Tag Archive: prescription drugs

Driver Education: How Drugs Affect Driving – Illegal Prescription Drugs

July 8, 2009

In 2007, 4.4 million teens reported that they had abused a prescription drug at some point in their lives, according to the Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (PATS). Abuse of prescription drugs by teens is on the rise, and parents need to be vigilant to keep their teens from using. Many teens who illegally use prescription drugs get them from their own homes, though they can also obtain them from friends and the internet.

Many teens use prescription drugs to get high, but they may also use them to relieve anxiety and stress, sleep better, improve concentration and increase alertness. Even teens who stay away from street drugs are vulnerable; a “good kid” might take amphetamines so she can study longer and keep her grades up. According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, adolescents are more likely than young adults to become dependent on prescription medicines.

But the risks of using prescription medications are not well understood by many teens, according to PATS; about four in ten teens surveyed perceived prescription drugs used without a prescription to be safer than street drugs. The Office of National Drug Control Policy says that when teens abuse prescription drugs, they often characterize their use of the drugs as “responsible,” “controlled” or “safe.”

Illegal use of prescription drugs is far from safe, however, particularly if a teen takes prescription drugs and drives. The most commonly abused prescription drugs are painkillers, tranquilizers, sedatives, and stimulants. All of these drugs act on systems in the brain that control driving behavior and impact motor skills and thus can lead to impaired driving ability. Teens often abuse prescription drugs at “pharm parties;” each teen brings prescription drugs from home, the drugs are combined in a big bowl (called “trail mix”), and each teen consumes a handful; after the party, teens whose judgment is impaired often get rides home from other impaired teens.

In addition to the physical danger to their own children, parents whose teens use illegal prescription drugs and drive incur huge financial risk. Though the level of liability varies by state, parents can be held liable for the negligent acts of minor drivers. If a motor vehicle crash that results in injury or death occurs and a court finds that a parent should have known, or knew, that their teen was using illegal drugs or drinking alcohol while driving, the financial consequences of a lawsuit could be devastating.

Ensuring that teens don’t take advantage of prescription drugs in your household requires a high level of alertness. Consider storing prescription drugs in a small lockbox, keeping a count of prescription drugs, checking your teen’s room and recreational areas regularly for pill bottles, and checking the computer’s internet history to make sure teens aren’t shopping for drugs online.

Talking to teens about illegal prescription drug use is important too. Several studies indicate that teens are much less likely to use alcohol or any other drug when parents have consistently expressed their feelings on the issue.

Driver Education: How Drugs Affect Driving – Inhalants

June 17, 2009

Most parents worry that their teens will get involved in illegal drugs, but some parents are unaware of one of the main determinants of whether teens will experiment with drugs – availability. Because they are legal, easily accessible household products, inhalants are one of the most commonly abused drug categories. According to the 2007 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study, 4.6 million teens have tried inhalants. After alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana, inhalants are the most frequently-used drug by teens. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, inhalants are one of the first substances abused by children. Though addiction is rare, inhalants can act as a gateway drug when they are replaced with other accessible substances as children age and chase the next high.

Inhalants include solvents, such as paint thinner, gasoline, and glue; gases, such as butane, propane, and nitrous oxide; and aerosol propellants. Experimentation could occur with any household product containing chemicals – spray paint, cleaning products, felt-tip marker fluid, vegetable oil spray, correction fluid. Inhalants are “sniffed” from an open container or “huffed” from a rag soaked in the substance and held to the face. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, most inhalants cause a quick high similar to alcohol intoxication. The intoxication from inhalants typically only lasts a few minutes, so users often inhale repeatedly over a period of several hours, increasing the risk of adverse effects.

Effects of inhalants include:

stimulation
loss of inhibition
slurred speech
loss of motor coordination
headache
nausea or vomiting
wheezing
loss of sensation
loss of consciousness
muscle cramps and weakness
memory impairment
weight loss
depression
damage to the cardiovascular and nervous systems
sudden death, even with first-time use

Because abuse of inhalants often occurs at a friend’s house or in out-of-the-way places such as in empty parking lots and on dead-end streets, and because driving is viewed as a fun activity by teens, the danger of inhalants can be compounded when teens use inhalants and drive. The intoxication caused by inhalants can cause the same problems as driving under the influence of alcohol – impaired judgment and decision-making, risky driving behavior, and poor motor coordination.

Ensuring that teens don’t experiment with inhalants requires a high degree of vigilance on the part of the parent. Inhalants are cheap, legal and easy to obtain, often from the teen’s own home. Teens are often not aware of the risk of using inhalants, reasoning that they are harmless household products and that they are only going to be used occasionally. In fact, the 2007 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study showed that from 2001 to 2005, the number of teens who perceived inhalant use as risky decreased significantly.

Parents shouldn’t assume that if they don’t mention inhalants, it won’t occur to teens to use them. At any given time, a teen can be presented with the idea by a friend. In fact, since inhalants are often the first drug used by children, they should be one of the first drug categories parents discuss. Make sure teens know that even common household goods, such as cleaning products, can be harmful – show them the warnings on the labels about using them in well-ventilated areas, and ask them to explain how they think intentionally inhaling the fumes could harm someone. Talk about the risk of sudden death from sniffing or huffing, and ask teens to talk about how they would feel if they were with a friend who died from inhalant abuse. Opportunities for reinforcing the risks of inhalant abuse are everywhere – in driver training courses, in health education classes, in newspaper articles, and on television shows.

Restricting the availability of popular substances is also important. Clean out the garage and properly dispose of leftover chemical products. Those that must be kept should be locked in a cabinet or shed. Parents may wish to help teens avoid temptation by limiting or banning aerosol spray products such as deodorants, hairspray, fabric protector, and whipped cream. Keep a close watch on teens’ bedrooms and recreational areas for empty containers or smelly rags, especially in odd places, like under a bed or chair or in the back of a closet. Parents who suspect inhalant abuse must take action immediately.

Teen Drivers and Prescription Drugs

December 17, 2008

Usually, when people think about getting arrested for Driving Under the Influence (DUI), they think of alcohol. But in Florida, you can be arrested for driving under the influence of any substance that affects your driving. And it’s not too difficult to find substances that do – even legal ones.

Did you know?

Taking sedating antidepressants even 10 hours before driving is equal to driving impaired.
Ten mg of Valium can cause greater driving impairment than an alcohol concentration of 0.10.
Even in the prescribed dose, the side effects of a prescription drug are beyond your control.
More than 150 medications interact harmfully with alcohol.
Overdosing on a narcotic could cause a person’s breathing to slow down or stop and could cause death.

Narcotics are the most widely used prescription pain relievers. Narcotics are drugs that relieve pain and cause drowsiness or sleep. Side effects of narcotics include:

drowsiness
dizziness
nausea and vomiting
confusion
decrease in rate and depth of breathing

Some drugs, such as the stimulants used to treat ADHD, may make you feel alert and confident when you’re driving. In reality, the situation may be quite different. Drugs can fool you into believing you’re in control of your driving when you are, in fact, impaired.

Some antihistamines (used to treat allergies) are available over-the-counter, but others are only available with a doctor’s prescription. The effects of antihistamines include:

drowsiness – the most common side effect
dizziness
poor coordination
restlessness
nervousness
confusion
blurred vision
slowed respiration

Tranquilizers are prescription drugs that are used to treat medical conditions such as severe anxiety, stress disorders and muscle tension. Tranquilizers are depressants. This means they reduce the amount of activity in the brain and central nervous system. Tranquilizers can relax people to the point where they get clumsy and have trouble thinking straight. Exceeding the prescribed dose of tranquilizers can cause problems with thinking, memory and judgment.

Driving skills can also be impaired by other medications, such as codeine, which is found in prescription cough medication. When combined with alcohol, the adverse effects of these medications on driving skills get worse. The same is true of some antidepressants, most antihistamines, certain cardiovascular medications, narcotics, tranquilizers, and some anti-psychotic medications.

Never drink alcohol while you are taking other drugs. Mixing alcohol with certain medications can cause:

nausea and vomiting
headaches
drowsiness
fainting
internal bleeding
loss of coordination
heart problems
breathing difficulties
death

Combining any two drugs, or a drug with alcohol, may result in the synergistic effect. This means that the combination of drugs produces effects that are greater than the sum of the effects of the two drugs. This is called an additive effect; instead of a 1 + 1 = 2 result, the synergistic effect may cause a 1 + 1 = 3 result. Even small doses might cause problems. These drug interactions may result in unconsciousness and death.

Always follow label instructions and the advice of your pharmacist or doctor. But err on the side of caution – if you don’t think the drug should affect your driving but you just don’t feel well, don’t drive.

Can I Get a DUI from My Cough Medicine?

December 9, 2008

Many first-time drivers know that Driving Under the Influence (DUI) of alcohol is extremely dangerous. But they may not realize that the cold medicine they take could cause a level of impairment similar to that of drinking alcohol and in many states, could even result in arrest and conviction of DUI. Though over-the-counter drugs are legal, they are not always harmless.

Many teenagers will take over-the-counter drugs to stop a headache or relieve cold symptoms. Some take larger amounts of over-the-counter drugs to get high and feel good. Of course, this is particularly risky because taking any drug in large quantities results in a higher level of impairment, but it is important to know that even the recommended dosage of an over-the-counter drug can reduce your driving skills. Your coordination, decision-making, and reaction time can be affected.

Over-the-counter medications are required to have printed warnings about side effects, including driving risks. The bad news is, many people don’t read the warning or they don’t believe it is meant for them. If you don’t understand these warnings, ask a pharmacist for help. Remember that many over-the-counter drugs, such as those that provide multi-symptom cold relief, contain several types of drugs in one pill. Select a medication that treats only the symptoms from which you actually suffer.

Here is a partial list of legal, over-the-counter drugs that could impair your ability to drive.

Allergy medicines/Antihistamines
Decongestants
Cough syrups
Motion sickness medication
Ulcer medication
Alcohol-containing medicines
Caffeine-containing medicines

For example, antihistamines slow down reaction time, impair coordination, and can make you extremely sleepy – so sleepy you can’t even hold your head up. Decongestants, which may be combined with antihistamines in multi-symptom cold medicines, can cause anxiety and dizziness. And though many people who take caffeine-containing medications do so to stay awake, the effects of these drugs don’t last long and can end abruptly, leaving you even more tired than before you took the drug. Caffeine is also found in many headache relievers – check the ingredients list of every medicine you take so you’ll be aware of what you’re taking and can consider the effects before you get behind the wheel.

Some over-the-counter drugs (such as cough medicine, which contains alcohol) may temporarily make you feel more alert and confident when you’re driving. This is because your judgment is impaired, not because you’re a better driver than you were before you took the drug. Drugs can fool you into believing you’re in control of your driving when you are, in fact, impaired. Remember, you are responsible for making sure that you are unimpaired by any substance when you drive.

The effects of some over-the-counter drugs may not be apparent until an hour or two after you take them; never put yourself in the position of getting out on the road only to realize you are impaired. And not everyone reacts the same way to the same drug every time, so you could suffer unexpected side effects even if you’ve taken that particular drug in the past with no problems. Plan ahead. Ask a parent or friend to drive you if you need to go somewhere. Realize that if you’re sick enough to need medication, the symptoms of your illness may cause enough impairment that you shouldn’t drive, even if the medication itself doesn’t cause problems.