals, but are super-concentrated forms of chemicals, so a little pill can pack a big punch.
Medications you get from the pharmacy are even more concentrated, and have the potential to have serious negative consequences, also called “side effects”, that can be dangerous and deadly.
When doctors prescribe medications, they take into account the patient’s health history, their age, size, weight, gender, and allergies, in addition to whatever current health issue brought them to the doctor’s office. Then the doctor writes a prescription for a specific medication with a specific potency, and to be taken at a specific frequency. The reasons for all these specifics are to give the patient the best possible outcome from the medications, with the least amount of side effects or complications. Doctors know that giving too much of a medication, or the wrong medication to the patient could be life threatening. What they would prescribe for one person may be completely different than what they prescribe for another person, even if they have the same medical issue!
Bottom Line: Just because medications are prescribed by a doctor, does not mean they are safe. They are only safe for the specific patient, in the specific dose, at the specific frequency determined by a medical doctor.
Here are some other myths you may have heard about taking prescription drugs…
Myth: You can’t die from abusing prescription drugs just one time
FACT: You CAN DIE the first and only time you abuse prescription drugs. Many of these drugs affect areas of the brain that control your breathing and heart rate. They way it effects you may be different (deadly) from how it effects your friend
Myth: Your brain is not affected by abusing prescription drugs
FACT: Because your brain is still growing, prescription pain drugs, when abused, act like a computer virus - they can change, alter and/or scramble your brain’s computer code that is needed to make good choices
Myth: Selling or sharing prescription drugs with friends is no big deal.
FACT: It is Illegal and could be deadly. You can be arrested and jailed for drug trafficking or worse.
Myth: You can’t get addicted to using prescription drugs. They are safer than street drugs
FACT: When Prescription Drugs are abused they can as addictive and dangerous as “illegal” drugs like heroin and morphine
Still have questions? Visit these other websites for more information for students about prescription drug abuse:
Facts about Prescription Drugs
A place for Students to see where they are related to drugs and alcohol
Video clips about Rx Drug Abuse for parents and for teens, and addresses common myths, the sickness of addition etc.
National Institute on Drug Abuse for Teens
abovetheinfluence.com
General Information about all sorts of subjects for students, including anonymous Q&A sessions
Your brain and drugs
Helpful information about to help a friend
On TV there are too many ads to count about medications, all of which seem to make people happier, healthier, and more likeable, right? Then there are newspaper and magazine ads that say that prescription medications are similar to dangerous street drugs. Who is right?
Both. The truth is that any chemical put into the body can be either helpful or harmful.
Foods are made up of chemicals, most of which are helpful to the body. But some people have allergies to certain foods, and those foods can be dangerous and deadly.
Medications you get off the supermarket shelf are also made of chemicals, but are super-concentrated forms of chemicals, so a little pill can pack a big punch.
Medications you get from the pharmacy are even more concentrated, and have the potential to have serious negative consequences, also called “side effects”, that can be dangerous and deadly.
When doctors prescribe medications, they take into account the patient’s health history, their age, size, weight, gender, and allergies, in addition to whatever current health issue brought them to the doctor’s office. Then the doctor writes a prescription for a specific medication with a specific potency, and to be taken at a specific frequency. The reasons for all these specifics are to give the patient the best possible outcome from the medications, with the least amount of side effects or complications. Doctors know that giving too much of a medication, or the wrong medication to the patient could be life threatening. What they would prescribe for one person may be completely different than what they prescribe for another person, even if they have the same medical issue!
Bottom Line: Just because medications are prescribed by a doctor, does not mean they are safe. They are only safe for the specific patient, in the specific dose, at the specific frequency determined by a medical doctor.
Here are some other myths you may have heard about taking prescription drugs…
Myth: You can’t die from abusing prescription drugs just one time
FACT: You CAN DIE the first and only time you abuse prescription drugs. Many of these drugs affect areas of the brain that control your breathing and heart rate. They way it effects you may be different (deadly) from how it effects your friend
Myth: Your brain is not affected by abusing prescription drugs
FACT: Because your brain is still growing, prescription pain drugs, when abused, act like a computer virus - they can change, alter and/or scramble your brain’s computer code that is needed to make good choices
Myth: Selling or sharing prescription drugs with friends is no big deal.
FACT: It is Illegal and could be deadly. You can be arrested and jailed for drug trafficking or worse.
Myth: You can’t get addicted to using prescription drugs. They are safer than street drugs
FACT: When Prescription Drugs are abused they can as addictive and dangerous as “illegal” drugs like heroin and morphine
Still have questions? Visit these other websites for more information for students about prescription drug abuse:
Facts about Prescription Drugs
A place for Students to see where they are related to drugs and alcohol
Video clips about Rx Drug Abuse for parents and for teens, and addresses common myths, the sickness of addition etc.
National Institute on Drug Abuse for Teens
abovetheinfluence.com
General Information about all sorts of subjects for students, including anonymous Q&A sessions
Your brain and drugs
Helpful information about to help a friend