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Both adults and children struggle with prescription drug addiction

By Staff Writer

Many adults have struggled with prescription drug addiction, but the demographic is beginning to shift toward adolescents as medications become easily accessible. In Dutchess County, New York, health and law officials are banding together to address the issue, according to the Poughkeepsie Journal.

Margaret Hirst, the division chief of an organization that provides chemical dependency services, told the news source that narcotic abuse is on the rise. OxyContin, Vicodin and Percocet have been the most commonly abused prescription drugs over the past three years.

Hirst said that adults often become addicted to medications because they take prescriptions for longer than necessary. Children are also getting their hands on these drugs, which can be easily found in medicine cabinets.

Withdrawal symptoms of prescription medication, including Vicodin and Percocet, include vomiting, body aches and diarrhea.

Mary Ellen Still, the director of the Dutchess County Office of Probation and Community Corrections, told the news source that prescriptions may also lead to the abuse of harder drugs, such as heroin.

Drug addiction costs the U.S. more than $484 billion every year, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Drug rehab centers can help people detoxify over time. 

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