What are the most common drugs that are abused?
Prescribed uses: Painklillers and opioids are used to treat pain, as a cough surppresant, to relieve diarrhea or to induce anesthesia. Examples: • Codeine, like morphine, is found in opium. It is weaker than morphine and used predominantly as a painkiller. • Fentanyl is a man-made opioid painkiller similar to morphine that is administered as a skin patch or orally. • Morphine is the powerful, active ingredient of opium. It is used as a painkiller and sedative. • Opium comes from the opium poppy and was formerly used in medicine to soothe pain but is now often replaced by morphine, codeine or man-made substitutes such as opioids. • Hydrocodone is often combined with acetaminophen and used as a painkiller. One example of Hydrocodone is Vicodin. • Oxycodone/Propoxyphene/Meperidine are narcotic painkillers. A few examples include: OxyContin, Percocet, Percodan, Darvon and Demerol. Painkillers like OxyContin and Vicodin are the prescription drugs most commonly abused by teens.
