Prescription drug abuse is recognized as the act of taking a prescription drug differently from the way it was intended to be taken. There are many ways a prescription medication can be abused. These include: Consuming a dose larger than what was prescribed by your doctor. Consuming medication that was not originally prescribed to you. Specifically using the medication in order to achieve a “high.” Administering the medication in a way not advised by your doctor. (For example, snorting, injecting, or crushing prescription medication is generally not advised.) The abuse of prescription medication can easily encourage dependence or addiction. Common medications that easily provoke addiction are stimulants, tranquilizers, sedatives, and painkillers. In the United States alone, prescription medication abuse is a rampant problem. It is currently estimated that 1 in 5 US citizens who are at least 12 years of age or older have abused prescription medication before in their lives. This measures out to roughly 52 million people. In fact, young people comprise a large portion of this group. In 2010, NIDA (the National Institute on Drug Abuse) surveyed a large number of high school age people on their habits with prescription drug usage. For every 12 seniors, there was 1 who had abused Vicodin, a prescription painkiller, in that same year. Furthermore, 1 in 20 had abused OxyContin in the same year. Side Effects and Addiction When drugs such as stimulants, tranquilizers, sedatives, opioids, and painkillers are abused,…