If kids ruled the world, how would they stop the non-medical use of prescription drugs?

Abstract

PurposeThis study examined how youth would mitigate non-medical use of prescription medication among their peers.Design/methodology/approachThe National Monitoring of Adolescent Prescription Stimulants Study (N-MAPSS) was conducted as an interview comprising 11,048 youth of 10–18 years of age between 2008 and 2011 from entertainment venues of 10 US urban, suburban, and rural areas. Using a mixed-methods approach, participants completed a survey culminating in open-ended questions asking: (1) How should kids your age be informed about prescription drugs and their effects? (2) If you ran the world, how would you stop kids from taking other people’s prescription medicines? (3) Why do people use prescription stimulants without a prescription? Responses from a random sample of 900 children were analyzed using qualitative thematic analyses.FindingsThe random sample of 900 youth (52 percent female, 40 percent white, with a mean age of 15.1 years) believed they should be educated about prescription drugs and their negative effects at schools, at home by parents, through the media, and health professionals. Youth would stop kids from using other people’s prescription drugs through more stringent laws that restricted use, and providing education about negative consequences of use. Peer pressure was the most common reason the youth gave for using other’s pills, though some reported taking them out of curiosity.Originality/valueThe importance of considering youth’s opinions on non-medical use of prescription medications is often overlooked. This evidence, from a peer perspective, could end the illicit use of prescription drugs among today’s youth.

Tranquilisers and sedatives misuse and associated factors among adolescents in Estonia: findings from cross-sectional ESPAD surveys, 2003–2019

“…Additionally, friends may exert pressure to misuse TS, although this pressure tends to decrease with increasing age. 48 The strong association between an individual's misuse and friends' TS misuse is consistent with the finding, where obtaining TS from friends is the most common source. 3 28 49 50 Given the increasing ease of availability and the rising prevalence of TS misuse among Estonian adolescents, future additions to the Estonian ESPAD questionnaire could include questions about the source of these medicines to gain insight and implement effective measures, including parental education, to limit availability.…”