Hydrocodone Abuse: A High Feeling from Prescription Meds
Hydrocodone is an opiate that is usually prescribed for pain and hydrocodone abuse is escalating, according to the DEA. While hydrocodone is usually taken in pill form, some who abuse the drug may crush it and then snort it or inject it. Taking the drug via either of these methods results in higher doses of hydrocodone being released into the bloodstream very quickly. In fact, a number of deaths due to overdose of hydrocodone have occurred in this way.
Hydrocodone is abused across all geographic areas and age groups. Of particular concern is the abuse of hydrocodone by school age children. Since it produces a high feeling, it is the prescription drug of choice for many who choose to abuse drugs. Kids that abuse the drug often get it out of their parents’ medicine cabinets. In fact, there have been several public service announcements warning parents to be vigilant with their medications and to talk to their kids about drugs. Please be aware , especially on weekends of where your prescription meds are and keep them in a place that is not reachable by your children. Some people are not even aware that they are taking a hydrocodone drug and may not recognize vicoden, lortab and lorcet or other forms of it.
Hydrocodone is the prescription drug that most often ends up in police laboratories and evidence rooms. While it is not manufactured illicitly, it is highly sought after using illicit means. For example, some who abuse hydrocodone are able to do it by using underhanded means to call in a prescription. Many of these people get caught however, and the punishment is stiff.
Doctor shopping is another method that people use to abuse hydrocodone. Knowing that their regular doctor won’t continue to prescribe the painkiller indefinitely, abusers will go to another doctor and then another to keep getting prescriptions of the drug. What they may not realize is that prescriptions for controlled substances like hydrocodone are recorded and when one patient keeps getting multiple prescriptions for a controlled substance, their doctors are notified so that they will be aware of what is really going on. At the clinic where I work there are often calls to psychiatrists from pharmacies letting them know that the patient has already received a prescription from another doctor for hydrocodone or a different pain killer. Pain management can become a desperate state of mind for people although some are just using it to get high and don’t suffer from back pain or injury pains from an accident.
Hydrocodone abuse is on the upswing and it is dangerous. As with many other drugs that are abused, abusing hydrocodone can lead to a serious addiction, multiple health problems, issues with the law, and even death.
Pain pills are probably more abused than illegal street drugs at this point. My daughter said her friends in 11th grade check their parents room on weekends to find something for saturday nights to get buzzed.