Teenage drug abuse worsens across nation
By Cai Wenjun |
August 21, 2012, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
TEENAGE drug abuse is growing more serious nationally, as some regional studies have found up to 11 percent of middle school students abuse prescription cough medicine and painkillers obtained at drugstores that don't exercise proper controls.
The age of people going to adolescent drug rehabilitation centers has fallen. At a youth drug rehab center in Guangdong Province, the age at which teens try drugs for the first time dropped from 16 years old two years ago to the current 14.5 years old, according to an investigative report on China Central Television.
Experts are calling for stricter supervision of prescription medicines and broader societal involvement to prevent teenage drug abuse and help those who already have fallen prey.
Officials from Shanghai Food and Drug Administration said they find drugstores illegally sell prescription cough medicine and painkillers every year. But they indicated no serious teen abuse of such drugs has been found in the city, where overall drug administration is strict.
"Small drugstores and those in suburban areas may have such violations, and we want local residents to tell us about such cases," said Du Wenmin, executive director of Shanghai Center for Adverse Drug Reactions Monitoring.
In the television report, karaoke bars, dance halls, Internet cafes and places around schools are where Guangdong teenagers usually abuse drugs. Empty packages of cough syrup and a painkiller called tramadol, a narcotic-like pain reliever for moderate to severe pain, are commonly found in those places.
Cough syrup and tramadol both contain very low levels of codeine, an analgesic narcotic derived from opium.
"To get 'high,' people would need to take a very large amount of the medicines," said Du. "The harm is comprehensive and teenagers can affect their growth and intelligence," he added.
In a dance hall in Guangzhou, Guangdong's capital, five teenagers were found drinking cough syrup as if it were beer, according to the report. They had with them more than 200 pills of tramadol, which has a maximum recommended dosage of only two pills at one time.
The adolescent drug rehab center at Guangdong Armed Police Hospital investigated some 2,000 teenage drug abusers and found the drugs were purchased by themselves or had been kept at home.
Among teenaged drug abusers, about 80 percent started because of the influence of classmates or friends, 10 percent because of curiosity and the remainder to eliminate fatigue.
The age of people going to adolescent drug rehabilitation centers has fallen. At a youth drug rehab center in Guangdong Province, the age at which teens try drugs for the first time dropped from 16 years old two years ago to the current 14.5 years old, according to an investigative report on China Central Television.
Experts are calling for stricter supervision of prescription medicines and broader societal involvement to prevent teenage drug abuse and help those who already have fallen prey.
Officials from Shanghai Food and Drug Administration said they find drugstores illegally sell prescription cough medicine and painkillers every year. But they indicated no serious teen abuse of such drugs has been found in the city, where overall drug administration is strict.
"Small drugstores and those in suburban areas may have such violations, and we want local residents to tell us about such cases," said Du Wenmin, executive director of Shanghai Center for Adverse Drug Reactions Monitoring.
In the television report, karaoke bars, dance halls, Internet cafes and places around schools are where Guangdong teenagers usually abuse drugs. Empty packages of cough syrup and a painkiller called tramadol, a narcotic-like pain reliever for moderate to severe pain, are commonly found in those places.
Cough syrup and tramadol both contain very low levels of codeine, an analgesic narcotic derived from opium.
"To get 'high,' people would need to take a very large amount of the medicines," said Du. "The harm is comprehensive and teenagers can affect their growth and intelligence," he added.
In a dance hall in Guangzhou, Guangdong's capital, five teenagers were found drinking cough syrup as if it were beer, according to the report. They had with them more than 200 pills of tramadol, which has a maximum recommended dosage of only two pills at one time.
The adolescent drug rehab center at Guangdong Armed Police Hospital investigated some 2,000 teenage drug abusers and found the drugs were purchased by themselves or had been kept at home.
Among teenaged drug abusers, about 80 percent started because of the influence of classmates or friends, 10 percent because of curiosity and the remainder to eliminate fatigue.
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